TEN THINGS TO REMEMBER ABOUT WATERCOLOR...

1. Transparency, brilliance, and subtlety make it the most popular medium.

2. New pigmentation means colors can be safely intermixed.

3. The series number on the tube reflect the cost of the pigment, not its permanence.

4. Artist quality watercolors go further than student grade.

5. Watercolor has been made fro Gum Arabic, glycerin, ox gall, preservative and pigment since. 1832.

6. Using paint fresh from the tube gives a more luminous look to the paint, even though the dried paint in your palette can be reused.

7. Characteristics of watercolor can be changed by the addition of such mediums as Ox Gall or Gum Arabic.

8. Watercolors should be FRAMED behind glass, and never varnished.

9. Masking fluid can be used to protect paper or dried watercolor when other colors are applied, but rinse your brush immediately , and remove the masking from your paper as soon as possible.

10. Artist quality watercolor has higher pigment strength and a wider color range.

Our thanks to authors: David Pyle, Emma Pearce, and Bob Gamblin for their kind permission to reprint (with modifications) this article, first presented to NAMTA in 1995.

A good basic choice of colors (as recommended by our watercolor teacher Marilyn Tracy) is: Cadmium Yellow, Yellow Ochre, Thalo Green, Olive Green, Ultramarine Blue, Cerulean Blue, Rose Madder, and Vermillion.

WATERCOLOR BRANDS WE CARRY: Cotman, Winsor & Newton Artist, Van Gogh, and Windsor & Newton Designer Gouache.

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