Chris Carter

Watercolor Technique - Pulling the Puddle Part Three: Changing Colors

Pulling Puddles reveals a great deal about the paper you use as well as the paints you are using. Did you find that some pigments were easier to pull than others? It appears that you used two different papers. Do you prefer one over the other? I, too, drag my finger through a wet spot on occasion, especially if I allow my mind to wander.

Yes, the paper makes a huge difference. These are on 100% cotton and a 25% cotton paper. No more wood pulp. I precut both types and have them ready to go. I prefer the 100% cotton 300gsm. It feels so much nicer and I think it looks softer, which I like. The paper seems to embrace the pigments so much better. I found the oranges and greens easier to pull. I struggled with the blue and the violet. I just purchased a set of better paints. These are painted with my student et which is the first set I purchased one year ago when I started painting. I can't want until it arrives so I can see how some nicer quality paints respond.

Ahhh.  I think you will love the better grade pigments.  the student grade usually has less pigment and more filler which often means that paint slides around more on the paper rather than impregnating the paper fibers.  You will also find that mixing blues and cool reds, even with professional grade paints will have a tendency to separate because of the kind of pigment particles they are made from.  this can be taken advantage of with certain techniques.  This is also why it is an excellent practice to make test strips of your pigments to keep as reference in a sketchbook ... listing the name of the pigment, and the manufacturer.  Make notes regarding the transparency, saturation, tendency toward warm or cool of the hue and the granulation characteristics.
Regarding the paper ... pigment will settle into the texture of the papers.  That's why you see a pattern in the background, table and pears of the left sketch and you don't see that pattern in the right sketch.  You will discover your preferences and begin to choose your paper, not just for the quality but also for the surface.
You are definitely on the right track.

Here are my class 3 exercises. There I parts I prefer in each one. I did two washes in a couple of places because I kept on dragging my finger through the wet paint lol.
<img srcset="https://static.skillshare.com/uploads/project/34ddd23d9b0a9a6a920de02ed61831be/ce4238a7.jpg 600w, https://static.skillshare.com/uploads/project/34ddd23d9b0a9a6a920de02ed61831be/ce4238a7.jpg 1000w" sizes="(max-width: 600px) 600px, 100vw" src="https://static.skillshare.com/uploads/project/34ddd23d9b0a9a6a920de02ed61831be/ce4238a7.jpg" loading="lazy" alt="Plenty of pears- 3 - image 1 - student project">

Plenty of pears- 3

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