Table of Contents
1 Understanding a Watercolor
Basic Concepts
The Nature of Pigments 10
Mineral Pigments 10
Organic Pigments 10
Granularity 12
Coloring Strength 12
Transparency and Opacity 13
Monopigment Colors 14
Variations in Shading between Brands 14
Lightening a Color 15
Painting Techniques 16
Wet-on-Wet 17
Wet-on-Dry 17
Techniques for Mixing Colors 17
Paper 18
Grain 18
Quality 18
Weight 19
Presentation of the Colors 20
Yellow PY154-Isaro Yellow Light 23
Yellow PY110-Saffron Yellow 24
Yellow PY129-Chartreuse Yellow 25
Yellow PY42 or PYi3-Yetlow Ocher 26
Red PR255-Scarlet Red 27
Red PR264-Pyrrole Red Deep 28
Red PR122-Isaro Rose 29
Blue PB29-Ultramarine Blue 31
Blue PB15:3-Phtala Blue 32
Blue PB35 or PB36-Cerulean Blue 33
The Basic Palette, by Manufacturer 35
2 Experimenting with Color Mixing
A Theoretical Approach
Expanding the Range of Primary Colors 38
Blues 38
Reds 39
Yellows 40
Creating the Range of Secondary Colors-41
Implementation 41
Greens 42
Violets 51
Oranges 58
Creating a Range of Essential Colors 65
Indigo 66
Payne's Gray 68
Van Dyke Brown 70
Sepia 71
Olive Green 72
Chinese Orange 73
3 Creating Thematic Palettes
Targeted Practice
Painting a Floral Composition 76
In Harmonious Warm Colors-Marie Boudon 77
In Harmonious Cool Colors-Marie Boudon 79
Painting a Landscape 82
In Green Tones-Manù 83
In Autumnal Tones-Manù 86
The Mediterranean Coast-Manù 90
The Atlantic Coast-Manù 94
A Cityscape-Manù 97
In the Snow-Fablen Petillion 100
Painting a Portrait 102
With Fair Skin Tones-Fabien Petillion 103
With Olive Skin Tones-Fabien Petillion 104
With Dark Skin Tones-Fabien Petillion 107
Painting Animals 109
A Cat-Cindy Barillet 110
A Dog-Cindy Barillet 112
A Parrot-Cindy Barillet 114
A Goldfish-Cindy Barillet 116
An Aquatic Environment-Cindy Barillet 117
4 An Analysis of Five Paintings
Global Practice
A Floral Composition-Fabien Petillion 122
Drafting and Composition 123
Coloring 123
A Rural Landscape-Fabien Petillion 125
Drafting and Composition 126
Coloring 126
An Urban Setting-Fabien Petillion 129
Drafting and Composition 130
Coloring 130
A Portrait-Fabien Petillion; 132
Drafting and Composition 133
Coloring 133
An Animal Portrait-Fabien Petillion 136
Drafting and Composition 137
Coloring 137
Resources 141
Bibliography 142
About the Authors 143