Watercolor Pears

Top two pears done on 300 pound cold press paper (5x5). bottom left pear done on hot press 140 pound paper (5x5), bottom right pear on Auqabee 90 pound sketch book paper and little 2x2 on 140 pound cold press paper. Haven't done watercolor for a while so there was a lot choice words flying around in 10 minute segments !

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Albums: Workshop5 (2nd Album)

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Comment by Jane Albin on January 28, 2012 at 15:43: Wow. Thanks Dania! This is great information. Thanks for being so detailed. I am going to clean out my big palette and try your set up. (I have been meaning to clean it out soon anyhow.) Thank you for sharing.

I really like the colors you use. I think I have to adjust my palette. I use tube paints also, but recently got a set of transparent FineTec (Germany) watercolors in a box. I've just been trying them out. It is like kids' paint for adults. :)

Comment by Dania Bree on January 28, 2012 at 14:35: Suzy, Nancy and Marta,

Thank You, Thank You, for your comments - you've given me incentive to try more watercolors !

Jane and Nancy,

I use a 17 well palette and my colors are: Cad Yel Lt., Cad Org., Cad Red Lt., Aliz Crim., Perm. Rose, Cobalt Violet, Olive Green, Windsor Green,Yel Ochre, Raw Umber, Burnt Umber, Burnt Sienna, Paynes Grey, Windsor Blue, Ultramine Blue, Cobalt Blue and Cerulean Blue and they are tube paints. When I first started this palette I put a drop or two of glycerine in each well with an eye dropper and stirred each color with a popsicle stick. If I wasn't using the palette for a while (maybe a coulpe of weeks) I would check the paint and spray some water in the wells and let them sit for a bit and get my popsicle stick out and stir each color again. When I was painting more watercolors I would maintain the paint so I always had somewhat thick mixtures. If I traveled with this palette of course I had to make sure it didn't tip. If I had not used the palette until the mixture started to dry out, I would then squeeze in more paint and another drop or two of glycerine. It was always best to maintain the paint this way because it is much nicer to use wet juicy paint. When I did my pears I hadn't used my watercolor palette for 6-9 months so I sprayed the well real good and let them sit for about a half hour. Because I had glycerine in them, they returned to a soupy state when I used my brush to swoosh them around. If I do more watercolors in our workshops I think I am going to add new paint to the wells and another drop of glycerine and break out my popsicle stick and work them into nice thick pools again. It will take a little time to smooth all the wells but worth the effort. Hope this information helps. Let me know if you have any other questions.

Comment by Suzy Johnson on January 28, 2012 at 12:20: These are all lovely colors and composition

Comment by Jane Albin on January 28, 2012 at 2:49: Nancy and Dania, Yes I am interested in how you use glycerine too. I always added it to tempera paints. (but that was a long time ago.) How do you determine how much to add to watercolors? Are you using pan or tube colors ? Thanks for any info. Jane

Comment by Nancy Sands on January 27, 2012 at 19:23: Just reading your comments, I noticed that you add glycerine to your watercolors. How does that work? I also sometimes work in that medium. That sounds interesting.

Comment by Nancy Sands on January 27, 2012 at 19:20: Beautiful!

Comment by Montalvo on January 24, 2012 at 7:07: Great job! I can see every plane in the molding of your pears. Watercolors?? WOW! Love the different color values. Great blending of color.

Comment by Jane Albin on January 24, 2012 at 3:28: Thanks for the additional info. Can you let me know what colors are in your palette. I am always rethinking my palette set up in watercolors and trying new palettes. Right now I have 4 different ones I work with in watercolors. I always seem to return to my Pike palette because it has the big mixing area.

Comment by Dania Bree on January 23, 2012 at 16:42: Hi Jane,

Yeah, I was afraid of trying this to. I have a full spectrum palette that I pull out every now and then. Instead of adding more paint, I just sprayed the wells with water and let them sit for a bit. I already had added glycerine to them when I was using them before to keep them moist. Even when they dry out the water spray can bring them back to life. I did mix some pools before I set the timer. It was still really challenging. I kind of stayed with similar colors that I used for my pears in oil. It might have helped me a little in making some quick judgements. Thanks so much for your comments.

Comment by Jane Albin on January 23, 2012 at 14:55: These are great. I was afraid to attempt this challenge in watercolor. Did you use a limited palette? The colors and shading are really beautiful.