Materials

My attitude toward materials may be summed up by paraphrasing the old adage that just as you can't be a good carpenter without good tools, so you can't be a good watercolorist without good materials.

Even the beginner, who must spoil and throw away a lot of paper, should not start off with too cheap a grade of paper. Adequate machine-made rag-content papers are available for practice. However, as soon as possible, the beginner should switch to a good handmade paper. Such paper not only takes paint better but shows up whiter at those times when the paper becomes an integral part of the design, such as when painting snow scenes.

It also pays to be consistent in the grade of paper you choose. This makes it possible to evaluate your work as you progress. After you've learned to achieve a certain effect on one grade of paper and find that it doesn't work on another grade, you'll understand the importance of this point. By using the same grade, you can, under ideal conditions, achieve the same effect rather consistently.

Paper designations, such as 300-pound rag, must puzzle many people. It is best explained by starting with the ABC's of paper measure, as follows: 1 quire is 25 sheets; 1 ream is 20 quires or 500 sheets. A ream of ordinary typewriter paper contains 500 sheets and weighs, at most, a few pounds. A ream of watercolor paper also contains 500 sheets, but the weight may vary from 72 pounds to 400 pounds, depending on the thickness of the paper.

In the beginning you may want to use a lightweight unmounted paper, say 72 pounds. However, you will soon discover that it will tend to buckle when heavy washes are applied. The resulting wrinkles can be most disconcerting when you are trying to paint reasonably straight objects such as telephone poles, fence posts, and piles. I have found the 300-pound weight to be nearly wrinkle-proof.

In choosing paper you must also consider its texture. Surfaces from very smooth to rough are available. Selection is usually based on the technique employed by the artist. I use the rough paper almost exclusively because I find it of great help in softening edges, creating textures, etc. I prefer the 300-pound d'Arches rough or the 300-pound AWS rough. The d'Arches has a slightly yellowish tint, whereas the AWS is pure white. Both are handmade and of the same high quality.

Sandpaper it used chiefly for scratching off paint in areas where more white is needed.

Masking tape is used to cover those areas of a painting that you wish either to leave as white paper or to pain, later on. Maskoid serves the same purpose for small areas (see page 58).

Butter knives are very useful as tools and, because o their blunt edges, are particularly handy for scraping off paint softly for textural effects.

The handmade paper craft is a fascinating one and, to the artist, most important. D'Arches and AWS papers are made in Europe. The AWS paper I speak of is sponsored by the American Watercolor Society. It is being made for our Society in England and will be handled by the Stevens-Nelson Paper Corporation. The American Water-color Society, which is now nearing a century of championing the cause of American watercolors, subjected this paper to the most exacting tests before accepting it. It is made in weights up to 400 pounds to the ream and bears the watermark AWS.

Although paper comes in various sizes, the one most commonly used is 22 inches by 30 inches and is known in the trade as "Imperial" and to artists as a full sheet. Another common size is the half sheet, which is 22 inches by 15 inches.

Although there are many colors of fine quality available, I find that for my work Rembrandt colors are the most satisfactory (see palette on page IS). I use the following watercolor brushes: 2½-inch second grade camel hair and 1-inch Grumbacher aquarelle which are flat; 1-inch, ½-inch and ¼-inch short-hair flat bristle brushes, made for oil painting; numbers 12, 8, 5, and 2 red sable Winsor & Newton or Grumbacher round watercolor brushes.

Additional equipment needed by the wa-tercolorist are a soft cosmetic sponge (fine-textured and natural—not rubber) ; a water container (see page 22) ; paint rags; sandpaper ; sketch pad; masking tape; hand mirror ; a low sketching stool; kneaded and sand erasers; HB, 2B, and 6B pencils; drawing board; tube of rubber cement; Maskoid; paint-box; mat knife; and butter knife.

Much of the above equipment is demonstrated in use on pages 10 through 15. A 5-inch by 7-inch sketch pad is another useful adjunct to the sketching trip for thumbnail sketches preliminary to working on the main picture or for pictures to be finished back in the studio. This also serves as a record of the amount of work you have done during the year.

Mat knives are used for nicking and scraping paint areas to bring out white accents.

Cosmetic sponges are used for wetting areas of the paper before brushwork and for deleting effects not want I even paint with them sometimes.

Paint rags, like sponges, are necessary adjuncts to the painting trip and are used for wiping brushes, altering cloud effects, etc.

A hand mirror is of great use in looking at your pictures reversed. This aids you in seeing many things which are not immediately apparent when you look at the picture in its original position. It shows you how well your picture is balanced and how well it is tied together. It also doubles your distance, shows how the picture will look when hung on the wall, and helps you to find the best place to put your signature.

The low sketching stool is recommended because working is easier when sitting near the ground. Actually, I prefer to sketch or paint outdoors while in a kneeling position. You can use a watercolor easel if you like, but I think you will find my method easier, and it eliminates the extra equipment.

The kneaded eraser is useful because with it you can correct your pencil sketch without affecting the texture of the paper.

The glare of sunlight on white paper is perhaps the greatest problem in painting outdoors. Rarely will you find the point from which you want to paint conveniently shaded. Umbrellas are cumbersome and, with all other necessary equipment, a downright nuisance. I use Polariod sunglasses as a solution to the above problem because this glass has no adverse effect on color or values. Paintings I've done outdoors wearing Polariod glasses have reduced eye strain and are exactly the same as I would have done had I been able to work in a shaded spot. In a sense, polarized glasses are an aid to outdoor painting because they pull together light and dark values and simplify the masses. They can be purchased from any good optical house, but those who wear corrective glasses should have them made from their own prescriptions.

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