[Steppes] Illuminators' charts party?
Elaine
eshc at earthlink.net
Fri Aug 7 10:40:34 PDT 2009
Perhaps you need to find a copy of "The Wilcox Guide to the Best
Watercolor Paints" by Michael Wilcox. Published by Artways and
showing a copyright of 1991 and ISBN 0 89134 409 8.
Is the precise information you looking for about lightfastness,
graininess, opacity, matte surface, trueness of the color, toxicity,
cost, tackiness after having dried, ease of brushing, quirks when
mixing with another color, the binders used, country of origin,
reliability of product........etc.? There are myriads of of details
to sort through when comparing paints. Unfortunately, the list
approaches "interminable" the longer you deal with paints!
Most people find one brand and stick with it for the most part.
That's handy when you want to organize something on the order of a
wine-tasting party.
The handiest thing I have done was to get with other painters and pre-
print comparison-boxes test sheets for each color/brand, the group
had available that meeting. It's turned into a nice reference book of
the tests made out of the paper we usually painted on. One box was
flooded with the color, and a rectangle beside it started with the
full color and watered down as the stroke approached the far side of
the rectangle, thereby showing its graininess and covering power,
Each set of boxes and rectangles were noted as to the manufacturer
and any information shown on the tube or jar, plus any comments about
how it handled. Having the same color on a page with different
manufacturers was very informative.
Using the test charts through the years has kept me from having to re-
invent the wheel every time I picked up a brush. (a post-Period
malapropism)
Another chart I made on my own was to flood labeled colors in to long
rectangles and to tape black construction paper over half of the
rectangle. Then I exposed it for several weeks to the Texas summer
sun. At the end of the test, I carefully removed the cover and noted
the fugitive (fading) nature of the color. That chart, too, went into
my "alchemist's ringbinder."
I accumulated a lot of other pages of tests in the past years. The
ringbinders are rather thick now and would be difficult to quote,
besides, it was done years ago and the formulas may have been altered
by now. Nothing like "new and improved" to make your studies
obsolete! ;-)
Some colors are really quirky---it is rumored that the watercolor
"Antwerp Blue" will fade if left hanging near a window, but the color
will return if put into a dark area like a closet. Never tried that,
but I like the hue. I just don't use it on important things. I want
my work to always speak well of me. One of my favorite guiding lights
for work is:
"People forget how fast you did a job, but they remember how well you
did it."
(Look at Durer--work lasting hundreds of years. I haven't heard for
sure how fast he was.)
YIS,
HL Lete Bithespring
.......................................................
On Au 7, 2009, at 8:30 AM, Michelle Dodd wrote:
>
> All the info I have received has been very interesting and I thank
> everyone who answered. As I said in my message, I had cut and paste
> from ebay. Apparently I should have Cut more. I was aware that
> there is a great difference between acrylic and gouache. I was
> trying to ask for opinions of the brands Winston Newton and Holbein.
>
>
> Gabriele
>
>
> The pursuit of truth and beauty is a sphere of activity in which we
> are allowed to remain children all our lives. (Albert Einstein)
>
>
>
>
>
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