Hello
Welcome to the FLOAT-YOUR-PIGMENT Newsletter #308,
Yes I am back up in Minnesota to get my second vaccine shot and to take some great photograph shots!
When it comes to my paint-a-longs I have to admit I didn't think it would get as popular as it has. Every week more and more people come to watch and paint. It's very gratifying to watch all these artist try their hand at the paint-a-longs and coming up with some really great paintings. To show off your paint-a-long paintings
Yes to Class with Sue Macfarlan at the Civic Center in Libertyville April 15th 1pm to 3:30pm
NO to Class at The Studio in McHenry April 17th
I have come to realize that I have never talked about a very important tool that you need to use when working in watercolor. That tool would be the pencil. As I am typing up this newsletter I realized that the pencil is a very important tool in the watercolor drawing process and yet I don't think I had ever been taught which pencil to use and how to use the pencil. I guess we all assume that since we have used a pencil for probably most of our life, starting at a very young age, that
we already know how to use a pencil. And yes you do probably know how to use a pencil but nowadays there are so many options you can choose from that I just want to update you on what is available and what I feel works best for me when drawing different parts in the watercolor process.
There are basically 2 times you use a pencil when going through the process of painting in watercolor. The first is when you are drawing up a value study and the 2nd is when you do a line drawing on your watercolor paper of what you are going to paint watercolor on top of.
let's start with the value study or a thumbnail sketch (which is basically a small value sketch). For these sketches and drawings, I like to use a soft lead that is thick and that you can get very dark with so I use a pencil in the B ratings. Pencils come in different hardnesses with the most common and the middle rated being the HB pencil or the #2 school pencil that you probably have used most of your life. For a softer pencil, you go with the B series starting with a B and going all
the way to a 9B then there is the H side where the pencils get a hard lead core all the way to a 9H. There is also an F-rated pencil and that stands for the pencil being able to get a fine point.
There are also mechanical pencils where you buy the lead to put into the pencil and they come in different thicknesses along with different hardness's starting with the thinnest being 0.2 and going up to a 5.6 for the thickest, see chart below.
For drawing onto your watercolor paper I recommend you use an HB or #2 pencil. If you use too hard a lead it scratches the paper and if you use a soft lead it smudges and gets lead all over your paper. using a middle-rated HB or #2 is perfect for line drawing on watercolor paper.
Below I will show you the products that are available for the different kinds of pencils manufacturers make these days.
These woodless pencils that come in soft lead are great for sketching up a value study, but I wouldn't use them for sketching up your watercolor drawing on your watercolor paper because they would be too soft and not get a great fine point. The Ebony pencil is a great pencil for doing the value study because it get a great range of value from a very light shade to a really dark black shade and it is a very thick lead pencil. There are also mechanical pencils like the one pictured above where you buy the lead to fit into the pencil. This is a 5.6 thickness lead that is also probably a soft lead. These types of mechanical pencils take the smaller thickness leads.
there are the mechanical pencils that come with the lead already inside them and have extra for when you run out of lead. I recommend that you use either a 0.5 or 0.7 HB for drawing on your watercolor paper.
The #2 school pencil is a great pencil for drawing on your watercolor paper but I don't recommend ever using the eraser on that pencil... instead always use a kneaded eraser. Also get yourself a great sharpener if you are gonna use a wood pencil or a woodless
pencil.
BeckerArt Live in Person WORKSHOPS and DEMOS of 2021
WORKSHOP Michigan Water Color Society, Battle Creek, MI. June 1st, 2nd and 3rd POSTPONED TO 2022
WORKSHOP Dillman's, Lac Du Flambeau, W/C, Wisconsin, June28th - July 1st INFO HERE
WORKSHOP Thousand Island Arts Center, W/C, Clayton NY Aug 10,11,12 INFO HERE
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You will need a good pencil sharpner if you are using a wood or woodless pencil. BUY HERE
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Francesco Fontana... spotted this artists name on the AWS website. His works remind me a lot of when I was working in advertising....His work has that crisp look!
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FREE BeckerArt Paint-a-long
photo by tj-holowaychuk of pixabay.com
BECKERART DAILY PAINTINGS
Original Watercolor Paintings
Daily paintings are available for purchase, on sale $150 now $90 dollars, order on my website.
The sales of these original paintings will help me keep my art business going.
Thank you in advance if you purchase one!
Click HERE to buy my original daily painting below or there are 100s of others
Shop Amazon and help me fund this newsletter by clicking the logo below to go to Amazon Thank You! If you are looking to help me fund my BeckerArt business during this Pandemic may I suggest purchasing a daily painting and for those that want to help my small business stay in business click the Donate button below. For those wishing to send a donation you can do it to:
BeckerArt 3316 Pearl Street, McHenry, IL.60050
THANK YOU!
For any other info please email me at david@davidrbecker.com
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