Читать книгу Painting Expressive Watercolours - Mike Chaplin - Страница 9

A good kolinsky sable is about £80, so you will want to look after your brushes properly. When you finish working, wash each brush out very thoroughly; if you leave pigment deep in the belly of the brush it will build up and the brush will lose all its resilience.

Washing removes the natural oils, so squeeze a small amount of hair conditioner into the palm of your hand and gently roll the brush around in it. Leave it for a few minutes then rinse well. Reshape the brush by hand, dry off excess moisture with a tissue and allow to dry upright in a well-ventilated area, preferably not in direct sunlight. If you are storing brushes long-term, put some mothballs with them.

Most artists accumulate a large number of brushes. Although these are among my collection, in practice I use the same three brushes nearly all the time.

FOCUS ON…grinding paint

Making your own paint is a lot of work but it gives you complete control over how coarsely or finely it is ground, so if you are interested in granulated or textured paint it is ideal. The other big advantage is that you can have large amounts of paint in pots broad enough to get the widest hake into, which encourages you to think larger.

Pigments can sometimes be bought from an art supplies shop, but if your local shop does not stock them, ask for the address of an artist’s colourman. Although most pigments are non-toxic there are a few that are dangerous; avoid inhaling any of them. Some can be irritant to the skin so, if you are susceptible, wear rubber gloves.

The main constituent of the binder is gum arabic, which exudes from the bark of the acacia tree. It is hygroscopic, which means that it absorbs water, so as a medium for making watercolour it performs two functions: it sticks the pigment to the paper but it will also reconstitute very readily as paint because it will attract water.

Gum arabic tends to dry out in the paint and is quite brittle, so the other main ingredient is glycerine, which keeps the paint soluble. You can also use honey, which gives smoothness to the paint, in a 50:50 mix with the glycerine. This viscous mixture would be difficult to spread, so ox gall is added as a wetting agent. Finally, to prevent mould, you need some vinegar or oil of cloves.

Pigments

Pigments are supplied as dry powder in a bag, minimum amount 50g (2 oz). The cost ranges from about £4 to £30 per 450g (1 lb). The powder is very fine, so do not tip it out of the bag – lift it out carefully with a spoon or palette knife.