Experiments in Watercolor
Instructor: Estelle Hart
estelle.hart@comcast.net 

Supplies: 

Paper

• Watercolor Paper (140 lb cold press is fine)
• A watercolor notebook or sketchbook (you can find these spiral bound, or you can just use a spiral bound pad of watercolor paper).
• Some handmade paper and/or Japanese or Chinese papers such as rice paper. (Don’t buy this yet; we will buy some together and/or trade with each other.)

 

Brushes and pens

• Some bamboo brushes (small, medium, large is great and are usually inexpensive so shop for bargains)
• A bamboo pen or a dipping-type metal pen or whittled stick
• A ½” flat brush (optional)
• A 1” flat brush
• #8, #10, #12 round brushes
• One little, round, pointy brush for details (if you must).
• An indelible pen or sharpie
• A small set of oil pastels
• A drawing pencil such as a Design Ebony pencil

 

Paint

·         A set of tube colors

Also, it’s nice to have a small set of Prang pans with which to practice, as they are cheap and rich in color

 

• If you want to start small, get the primary colors:

            Cadmium Red Deep

            Vermillion

            Cadmium Yellow

            Ultramarine Blue

• Burnt Sienna
• Burnt umber
• Raw umber

 

• Some black ink such as India ink or sumi ink

 

Extras:

 

Piece(s) of Plexiglas (you can purchase this at Home Depot or Loews….Ask for second or damaged pieces and you will save money).  It’s nice to have several pieces. (I’ll show you what I mean at the first class.)

White, plastic eraser

Kneaded Eraser

Glue for collaging (such as YES paste or an archival glue stick)

Masking fluid and a cheap, small brush

Paper Towels – please bring some to each class

Small, kitchen sponges – important 

Small spray bottle(s)  – very important

Plastic water container – very important (cottage cheese type containers, are fine)

A toothbrush

Small natural sponge

Some facial tissues

A little container of salt (the little packages from fast food restaurants work great)

A small bottle of rubbing alcohol

Some plastic wrap

A few Q-tips

A single-edged razor blade or an old credit card

Some glue and/or a glue stick

Scissors

Wax paper 

A piece of cheesecloth

Textural stamps or any kind of corrugated paper or textured paper

 

Bibliography:

 

For this class I will be referring to a variety of books.  You don’t have to buy any of them, however, if you want to have your own, below is a short list.  As the class progresses, I may find other and will tell you about them.  This list will undoubtedly change.

 

Experiments in Watercolor (Twenty Ways to Learn by Doing) by Michael Crespo.  Watson Guptill.  This book is out of print, however, you can find it on Amazon.com and buy it very cheaply from their used sources. 

This book is great for beginners and really great for educators if you want to incorporate some of the lessons into your curriculum.

 

Chinese Waterccolor Techniques (Painting Animals) by Lian Quan Zhen.  This book, like his first one, Chinese Painting Techniques for Exquisite Watercolors, is quite good.  I will use some of his techniques.

 

Watercolor, painting outside the lines (a positive approach to negative painting) by Linda Kemp is a more advanced approach, however, I will incorporate some of her lessons and techniques into our class.

 

Watercolor and Collage Workshop by Gerald Brommer.  Obviously, this is a book about collage.