If you do not stretch your watercolor paper you will usually find that your paper has cockled (the creasing or wrinkling of a surface) or warped during painting to a varying degree. Then when you try to frame it your painting will not sit flat on its mat.

I have a technique I use to fix this which will re-flatten watercolor paintings. I must say at the outset however that you do this at your own risk because if you let any water flow onto the painted surface of your watercolor painting you will ruin it!

To carry out this technique you will need the following material:

• Flat table or bench top
• A sheet of mat board cut into two so each half will fully cover the watercolor paintings you would like to flatten.
• A sheet of waterproof plywood about 6mm or 1/4″ thick
• About 7 strong clamps and or lots of heavy books
• A trigger water spray bottle

Here is how to do it:

• Lay one of your sheets of mat board on your table or bench top.
• Place the paintings you want to flatten painted side down beside one another with a gap of about 2.5cm or 1″ between each.
• With your spray bottle give the back of each painting a good spray of water, much sure no water runs under the paper where it can damage the actual painted surface.
• I then run my hand over the back of each painting to make sure the paper is evenly wet. If need be I can add an additional spray of water.
• I then place the second piece of mat board over the paintings and on top of that I place my plywood.
• I then clamp all the way around my board and in the middle of the board I also place a stack of heavy books.
• I leave all this to dry overnight.

The next day your paintings should be very flat and ready for framing.

Below you can see a short video I have produced on how to flatten cockled or warped watercolor paintings which you can have a look at. It should make all the above steps a little bit clearer. Hopefully this will help improve the overall presentation of your work and give your watercolors a more professional look.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k3D5evJYtmA

Happy painting,

Joe

I have been honoured to be appointed the feature artist at this year’s Winmalee Artfest exhibition. I will be there on opening night and would love to meet with you if you can make it. I will have 11 of my water colour and pen, ink and wash works on display.

Here is a short segment from their website about the show:

 Winmalee High School’s 21^st Annual Autumn Artfest in 2012!

A fantastic event not to be missed! 

The 21st Annual Winmalee Autumn Artfest will be held on the 4th May, 5th May & 6th May at Winmalee High School in the Lower Blue Mountains.  Investment pieces are available for the serious collectors, or for those looking for a unique gift or something very special for the home, there are many high quality art and craft pieces available at very reasonable prices.

Artfest has developed a very large following and draws artists not only from the local community, but also from art communities right across Australia.  Artfest is well recognised as one of the biggest and best art exhibitions in the Blue Mountains.

Hundreds of artworks are displayed for sale in various media including oil, water colour, silk and mixed media.  There is also a multitude of craftwork available such as timber products, millinery, pottery, glass, leatherwork, dolls and jewellery.

Purchases can be made by cash or credit cards. It is worthwhile remembering that 25% of all sales is retained by the school to enhance our teaching and learning programs.

Opening night is Friday 4th May at 7.00pm and entry is $15.00, which includes catalogue and catered supper.  The remainder of the weekend is $5.00 per person and also includes a catalogue.  (Primary school aged children attending with their parents are FREE of charge).

Artfest is open Saturday 9am – 8pm and Sunday 10am – 4pm.  The Artfest Café is open all weekend.  With each entry ticket to the exhibition, you have a chance in the lucky door prizes.

Details about Artfest in 2012 are as follows:

Friday 4th May 2012       7.00pm to 10.00pm

Saturday 5th May 2012    9.00am to 8.00pm

Sunday 6th May 2012      10.00am to 4.00pm

You can follow the event on their Facebook page here: Office Winmalee Artfest 2012 Facebook page

Obviously the quality of the watercolor paper, brushes and paints you use will be important to your painting success but without a thorough understanding of water and what happens to it over time you will find yourself really working hard to keep up with what is happening on your watercolor painting surface.

Water is the unique difference between watercolors and most other painting mediums. It is the water that allows watercolor pigments to flow and create those beautiful wet on wet passages that can lead to some wonderful works of art. Depending on the consistency of your watercolor mixes, i.e. the water to pigment ratio, you can alter the tone of a passage either moving it forward or backward in the picture plane. You can also control how the mixture leaves your paint brush (more water and it flows easier and quicker but it will also have a lighter tone). It alters your ability to create a dry brush technique effect or a range of soft wet on wet passages.

In additional to water, time is a key factor because as soon as you start painting on your paper surface the clock starts, the water in your watercolor paint washes will begin to evaporate and this will effect what happens on the surface of your paper. If you want clean wet on wet washes then you have to add these while the shine is still on your paper. By this I mean the shine you see on the paper if you hold it at an angle against the light and is caused by light reflecting off the very wet surface of you paper. If you want more controlled wet on wet shapes without pigment flowing too far then you many need to wait a little time till the paper surface is a little dryer, probably at the stage where it is just losing its shine, or you can add more pigment and less water to your paint mixture. If you wait even longer (more time), until the paper is just damp you are in a dangerous or beneficial stage of drying. This stage is dangerous as any unintended water droplets on your paper or very wet brush strokes will disturb the paint already on the surface of your painting and can lead to the creation of “mud”. However it can be a useful stage if you purposefully want to use this effect to create certain surface textures like that on old Venetian buildings or on the surface of dry fields, etc.

Finally if you wait until your watercolor wash is totally dry you can lay another glaze over the top of it to change its color and tone while still retaining watercolor’s beautiful transparent quality. The trick here is to make sure that not only the surface of your painting is dry but that they whole paper is bone dry all the way through. If you do not wait long enough you risk redissolving the underlying watercolor paint and you could again end up creating watercolor mud!

If you master these two ingredients you will find paintings you used to consider complex now will become more simple watercolor paintings. Of course once you become more comfortable at this level you will no doubt want to tackle even more difficult paintings in the future – this is part of the nature of watercolor painting and developing your skill as a watercolorist.

Hopefully the above has given you an additional perspective on watercolor painting and these two very important but often overlooked components of this medium. Because one doesn’t usually have to pay for water and time I think their importance is often overlooked. I hope that thinking about these two ingredients helps you progress as a watercolor artist.

Happy painting,

Joe Cartwright

Just finished uploading my latest watercolor landscape painting demonstration.

The demonstration is of a moody sunset on a pebbly beach with strong reflections of light and figures.

You can view the demonstration from the above menu or by clicking this link: Atmospheric beach sunset with figures and reflections.

Happy painting,

Joe Cartwright

Artfest wekkend, Sat 9 AM – 8PM, Sun 10AM – 4PM, $5.00 entry fee

Artfest PHone: 0247 54 8888
Start Date: 2012-05-04
End Date: 2012-05-06

One of my students brought in the photo below of mold or fungus growing over some of the watercolor paints in his palette.

Figure 1: Mold or fungus on growing on watercolor paint in palette

I have heard of this for many years though I have never experienced it myself or met someone personally who has experienced it so I thought I would take this opportunity to record it.

Mold is basically another name for a type of fungus. These mold spores are everywhere; however they need the right environment within which to grow. Firstly they need food (in this case this type seems to like watercolor paint)!  Secondly they require water, specifically high humidity of around 70%, they also like high temperatures around the mid 70’s Fahrenheit – they also like darkness and stagnant air. So you can see that these could very well be the conditions in an enclosed wet watercolor palette!

I think the reason I have not had mold develop on my watercolor palette is because I generally let my palette dry out and prefer to paint with watercolors that are drier rather than straight from the tube. I mainly use Winsor and Newton artist’s quality tube paints and find that they re-liquefy very easily even after they dry out – at least for the palette of watercolors that I use.

How to protect against mold in your palette

If you find mold developing in your palette I suggest you let the surface moisture dry before you put the lid back on it. Then just before you start your next painting you can lightly spray water over each of your paint wells to make them easily workable. With the Windsor and Newton paints I use I find I don’t even need to give them a spray.

If you have mold that has developed then just wash it off with water before you start painting. Keep it off your fingers as some varieties are toxic to humans!

Hopefully you will never have mold on the watercolors in your palette but if you do maybe the above can throw a little light on the subject.

One of the brush strokes most often missing in beginners’ watercolor paintings is the Dry Brush Technique. This is a shame as it can add a great deal of energy and interest to a painting. While my comments are primarily directed at watercolor (watercolour) artists many of the points can also apply to dry brush technique for gouache, ink, oil and acrylic works of art -  basically any fluid art medium.

The dry brush painting stroke creates a range of broken edges implying neither hard nor soft edges. It can be used to create a statement but leaves enough uncertainty to allow the viewer to add some of their own interpretation to a painting while still getting the general message.

Dry brush edges can add a great detail of variety to your painting. Some dry brush strokes can be hard edged on one side and broken on the other; something I find very useful when creating sparkle on water in seascapes and river paintings. They can be broken edged on both sides, a stroke I use when creating texture in clouds and on the sides of Venetian and other old buildings. By modifying the typical straight edged stroke to one with curves you can use it to quickly and easily create the impression of foliage in certain trees, like Australian gums, and fluffy clouds in the sky.

A dry brush stroke can start on a portion of your watercolor paper which is dry and lead into a wet area acting as a nice connection between a textured region of ground moving towards a shadowed or more dense area. This stroke can also start from a wet area of your painting and be dragged into a dry one.

Figure 1: Dry brush technique giving impression of distant masses of trees

Quick dry brush strokes can be made to represent breaking waves in a beach scene or textured areas of a road surface. One stroke and you’re done; in my view, nothing conveys confidence in a watercolor painting more than dry brush strokes placed in just the right spot.

Figure 2: Dry brush technique to create breaking waves on beach

Another use of the dry brush technique is when painting palm trees, one quick stroke can create a trunk which has a hard edge on one side and a broken edge on the other.

Figure 3: Dry brush technique to create palm tree trunks with one brush stroke.

Dry brush technique does not necessarily mean that you have to use a brush with very little paint or water in it however. The variables you have to work with when painting a dry brush stroke are these:

1. The texture of your watercolor paper: is it rough, medium or smooth? It is much easier to create a dry brush stroke on rough paper, but it can be produced on any texture.

2. The speed of your brush movement determines how much of a dry brush effect you create: speed is more important the smoother the texture of your paper. If you are using very smooth paper you need to move the brush very fast to create this type of stroke.

3. How wet is the paper you are painting on? If your paper still has a shine on it then you cannot produce a dry brush stroke. It can only be produced on dry or maybe damp paper – though this requires a greater degree of skill as it can lead to a muddy work of art.

4. The angle of your brush and how hard you press: a brush held with the hairs parallel to your paper will create a different dry brush effect than one which uses the tip of your brush. The pressure you apply with also have an effect on your final dry brush result.

5. Finally the amount of watercolor paint as well as its consistency on your brush is important. This point works in conjunction with the points above. If you have a fully loaded (almost dripping) brush you have to move it quite fast to achieve a dry brush stroke. If you have less paint on the brush you may need to move the brush slower. If you are using smoother papers then you may need to reduce the amount of watercolor paint to get a creditable dry brush effect.

Points 1 to 5 above are all interrelated. You can’t have a single rule for creating a dry brush stroke with watercolor because all five factors have to be taken into account along with what statement you are trying to make with a particular brush stroke. Remember you are not just coloring in when you paint a watercolor painting – you are making some statement and the various edges you create are part of your language!

To me the most enjoyable watercolors are those that have the full range of watercolor artists’ painting edges within them. These edges include hard edged wet on dry strokes which imply definite statements effectively saying ‘Hey, this happens at just this spot in this way!” to soft wet on wet edges which leave a great deal up to the viewer to evaluate. The dry brush technique is equally as important as these other two brush techniques and including it in your work will help you create better and more interesting watercolor paintings.

Figure 1: Watercolor painting demonstration of boats and early morning rising mist by Joe Cartwright

I have just loaded my latest watercolor demonstration painting. The painting is titled “Rising Mist” and is of an early morning scene on San Diego harbor with the mist rising. It is based on a photo my wife took a number of years ago as she was sailing out of the harbor on the way down to Mexico.

You can find the demonstration at this link: Rising Mist boat and sea watercolor demonstration

The demonstration takes you from the initial photographic inspiration, through how to draw boats and objects into the light, the initial wet on wet under wash, how to create a mist effect with watercolor paint, painting boat details and finishing with how to paint the reflections on the water.

If you would like to purchase a printable pdf copy of this demonstration which has larger images and no advertisements you can do so through my online store for US$1.00 or by clicking here:  

I hope you find it of interest and use!

Happy painting,

Joe Cartwright

I am producing a DVD of a Pen, Ink and Wash demonstration of a street scene. I am still finalizing the editing but if you would like to have a look at a sped up version you can find it below. The full normal speed demonstration runs for about 45 minutes.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aMA-5AKdzT8

I am often giving my students advice about what to do and not to do with their watercolor brushes so I thought I would see if I could create a list of 10 things which will damage a watercolor (watercolour)brush. It took a bit of thinking but here is my list which you may find helpful with the care of your brushes.

Figure 1: Do not leave you watercolor brushes sitting in your water container

1. Leaving them sitting in your watercolor container while you paint or worse still all day. This will force the hairs of your watercolor brushes out of shape and also make the wood of your handle swell which could result in it loosening the ferrule (the metal bit that connects the brush hairs to the handle)with the result that the hairs can fall out or the wood could rot.
2. Letting the paint dry on your brushes. The paint builds up down low near the ferrule which can be very hard to remove. Will cause the point on the brush to be lost.
3. Storing wet brushes point up – this allows the water to settle in the ferrule causing the wood of your handle to swell which could result in it loosening the ferrule as in point 1 above.
4. Storing wet brushes with the point bent. The brush will dry in this odd shape losing its point. Depending on the brush this may fix by itself when you rewet the brush but sometimes it just stays in this wrong shape. One thing that can do which sometimes fixes even this problem however is to dip the hairs of the brush in very hot water and then reestablish the point with your fingertips and let the brush dry while laying it flat – I have had success with this technique with squirrel hair brushes but may not help with others – try at own risk!
5. Using them for acrylic or worse still oil painting. Just don’t do this. If you want to use your watercolor brushes for acrylic or oil painting then set some aside just for that. Once you use your brushes for oil or acrylic painting they will begin to lose their point. Any oil or turpentine residue on the brush will make it behave differently then you later try to use it with watercolor.
6. Using your good watercolor brush for apply art masking liquid or frisket. This is probably the quickest way to ruin a good watercolor brush. Once the liquid latex in the masking fluid dries on your brush it is gone. Even if you use the right technique when using masking fluid in time the brush will still finally pick up the odd bit of latex which will ruin it. Save your old brushes or buy some cheap ones and use them for masking.
7. Storing wet brushes in a sealed container. The fibers of your brush will go mouldy if you store them wet without adequate ventilation. It will also keep the wood of the handle inside the ferrule damp which can lead to rod and a loose ferulle and cracked paint on the brush handle.
8. Don’t use a good watercolor brush for scrubbing out color. Just makes good sense, the scrubbing will break down the hairs and in time your brush will thin out. If you want them to last longer then don’t use them for this purpose.
9. Using paint that is too dry. I find this especially when students try to paint with cheap paints that dry really hard. The extra rubbing you have to do to get color out of your dry paint will wear the brush down faster than normal. If my paints have been left to dry without a lid on my pallet for a few days (which rarely happens now days) I just give each paint well a little spray with my water spray bottle and leave them for about 15 minutes, this will make it much easier to lift out paint after that. I use Winsor and Newton tube water colors almost exclusively I find they re-liquefy very easily.

10. Trying to put the round plastic protector back on that sometimes comes with a brush. Just don’t try it! The protector that came with the brush was probably put on by a machine and if you try to do the same yourself you will most likely end up with hairs pushed out of shape permanently. I just throw the protector away once I get my new brush home.

So there you have my list of the 10 things which will damage watercolor brushes. No doubt there are others but the above are the main ones I have come across. Once you get a really nice watercolor brush it is well worth your while taking the extra effort to look after it as it should keep in good shape for many years. A good brush will help you paint your watercolors while a bad or damaged brush will hinder you.