Figure Toe Sisters Ariana 18vr

MODEST WATERCOLOR PAINTING 

IS FUN.

Many still lifes, vegetables, fruits and sceneries which are worth to be looked at and recorded in the form of paintings are scattered around us. One of the methods to record these beauties unexpensively is by painting with watercolor.  

Picture 1: Simple watercolor painting tools and materials.

                                                          

Directions to paint with  watercolor in these pages is useful for  novices based on the experience of  most watercolor painters. 

Using standardtools and materials for watercolor painting is  inexpensive compared to oil painting. What I call standard is using fine animal hair brushes, high quality thick papers,  brilliant color of watercolor, fixative and rubber latex for covering  intentionally unpainted portions in complicated  objects of painting.

Since those standard tools and materials are not always available in Java,  beginners  can substitute it with   more modest one. Tools for painting is limited and unaffordable by most Indonesian children whose financial strength is not like in   the countries with affluent societies.

What I am trying to tell you in these pages is watercolor painting with substandardtools and materials. Substandard is using synthetic nylon brushes, relatively thick papers not for watercolor painting but for printing,  applying low cost watercolor trade mark sold in modest stationery shops, no liquid rubber latex used, no use of knife or  razors to scrub the paper because the paper is not thick enough to be scrubbed. By using substandard tools more children and teenagers in Java, Indonesia and other third countries can practice and enjoy watercolor painting with “acceptable” results as shown below. 

In the modest stationery shops in Bandung you can buy  rather thick white paper for printing called Concord and a small 12 tube watercolor box at US$ 1.5.

Buy brushes with resilient or springy hairs. When dipped in water and then raised the hairs should be pointed  and not separated into two or more  branches.

The standardsmallest animal hair brush cost US$ 7 and US$ 15 the medium size. While synthetic nylon brushes can be bought at only US$ 1.5 the smallest to US$ 3.5 for the medium size.  All US$ prices are in Indonesian currency (Rp).

You can buy round type synthetic brushes number 1, the smallest, number 3, number 6 and number 8.

 THE SECRETS:

Begin from Most Diluted Colors and Dried  Between Phases

First Wash.  

After you make a pencil sketch, cleanse the unimportant  pencil lines with a soft rubber eraser. Then you begin to paint with light diluted watercolor using brush number 6 and 8. The areas you are painting are the largest portion in your painting. Since all portions of the paintings are painted with  thin and most diluted colors, the painting will look pale. Don’t be downhearted, since it is normal and you are still on the right track.

Second Wash.  

This stage should be commenced when the result of the First Wash have been dried. You use thicker colors using  number 3 and number 6 brushes.  The areas you are painting are smaller than in the First Wash. You use  darker colors and thicker dilutions for the medium dark shadows or colors.

Third Wash or the Last Wash.  

Third Wash is conducted when the result of Second Wash has already dry. In this phase you use thickest watercolor solution with number 1 and number 3 brushes. The areas you are  painting are the narrowest portion of the painting. They are the darkest shadows and stroner colors.

 Tools described below can be bought in many modest stationery shops and household articles shops.  

 TOOLS and MATERIALS USED

Sold Everywhere, No-Difficult-To-Find Items Needed

A. Pencil  and Rubber Eraser.  

Use B1 or B2 hardness pencils so that the trace doesn’t hurt the surface of the paper and it will be easily erased. To avoid too often sharpening the pencil, you can use mechanical pencil with the same hardness. Mechanical pencils with diameter 0.7 and 0.9 mm are more convenient than 0.5 mm since the lattest is often broken when you press a little bit stronger.

            Buy a soft rubber eraser and cut it diagonally to obtain sharper edge  to make erasing narrow areas possible.

B. Mineral  bottle or mug for water stock. 

Prepare a mineral water bottle as a water stock. Keep it safe from   tumbling because of unintentional movement of your hand and wet your painting.

 C. Big Rinsing  Bowl.

            Rinsing bowl is a big bowl used for rinsing your brushes when you change the color during painting or washing the brushes when you end your painting.  The size is about 10 cm diameter and 6 cm height. Use two bowls when painting. Fill the bowls to half.

D and E. Diluting-mixing Bowl.

Diluting-mixing bowls are smaller bowls for diluting watercolor taken from the tube or from the watercolor tray. The size is 4.5 cm diameter and 2.5 cm height.

Small plastic or porcelain or melamine bowl to keep sauce are available in the shops. Fill the bowl with pipette  with the water volume according to the concentration of color needed.

F. Watercolor Tray.

Watercolor plastic trays are sold in many stationery shops. Watercolor squeezed from the tube is put in this tray. In the Third Wash colors from the tray are often be used with addition of little water and no dilutions.

G. Watercolor.

Various trade marks of watercolor are sold in the stationery shops like Guitar, Marie, Sakura and Pentel.All are not expensive.   

H. Brushes.

Choose brushes with springy  synthetic hairs. Synthetic haired brushes are much cheaper than animal haired but are less convenient to use. For the smallest brush I recommend you to use animal haired brushes

I. Additional Brush.  

An additional brush is a big brush 10 cm wide which originally is for wall painting. This brush is used for cleaning the paper from rubber eraser remains which are still cling on the paper. This brush is not for painting. 

J. White Poster Color Bowl.   

            It is suggested that painting with transparent watercolor should avoid using excessive white poster color since it will make the painting muddy. But small amount of white poster color to make the painting neat is  acceptable.

K. Pipette.

Small pipette of 1 ml volume with rubber squeezer can be bought from the dispensaries. This pipette is used for putting small amount of water on the paint put on the tray or on the mixing bowls in the Second or Third Wash Stage.  

Cotton Rag.  

Cotton rag from used T-shirt or towel are useful for absorbing exessive water hung in the brush hairs.  Don’t press  watercolor brushes with the rag since the hairs are very delicate and this can ruined your brushes.

Base for Drawing.

Triplex base for drawing which can be rotated and tilted on your lap or on your table is very convenient.  The base size should be suitable with the most often sizes of your paintings, for instance 35 cm x 35 cm.   

Picture can be tilted or rotated in many directions you like thus make the painting  processes more easily conducted.

Regards to all readers
Type Sardjono Angudi on the Google to read another stories written by jongki.angudi@g mail.com
12/2011

EXAMPLES WITH SUBSTANDARD TOOLS and MATERIALS

                                                                            Picture 2: Tea pot and vegetable.

 Picture 3:The Headquarter of Siliwangi  Military  Territory III. Formerly was the mansion of the Commander in Chief of the Dutch  Army in East Indie. Paleis van den Legercommandant  was built 1918. The square  was Insulinde Park, now is Taman Lalu Lintas (Wadjah Bandoeng Tempo Doeloe, H. Kunto, 1985).

 Picture 4:  Gedung Sabau was built in 1916-1920, by architects Ir. F.J.L. Ghijsel, Ir. H. Von Essen dan F. Stolz pada 1918. Formerly it was Departement van Oorlog/ War Department Now is Training, Education and Development of the Army. (Wadjah Bandoeng Tempo Doeloe, H. Kunto, 1985)

 Picture 5 : Gedung Sate in  1925. Formerly was named Gouvernements Bedrijven (GB) built in  1920 by Ir. J. Gerber , Kol. Genie V. L. Slors dan Ir. G. Hendriks. (Semerbak Bunga di Bandung Raya, H. Kunto, 1986)

                                                                 Picture 6:  Bandung Municipal Building  2001

                                                                                    Picture 7: Jatinangor 2001

Picture 3, 4 and 5 are from  black & white photoes in books  written by H. Kunto. Repainted  in watercolor  by Sardjono Angudi.

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