Subtleties of watercolor paint production: how colors are obtained. Types of watercolor paints What paints can do and the visual properties of watercolors

You have decided to introduce your child to beauty - to teach him to draw. Or you can “shake off the old days” yourself and portray something like that. But you don’t know which colors are best to choose. Let's figure it out.

Classification of paints

Paints differ from each other in composition, consistency and smell. The following are suitable for drawing:

• watercolor;
• gouache;
• acrylic;
• oil;
• fingered.

What could be better than watercolors?

This type of paint is familiar to everyone (so to speak, greetings from distant childhood). With watercolors (by the way, they were invented by the Chinese) you can paint any complex landscape - after all, there are about forty colors, and even a huge number of various shades.

What is good about this type of paint? Because it is an environmentally friendly product that is not scary to give even to children to occupy their leisure time. Let them draw! Maybe they will become Repin or Aivazovsky. Drawings made with watercolors are distinguished by a certain airiness, naturalness, lightness and transparency.

What is it made from? This type of paint includes:

• Transparent resin. It is obtained by drying the juice of various types of acacias.
• Granulated sugar (or glycerin).
• Plasticizing substances that improve the quality characteristics of the product.

Important! Despite all the advantages of watercolors, do not forget about one point that should alert you: the composition of the paints must also include antiseptic substances (for example, the universally unloved phenol). Therefore, when using it, you should not forget about it and show miracles of carelessness.

We make our own paints

Of course, some super discerning professional, having taken a look and tried to use homemade paints, will snort and say that it is impossible to create a “masterpiece” work of art. But in defense of paints made at home with our own hands, we present the following arguments:

• they are excellent for everyday activities with children (especially preschool age), as they do not eat into the skin of the hands and can be easily wiped off (and if they get on clothes, they can be easily washed off);
• there is no need to visit retail outlets very often to purchase goods (you always have it in stock at home);
• the colors do not mix with each other and remain clean;
• They have a bright color and glide like butter.

So let's get started. You will need:

• baking soda - four tablespoons;
• table vinegar - two tablespoons;
• any light syrup - 1/2 tablespoon;
• starch (preferably corn) - two tablespoons;
• dyes in liquid form or in powders (exclusively for food);
• any suitable containers (for example, muffin or ice tins).

Algorithm for making solid watercolor paints

How to make watercolor paint:

• Thoroughly mix in a container with a spout (then it will be very convenient to pour the mixture into molds) two components: soda and vinegar.

Important! Take your time: wait until the hissing stops. Only then continue to “create”.

• Add the following two ingredients: starch and syrup. Mix everything thoroughly, leaving no lumps.
• Pour the mixture into molds.
• Unpack the dyes and add them to the molds.

On a note! The molds are small, so we use toothpicks or matches to stir the dye into them. We do everything very quickly: you need to complete it within 1 minute. And one more nuance: if the consistency of the paints turns out to be slightly runny, then just add a little starch.

• Let the paints dry. This will take 1-2 days (if you place a tray with freshly prepared paints on the battery, the drying process will go faster).

Once they're completely dry, just take your brush, dip it in water and start sculpting!

Gouache paints are also a good choice

This type of paint is loved by both professional artists and those who have just embarked on this path. However, the choice is good, since gouache has quite rich and bright colors; thick and oily texture. Gouache paints are divided into poster paints (thicker in consistency and brighter; used for design work) and art paints.

Gouache? The question is very simple. This type of paint is a “direct relative” of watercolor. The composition includes the same pigmented particles and the same water-soluble glue-based component. The only difference is that natural white is added to the gouache, which gives it greater density, delicate velvety and whiteness. Paintings made using watercolor or gouache are distinguished by their trepidation, tenderness and liveliness. They cannot be confused with other equipment.

Why not use oil paints?

It’s all very simple: since the paint is oil-based, that means it contains what? That's right - oil. History is silent about who invented it. This type of paint is hardly suitable for children who paint at home. But for children (future, perhaps, brilliant artists) who attend specialized artistic institutions, they are quite suitable (after all, they, children, know how to use them without harm to their health).

What are oil paints made from? They are mixed mainly with linseed oil, which has undergone a unique technological treatment. In addition to this main component, the product contains resin (alkyd) and substances that allow the paint to dry quickly. And this is an important detail.

What are the benefits of oil paints? The fact that over a long period their colors remain as bright and deep.

Try using acrylic paints

Today acrylic is a very popular coating, which a few decades ago was generally unknown to anyone. Progress does not stand still. Acrylic paints dry very quickly, have a fairly rich palette of colors, and can be easily applied not only to paper or cardboard, but also to plastic or ceramics.

What are acrylic paints made from? First of all, it should be noted that this is, of course, a synthetic product, which is created on the basis of polymers such as ethyl, butyl and methyl. In addition to them, water and pigments are present.

How to “reanimate” acrylic paints

What to do - acrylic paints have dried out? How can I dilute them? Water. Just remember some conditions:

• There should be no impurities in the liquid. Therefore, you need to use distilled water (you can buy it at a hardware store or pharmacy). If you can’t purchase it, then simply boil regular tap water and leave it to sit for a while.
• The water temperature should be about +20 degrees.

Important! Proportions play an important role. If you dilute it in a ratio of 1:2 (that is, one part of the color mixture and two of water), then the solution will have a fairly liquid consistency and will only be suitable for use as a base layer. If the ratio is 1:1, then it is perfect as a base coat.

Paints for the little ones

There are paints that are intended for very young children who cannot hold a pencil or a brush. They are called finger ones. The paints adhere well to the surface and do not run off the fingers in any way. They are very easy to work with: just dip your finger into a jar of paint, then touch the paper (cardboard or glass). All is ready! You can exhibit in the gallery!

What are the components of such paints? They are made on a water basis and contain only food coloring. True, it is unlikely that the baby will like this product, since the colors have a bitter or salty aftertaste. This was done on purpose so that the child would not be tempted to eat them before lunch.

How to use gel paint

Fashionistas can best answer this question. They know exactly what makes nails attractive. Moreover, using this coating, you can make a manicure on nails of any shape and any size (both natural and extended). The main advantage of such paints is that they mix well, which allows you to get a huge number of additional shades.

In custody

Now you know what paints are made from. And with full consciousness of the matter, you can plunge into this fascinating process.

Term Watercolor(French aquarelle, English painting in water colors, Italian aquarelle or aqua-tento, German Wasserfarbengemalde, Aquarellmalerei; from Latin aqua - water) has several meanings.
Firstly, it means painting with special water-soluble (i.e., freely soluble in ordinary water) paints. And in this case, it is customary to talk about the watercolor technique (i.e., a certain creative process in the fine arts).
Secondly, it is used, in fact, to directly designate the water-soluble (watercolor) paints themselves. When dissolved in water, they form a transparent aqueous suspension of fine pigment, which is part of the paint base, thanks to which it is possible to create a unique effect of lightness, airiness and subtle color transitions.
And finally, thirdly, this is how the work itself is called, done using this technique with watercolors. Their distinctive features lie mainly in the transparency of the thinnest layer of paint that remains on the paper after the water has dried. In this case, white is not used, since its role is played by the white color of the paper, which shines through the paint layer or is not painted over at all.

In all the variety of existing paints, watercolors are rightfully considered to be one of the most ancient and beloved by artists of various schools and directions.
Scientists know examples of works done in watercolors that are contemporary with Egyptian papyrus and hieroglyphs. In Byzantine art, church liturgical books were decorated with watercolors. Later it was used for coloring drawings and underpainting on boards. Renaissance masters used watercolors to make sketches for their easel and fresco works. Many drawings, shaded in pencil and then painted with watercolors, have survived to this day. Among them are the works of such great artists as Rubens, Raphael, Van Ostade, Lessuer and others.
Due to their relative ease of use and relative availability, watercolor paints have become very widely used in the fine arts.

Composition of watercolor paints.
The basis of the composition of watercolor paints is a finely ground pigment to which a small amount of various glues of plant origin (gum arabic, dextrin, tragacanthum, cherry glue, etc.) is added as a binder. The composition also includes, in certain proportions, honey (or sugar, glycerin), wax, some types of resins (mainly balsam resins), thanks to the addition of which paints acquire hardness, softness, plasticity, as well as other necessary qualities.
As a rule, watercolors can be hard - in the form of tiles, placed in special small containers (cuvettes) or soft - in tubes.

Russian manufacturers of watercolor paints
Of the largest and most famous manufacturers of watercolor paints in Russia currently existing, it is necessary to highlight two. These are Moscow OJSC Gamma and St. Petersburg ZKH Nevskaya Palitra. Both companies produce high-quality paint for both professional artists and amateurs, students, and schoolchildren.
The best quality watercolors among Gamma products can be called the Studio series (available both in cuvettes, 2.5 ml., and in tubes, 9 ml.).
Nevskaya Palitra has undoubtedly the best watercolors in its “White Nights” series (also available in cuvettes, 2.5 ml. and in tubes, 18 ml.). Personally, I prefer to work with these paints (I mainly use cuvettes), but each artist, naturally, has his own tastes and preferences.
In addition to “White Nights,” the Nevskaya Palitra ZKH produces watercolors from the “Sonnet” and “Ladoga” series, but both are noticeably inferior to the first.

As an example, I will give samples of the full palette (painting) of the Moscow “Studio” and St. Petersburg “White Nights”.
Watercolor painting by JSC Gamma (material taken from the Gamma website)

Watercolor painting of the ZKH "Nevskaya Palitra" (material taken from the "Nevskaya Palitra" website)

In addition, ZKH "Nevskaya Palitra" also produces a series of paints "Sonnet". Their quality is slightly worse than the above-mentioned watercolors, and the palette is not as rich, but they are cheaper.

Foreign manufacturers of watercolor paints
Many world-famous foreign companies producing artistic paints produce watercolors. As a rule, each company presents its products in two lines. Usually one of them is expensive, high-quality watercolor paints made from natural pigments for professional artists. This palette contains a large number of colors and shades, and the paints themselves are very durable and lightfast. The other line is intended for students, students, and art lovers. These paints can be made on the basis of synthetic substitutes; their characteristics are close to natural paints, but they are still inferior to them in quality, making them much cheaper and more accessible. They are less durable and lightfast. The palette contains a correspondingly smaller number of colors (shades).

Dutch watercolors
The most famous manufacturer of watercolor paints in Holland is the Old Holland company, which dates back to the mid-17th century. Her watercolors are represented by a rich palette of 160 colors.

Another, no less famous, watercolor manufacturer is the Royal Talens company, founded in 1899. Its products on the modern market are represented by two lines:
"Rembrandt" (80 color palette)

"Van Gogh" (40 color palette)

English watercolors
One of the famous watercolor manufacturers in England is the Winsor & Newton company, founded in 1832 in London. Currently her watercolors are represented by two lines:
"Artists Water Color" (palette of 96 colors)

"Cotman Water Color" (40 color palette)

Another English watercolor manufacturer is Daler-Rowney. Its products are also represented by two lines:
"Artists" Watercolour" (80 color palette)

"Aquafine" (palette of 37 colors)

Italian watercolors
The most famous Italian manufacturer of watercolor paints is the company “Maimeri”. Currently her watercolors are represented by two lines:
"Maimeri Blu" (palette 72 colors)

"Venezia" (palette of 36 colors)

French watercolors
The famous French manufacturer Pebeo, the company was founded in 1919. Today, its product range includes two lines of watercolor paints:
"Fragonard extra fine watercolour" (palette of 36 colors)

Today I want to talk about what beginners in watercolor painting usually don’t pay attention to, but in vain. The conversation will focus on the composition and properties of watercolor paints.

The books that fell into my hands when I was taking my first steps in watercolor simply did not have this information. It wasn’t in the lessons I started with either. This kind of information is not often found in articles. But without knowing and understanding these things, it is quite difficult to achieve those effects that so delight and fascinate in watercolors.

Therefore, after studying and analyzing this topic, I decided to write the most important thing, in my opinion, here.

Basic properties of watercolor

Some general information.

1. Light fastness

Domestic paints are divided into three light fastness groups (when stored in museum conditions):

• +++ or *** : 100 years
• ++ or ** : 25-100 years
• + or * : 10-25 years
• o: 0-10 years

Foreign manufacturers also have similar markings.

2. Transparency

Watercolor paints can be opaque, translucent or transparent. The transparency of the paint is usually indicated by a square with varying degrees of shading.

3. Quantity and quality of pigments

The names of the pigments are usually indicated on the label in which the cuvette is wrapped, or on the tube of watercolor paint. However, it happens that the watercolor set does not contain this information, there is only the color name and number. In this case, it makes sense to look for information about pigments on the manufacturer’s website. I'll tell you more about pigments below.

How to choose watercolor paints?

In order not to get confused in the abundance of colors and not make a mistake with your choice, you need to follow the following tips:

1. Choose professional watercolors.

Of course, student paints can also be used, but you should remember that they use cheaper pigments, imitation pigments (marked Hue), the color is achieved by mixing several pigments and therefore when creating mixtures from these paints there is a high probability of getting dirt instead of pure color.

At first, I bought AquaFine student paints, a set of 18 colors in cuvettes and 2 tubes (white and black). The pigments in the set were not listed, but there was a tab with all the color names in order in the set. Of the 18 colors, 6 are marked Hue, that is, imitation of color; there are only 6 single-pigment colors in the set.

Later, when I began to deal with all my watercolor paints, make paints and study the composition and pigments, I found a manufacturer’s document on the Internet, where I found out the quantity and quality of pigments included in my set, which helped me highlight the colors from this set, which ones can be used and which ones shouldn’t.

In general, my student set quickly became small, so I decided to buy a set of Nevsky Palette of 36 colors (white nights), and then gradually purchased all the colors available from this brand in separate cuvettes.

As a result, I ended up with all 57 colors of the professional NP series, from which I assembled my basic palette, or rather even 2 palettes (large and small).

There are a lot of labels that look like candy wrappers and contain information on the basic properties of each paint. Fortunately, then I already knew that under no circumstances should they be thrown away and it wouldn’t be a bad idea to make color cards out of them, so as not to get confused with the names of the colors, remember their location in the palette, and orientate myself in the properties of the available paints. Which is exactly what I did.

At the moment, I have slightly reformatted my palettes, removed some colors from the basic sets, compiled a large color scheme for all colors indicating the main properties of the paints, as well as a new color scheme taking into account the new arrangement.

I also realized what colors from other manufacturers I lack for complete happiness, but I will talk about this separately in an article dedicated to the formation of my personal basic palette.

For now, I’ll limit myself to the fact that White Nights’ cobalt blue, ceruleum and natural umber are not very good, I will replace them.

That is, when deciding to buy watercolors, you can follow 2 paths:

1) Buy a set of 24 (36) colors (you can start with 12) of White Nights. And then format it: throw something away, buy something else.

2) Analyze the composition of all BN paints and select those cuvettes in the set that are completely satisfied with their quality; buy the rest of the colors you need from other manufacturers, also initially analyzing their properties, reviews, price (which, by the way, is also important).

Which path to choose is up to everyone to decide for themselves. The 1st one is simpler, until you realize that the set will have to be edited :). The 2nd one is more difficult, but with this approach you will know your paints in person even before purchasing, however, there is another problem, it is not always possible to rely on other people’s colors and markings, there may be mistakes and disappointments.

2. Give preference to single-pigment watercolor paints.

Of course, this is not a hard and fast rule, you can paint quite successfully with 2 and 3 pigment paints, but you should always remember that they should be used very carefully in mixtures, and only when you really need a complex color.

Let me take as an example a small part of the White Nights palette; there are both single-pigment and multi-pigment paints and even 2 colors with absolutely identical properties (red ocher and Shakhnazar red).

Abbreviations of colors in the names of pigments mean:

W - wight (white), Y - yellow (yellow), O - orange (orange), R - red (red), V - violet (purple), B - blue (blue), G - green (green), Br - brown (brown), Bk - black (black).

Why do you need to know all this? The fact is that the numbering and name of the color may differ (and do differ) from each manufacturer, but the names of the pigments used in the paint have a uniform appearance and the ability to read them makes life very much easier when choosing a color. In addition, it is immediately clear whether it is a pure color or a composite one. And if it is composite, then what does it include?

There are colors in the palette that can easily be obtained by mixing the single-pigment ones that make up them, of course, if you know what pigments they are and what colors they correspond to.

For example, yellow-green (P.G.7, P.Y.3) is easily obtained by mixing emerald (P.G.7) and lemon (P.Y.3).

This could also be found out by testing, but it is much faster and easier to look at the composition and properties of the chosen color.

3. Consider the transparency of the paint.

The transparency of the paint can be easily recognized by the square on the label. But you shouldn’t limit yourself to just this knowledge. You definitely need to paint each color in the palette and test how the paints behave when applied to each other. Typically, the glaze grid exercise is used for this.

Here, for example, are 3 yellow colors from white nights:

• Lemon – P.Y.3,
• Cadmium lemon - P.Y.35,
• Cadmium yellow medium - P.Y.35.

I specifically chose these 3 single pigment colors to demonstrate that different colors can be created by the same pigment. In this case, cadmium lemon and cadmium yellow medium are distinguished by transparency (look at how the square is colored). That is, colors from the same pigment will have different properties in mixtures and will look different in color stretches and glazes. This is an important point to know and take into account when painting with watercolors.

Cuvettes or tubes

In general, I only have 6 tubes from the same Aquafine student series as the first set. I bought these tubes to try, and, to be honest, I haven’t appreciated the convenience yet. True, I don’t draw in large formats, I don’t do large fills when you really can’t do without tubes.

In my case, cuvettes are quite enough, although I do not rule out that over time I will come to tubes. However, the same Nevskaya palette has tubes for only 12 colors. So you will have to study other manufacturers in more detail.

That’s all I have about watercolor paints for now :)

Watercolor paint consists of pigment and water-soluble glue (binder). Gum arabic is used as a binder in watercolors, but in cheap paints it can be replaced with dextrin, cherry glue, etc. Additionally, in the production of watercolor paint, a plasticizer (glycerin, honey, molasses) is added for the elasticity of the film, preservatives (antiseptics) against mold and a wetting agent (ox bile) for uniform application to the surface.

TYPES OF WATER COLOR PAINTS

Semi-solid in cuvettes

This is dry paint, initially poured in liquid form into small rectangles, which are packaged in sets or sold individually. The standard cuvette volume is approximately 2.5 ml, but “half-pans” are also sold, which are convenient for sketching outside the home. Most often, such watercolor paints are used in small formats (it is difficult to “pull out” the required volume of paint from dry cuvettes ).

The inside of the set lid is most often used as a palette. If the box is plastic, the paint may eat into it, but in metal ones with enamel, it will not.

(SAINT PETERSBURG, LENINGRAD, LADOGA)
• Watercolor paints TALENS ARTCREATION

Soft in tubes

Practically - liquid paint. The most important difference between its properties and watercolors in cuvettes is its rich color and brightness. Well suited for fillings and large formats, also from a cost-saving point of view. As a rule, during work, watercolors are squeezed out of tubes into empty cuvettes, which are placed in a palette box. When the work is finished, excess paint remains in the ditches. The palette box closes. Even if the paints dry out a little, they are sprayed with water and they are ready for use again. The most popular brush for working with tube paint on large formats is the soft flute.

Liquid “watercolor”

It is not watercolor in its composition. First of all, because it is made not from pigments, but from dyes. It would be more correct to call it non-waterproof ink, which has the properties inherent in watercolor. Good for illustrations and sketches.

Briefly, the following aids can be identified:

Which allow you to make your own paints using pigment and binder.

To reduce the surface tension of water, which allows you to apply paint more evenly, eliminating thickening of the paint or changes in its color.

Masking is the temporary hiding of elements that should not be exposed to paint.

Various pastes and gels to increase the impasto of paint and create decorative reliefs, increase gloss or shine, to create a metallic effect and many others.

With this primer you can prime any surface (canvas, wood, paper), after which you can work on them with watercolors.

PAPER FOR WATER COLOR PAINTS

It is believed that in watercolor painting the quality of the paper is of primary importance. Even high-quality paint on poor paper will not be able to demonstrate all the beauty of its shades and excellent properties. For watercolor paper, composition and sizing are of paramount importance. Sizing provides watercolor paper with minimal absorbency and strength when working in a wet state.

Inspiring watercolor works by Yulia Barminova