Palettes Pt.3

Previously I have posted three pieces on palettes, Pts.1 & 2 and `The Craig Young Experience'. This 3rd part was prompted by the enormous interest in the subject and a feeling clarification was desirable. Pt.3 covers empty metal palettes, the principle alternatives to the superb but expensive hand-made Craig Young offerings.

Palettes exist for watercolour by the dozen in plastic, ceramic, aluminium, and there are several types of metal ones, but here I am concerned with Fome, Holbein, the cheaper Scminke type, which appear either with other logos or unmarked. Whether these later come from one basic source or several isn't clear. Prices do vary so quality may also be variable. I've also included the Spanish V.Piera paintbox.

 Scminke 12 Tubes

 36 Half or 18 full pans

48 Half of 24 Full Pans

Alternative (No Logo)

You will note on this last photo the smallest box. This takes 12 half pans or 6 Full Pans. With any of these you can mix and match full and half pans. You can either buy pan paints or empty pans and fill with your choice of tube paints. There are offerings slightly different to the above with a silver rather then black outer finish. Most mail order specialists, Jacksons, Bromley, Great Art sell one or other of the above types. Prices vary  for example with Jacksons the smallest starts at £12.50  to £19 for the 48 pan. Great Art however are even cheaper at £8.60 to £15.65p. Bromley, again unmarked as are the others, go from £15.47 to £24.95p. Quality of these boxes appear similar. They are fine but with hard use after a year or two rust can appear. That's my experience as I have had several. I have a filled Scminke box which was given to me as a present and I can see little difference to the unmarked boxes. 

We now come to Fome and Holbein and I will cover the former first. Up until quite recently I had never heard of Fome, `an Italian company with  a good reputation for the quality of it's products'. They offer several different empty boxes but are not easy to find. I contacted Fome and asked them where I could obtain their products in the UK. I received a prompt reply and t was told I could buy their metal boxes from:

COLOURFUL ARTS

14A Orgreave Close, Dore House Ind.

S13 9NP SHEFFIELD. Tel: 0044 114 288 0777

And

COLART FINE ART & GRAPHICS LTD.

Whitefriars Avenue

HA3 5RH HARROW, Middlesex. Tel: 0044 208427 4343

I suspect they may have thought I was making a trade enquiry because COLART are the company that owns Windsor & Newton. This more or less confirms that the heavy duty filled metal paint boxes (they also offer a lighter, cheaper sort) are made by Fome. The telephone numbers above appear to be those as if phoning from Italy with a country prefix. 

This is the largest Fome box available from Great Art at

£133.40p. It has 48 wells, each with a capacity of 15ml! One for the big brush artists.

Three of the smaller Fome boxes

This completes the range. Some of the above may be duplicated but you can see all are individually numbered.

My pick would be the 12 full pan box 2096. There is adequate space in the centre for more empty pans which would need to be kept in place with a fixative of some sort. A palette of 20 to 30 colours, a mix of half and full pans is easily accommodated in this box. What do Fome boxes cost and where can you get them? Heaton Cooper www.heatoncooper.com/ sell Fome  and they are very well illustrated on the website. Click on `Accessories' and then `empty metal palettes'. Artifolks http://www.artifolk.co.uk/ also appear to sell three Fome boxes. I say this because the website shows three illustrations but clicking on the link only brings up the smallest from £49.99p. Consideration should also be given to buying one of the Windsor & Newton heavy duty filled boxes. They are terrific value for money given the value of the paint alone and are perfect for plein air painting.

We now come to Holbein, long considered of superior quality and priced accordingly. I say this in the knowledge that it is perfectly possible to buy serviceable plastic palettes for 50p. They might stain over a period but at 50p does this matter. When this becomes a problem throw them away and buy another? I find Cif will keep them clean of most stains and also use this on my hand-made palettes.

Holbein 250 31/2" x 8"

Holbein 350 4" x 81/4"

Holbein 500 41/2" x 101/2"

These are three of the four Holbein offerings.The missing one is the 1000 model, the largest at 5 1/2" x 12". Prices vary but Jacksons are £31.60 for the 350 rising to £62.10p for the 1000. Holbein are good quality and used by many professionals. Charles Reid used a Holbein until  the  hand-made Craig Young boxes arrived . Availability has also improved recently. My main concern about the Holbein is the layout of the paint wells. When closed one lot are upside down. Several tube colours do not solidify fully and if the wrong way up will cause a huge mess. You need to be very careful about this.

The final metal palette I want to cover is the Spanish V.Piera paintbox. I first saw it at my 2008 Catalonia painting course with Charles Reid. Some of the Spanish participants were using them and we were given the chance to buy one at roughly £18. Several were ordered but failed to materialise prior to the course ending. Just as well considering how many palettes I already had. 

The V.Piera Paintbox

The centre is removable.

I am indebted to my friend Robert Armas for providing details as follows. The box is marketed by Art Materials S.A, located in Barcelona and mainly sold in that city through the well known Vincent Piera store, known as V.Piera hence the  name. There are three colour options, white grey and black with enamelled white inside. It is a heavyweight at 600 grams, open measurements 30.5cm x 19cm x 1cm. The 16 wells are very large , holding a considerable amount of paint, and are ideal for very large brushes, either rounds or flats.

Several Wetcanvas members have obtained them, some through Robert who has relatives over there. The main problem being carriage charges from Spain. This is also a problem for UK artists with carriage charges quoted almost as much as the cost of the box itself which is around £18.00 ($20 USA). As with so many things they are made in China.

Although initially enthusiastic Robert changed his mind, after finding problems, with the enamelled finish prone to chipping and scratching. Robert has since bought a Holbein because the finish is baked enamel rather than painted on as in the V.Piera. Nevertheless a great value box.

I'm not sure what availability is like in the USA, although both Holbein and some Fome boxes are available. I'll try and find out more and post the information in the final ` Palette Roundup'.

The Craig Young Experience

Craig Young has become famous in the World of Watercolour as the maker of very special hand-made paintboxes. How did this come about? Craig was always interested in making models of various sorts, micromodels and also aircraft. He graduated from University and studied Metallurgy, initially being employed in the research department of the motor giant Ford. Later he worked for ICI, where he was involved with metal, plastics and paints.

 In about the early 90's he became interested in watercolour painting and decided to enrol on a course with the famous British watercolourist, the late James Fletcher-Watson. When on the course he noticed JFW's paintbox, a venerable antique, which had been repaired many times and went back fifty years! James told him he had asked both Winsor and Newton and Daler Rowney to make some of these old style paintboxes but both refused. I should add that at one time there were several distinctive old designs, made by, amongst others, Winsor & Newton, but they have been unavailable for many years. When they occasionally turn up at antique sales they command high prices.

This got Craig thinking and he thought he would have a shot at making one. He decided to use brass instead of tin as it was easier to solder and did not corrode. For the first one he encountered all sorts of problems, tried different soldering tecniques and also paints, overcoming the difficulties by seeking specialist advice. The paint he uses is one from the garage trade which includes a hardener. This all took several months before success was achieved and that was with the first box! The initial boxes were all in black but other colours have since been introduced and proved more popular. At this time he was still working for ICI and made the boxes at weekends in his garage. First years production was 12 units.

Naturally James Fletcher-Watson was the first customer and the Fletcher-Watson palette was the first box. After several years, at 57, he was offered early retirement, and jumped at the chance although he afterwards did consultancy work for Manchester University.

With James Fletcher-Watson promoting his palette orders began to come in. One day he received a call from a lady wanting to order a box, purporting to represent the Duchess of York. He thought it was a hoax  but later received a call from JFW saying had he received any contact about this. It turned out she was having private painting lessons with JFW and he had recommended Craig.

The Fletcher-Watson

.Craig is a keen artist and he believes this has helped considerably as he understands and is interested in talking to other artists. Following his experience with Fletcher-Watson he heard about John Yardley and duly went on one of his annual courses. Once again he noticed that John was using an old battered paintbox of a distinctive design.This relic was an old famous box known as a Roberson. He decided to try and make a replica which proved much more difficult than his first, due mainly to the oval recessed wells of the old design. However this man is nothing if not persistent and after much trial and error the problems were overcome. Craig became friendly with John Yardley and has been attending his courses for 17 years. He says they are more of a social occasion these days with several other friends, like professional artists Judi Whitton, Steve Hall and Don Glynn, regular attendees.

Then came Charles Reid. Craig heard about Charles and booked one of his courses in America! During the course Charles came to look at his work and noticed his paintbox. He picked it up and proclaimed to the class he had been looking for something like this for years. Craig also became friendly with Charles and Judi Reid and for a few years organized his UK courses, although this has now been taken over by Jane Duke. Charles has four of these hand-made beauties!

Once again word of mouth recommendations, and other artists seeing the palettes, has led to repeat orders from all over the World, especially the USA which accounts for 50% of the total. Many famous people who paint have them including the singer Tony Bennett, the actor Gene Wilder, both friends of the Reid's, and some important corporate figures. Steven Spielbergs wife has one. Each box incidentally has an engraved plaque with name or initials on it. This is the only bit of the box that Craig doesn't make personally.

The Small Paintbox

The Large Paintbox 6 oval wells instead of 4, and 20 paint wells instead of sixteen

The Sketcher's Box Judi Whitton has a `special' with 20 paint wells.

My three treasured boxes, The Paintbox, Palette and  Sketcher's Box,

two in British Racing Green the other brass.

As above but open.

I contacted Craig this week and asked a number of questions which he kindly answered.  In making the palettes he uses a cold curing modified epoxy paint, together with a hardener. It is sprayed on and cures in around 30 mins at 60 Deg C. Despite being urged over the years to buy specialized equipment and get a small workshop, he has resisted this for various reasons. He still does all the work in his garage and uses minimal tools, vice, tin snips and hammer! He does have steel blocks to form boxes around, but dished wells are all hand shaped likewise hinges etc.

Craig produces around 15 boxes a month and prefers to mix the types, rather than do a long run of one particular sort. He has made over 2500 to date and the most popular is the Small Paintbox (Roberson type) with sales approaching 1000. He did make two very small boxes, the Pocket Box and the Sketcher's Box, but now only one, which takes either half pans or tube paint. The Palette Box is a replica of another old type called the Binning Munro. This was used by Trevor Chamberlain who now has the Palette box without the flap as  does David Curtis. When I was on a Charles Reid course in 2008 I noticed he was using a similar box to the Palette one but rather lighter. I'm not sure what the differences are but Craig tells me has sold a number, although not advertised it due to the large number of orders he has for the others. He is open to `special' orders but naturally at a price. I have met quite a few artists with his boxes, and not all are professionals by any means, many amateurs like me. One point that needs to be made is that these boxes are heavy duty, in other words quite heavy compared to the cheap metal ones on the market. This doesn't refer to those made by Holbein and Fome, and the Spanish Viera, which will be covered in another post. 

There has been a great deal of comment on Wetcanvas and also Painters-Online about Craig Young palettes. They do create much interest and some controversy. Those who have them treasure them, while others, for different reasons perhaps, question the need to spend such large sums of money on a painting palette. Other artists would dearly love one but feel unable to make such a large financial commitment. Unfortunately as I have shown niche products, hand-made not an inferior replica mass produced in  China, don't come cheap. Does possession make you a better artist? Of course not but those of us with them can still dream of becoming one.  Craig's website with full details of his product range, prices, delivery times etc is www.watercolorpaintboxcompany.com/

Model Portrait

Last weekend the Guardian colour mag had a lovely cover photo of a beautiful model with fantastic hair. I was so taken with it I decided to try and paint her. Unfortunately due to copyright restrictions I can't show the original photograph so you'll have to use your imagination!

Stage 1 & 2. The drawing and first try at the features.

Hair (!), face and lower area.

THE MODEL! Waterford 16" x 12" Not



She has quite dark skin and striking eyes. As for the hair. Wow! The hair was painted mainly with a combination of Burnt Sienna and Ultramarine Blue mixed partly on the paper. There is a little Burnt Umber, Cerulean Blue and Ultramarine Violet (Rowney PV15) plus some Viridian (Rowney), but the main colours are various mixes of the Burnt Sienna/Ulramarine Blue combination.  The face colour is a mixture of Cadmium Red Light, Yellow Ochre, Quinacridone Gold (PO49) and Quinacridone Rust (Graham PO48). with Ultramarine and Cerulean to darken. The colours in the dress are Ultramarine Violet and Cerulean, heavily diluted. Also small touches of Burnt Umber and Burnt Sienna. I used mainly two brushes. The Isabey Size 6 retractable for the features and Rosemary Size9 Series 33 Kolinsky for most of the rest. I also used a long-handled No 4 W & N Cirrus. Comments welcome.

Viktoria Prischedko (and Slawa too) - Wonderful Artists

This last week I received an e-mail advertising a new book from someone called Kees van Aalst, published by Search Press. The title is `Realistic Abstracts' and the cover had a stunning painting which turned out to be by Viktoria Prischedko. I'd never heard of her but intrigued started `googling'. 
I soon discovered her and her husband's gallery:  www.prischedko.de/  I assume he is her husband. Both are fabulous painters, she paints in watercolour and so may he but I'm not certain. Their styles are different but both paint realistic abstracts. This term defines an abstract painting with some areas of realism. At least that's how I interpret it. I also discovered another site which is an academy in France that runs painting courses where she features this year. It had  another stunning array of her paintings. http://www.mdperrot.com/page-peintre-en-38-prischedko.html

Watercolour by Viktoria Prischedko

Viktoria's Demo

I haven't got permission to post either of these but if asked to do so will remove one or both. As I'm giving both her and MD Perrot a plug perhaps they won't mind.

Apparently Viktoria was born in Moldavia and now lives in Germany. One of the results obtained when I googled her was a link to EPC in Catalonia, where I had the pleasure of painting on a Charles Reid course in 2008. She was a tutor on a course EPC held in Girona and the course notes indicated there would be a German translator present, so I take that to suggest she may not speak English. She appears to be a plein air painter.

The Moulin de Perrot (Academy of fine arts)  say , in the notes about her course, `you will be able to buy from Viktoria the paper and brushes she uses. `Hereafter is a list of what she recommends':

1-Paper-Hahnemuhle 600g 50 x 60cm

2-Brushes-Da Vinci No12,14,20 and 30. Also Schlepper Nos 6 or 8.

3-Colours- lemon yellow, green yellow, transparent orange, perylene violet, French ultramarine and indigo blue.

Regarding paper Hahnemuhle is sold by several UK outlets but I can't find a 600gsm paper in either Jacksons or Great Art so that remains a bit of a mystery. The brush list doesn't specify the exact Da Vinci brush but judging by the sizes quoted it  may be the Cosmotop Mix B round. I've never heard of Schlepper. Note added 17/02/011: Ken Bromley's latest catalogue just arrived lists Hahnemuhle "Leonardo" in 640gsm (300lb) with both Not and Rough surfaces on offer. Price is £26.60p for a pack of five 76cm x 56cm (30" x 22") sheets.  http://www.artsupplies.co.uk/

Colours? Only 6 incredible as that seems given the brilliant colour range in her paintings. If true certainly a great advert for a limited palette. What make(s) does she use? It appears almost certainly to be Windsor & Newton. I'm assuming these are watercolours as the course is called "Watercolor - the lyric magic of landscapes'. Incidentally if you go on the Moulin de Perrot site it looks a fabulous location. The prices seem reasonable but I imagine you'd need to speak French.

As far as I know this artist has written no books (so far) but to my mind illustrates just how many wonderful artists are out there waiting to be discovered. Obviously she is well known on the Continent but not yet in the UK. Her husband Slawa is also a terrific artist with a different more subdued style and a fantastic way with portraits, again combining abstraction with realism. With young British artists like Jean Haines www.jeanhaines.co.uk/ and Kaye Parmenter  www.kayeparmenter.co.uk/ also painting in this abstract/realism style I wonder if we are seeing a new trend?

Top Forty Pigments - Yellows

This is something I planned to do this year starting with yellow. This is heavily based on the researches and recommendations of Bruce McEvoy of Handprint  http://www.handprint.com/HP/WCL/water.html but I have attempted to simplify for those who don't wish to get deeply immersed.  If you do follow the link. Other sources of information are the books by Hilary Page http://hilarypage.com/  and Michael Wilcox http://www.schoolofcolor.com/ , although they are starting to get rather long in the tooth and many new pigments are coming onto the market not covered in these earlier works. Hilary Page does offer upgrades on her website but when I last looked it did not appear to have been altered for a while. Manufacturers websites give good information, Schminke are excellent and you can download a pdf file that gives much more extensive information than most others. http://Schminke.de/fileadmin/downloads/pdf/horadam_aquarelle_d_gb_01_08.pdf 
Amongst commercial sources Dick Blick  http://www.dickblick.com/categories/watercolors give detailed information on the huge  range of watercolours they sell, although you have to follow several links. Another fantastic source of pigment information is http://www.artiscreation.com/ColorCharts.html  Manufacturers offer information in various forms including proper chip charts, some of which can be purchased from suppliers like Jacksons. This as opposed to printed ones that are more freely available. Winsor and Newton do a very good leaflet on their artists watercolours.  Holbein and Schminke also have good literature- if you can find it. The chip charts and most of the printed colour charts don't normally give pigment details but if you search manufacturers websites it is usually there somewhere. Some are easy to find others more difficult.

The starting point is that these should be single pigment paints, which are superior for mixing purposes and clarity. All are reliably lightfast although even here there can be differences between manufacturers. Bruce recommends you do your own lightfastness tests but I don't bother.

Many popular pigments like PY3 and PY97, usually called Lemon Yellow (PY3) or Primary Yellow (PY97) or similar have not been included.  If you are using a yellow that doesn't appear here and you are perfectly happy with it comment by all means but remember I am not setting our `rules' that must be followed nor saying you shouldn't use this or that paint. Bruce McEvoy might but not Peter Ward. There is plenty of information about fugitive paints and most manufacturers rate them accurately but it's often in the small print! Overall there are more than 25 different yellow pigments on the market and this may be a slight underestimate. New ones, as with other colours, appear regularly. Actually if you look at the `artiscreation' link above you'll see the list of yellow pigments is enormous. However I refer primarily to those used for watercolour as listed by Handprint.

Essentially yellows come in three basic groups. Light Yellow (Lemon), Medium and Deep. The general consensus, if having only one on your palette, would be a medium yellow.

Where do we start? The obvious one is Cadmium Yellow which comes in deep/pale/light/lemon and medium hues. Two pigments are closely linked here PY35 and PY37. Incidentally P stands for pigment and Y for yellow. PY35 leans towards green and PY37 towards red. Widely available most leading manufacturers offer two or three versions. Make your choice and take your pick. The toxic nature and opaque quality of the cadmiums is something to be considered.

Next is a newish pigment PY110 tsoindolinone Yellow R, a deep yellow listed currently only by Daniel Smith and Graham. I have bought the Graham version via Lawrence of Hove but not used it yet. It is described as a warm yellow orange. Daniel Smith calls it Permanent Yellow Deep and Graham Indian Yellow (Hue).

We now come to Green Gold PY129 azomethine copper offered by W & N, Rowney, Old Holland as `Golden Green' , Graham as Azo Green and Daniel Smith as `Rich Green Gold'. This is an interesting paint that I have used for a while. It's a cool yellow that ranges in colour, depending on dilution, from yellow green to light yellow. A good one for landscape greens, particularly early in the year. I don't think PY129 can be considered as a standalone yellow but one to add if and when you expand your palette. This is one of the paints referred to as `two-tone'.

PY150 nickel azomethine yellow is another fairly recent pigment currently offered by Daniel Smith and Graham as Nickel Azo Yellow, Winsor and Newton and Schminke as Transparent Yellow. I've tried the W & N version and am not sure about it at all. So there you are Bruce! Winsor and Newton use it as one of the pigments in their Quinacridone Gold paint, a three pigment mixture.

PY153 nickel dioxide yellow. A deep yellow. This is one I use by Rowney  called Indian Yellow. On my most recent courses Charles Reid had added it to his palette as Winsor and Newton New Gamboge. Daniel Smith also offers it as New Gamboge while Sennelier call it Indian Yellow. The original true Indian Yellow, something to do with cow dung (!)I believe is no longer available.

PY154 benzimidazolone yellow H3G. A neutral yellow which Winsor and Newton call Winsor Yellow. Rembrandt offer two paints Azo yellow Light and Azo Yellow Deep, while Sennelier call it Sennelier Yellow Light.

Looking for other sources I see Lukas offer Green Yellow (PY129) and Gamboge (PY153), so being well priced might be worth trying. Amongst the student quality the situation is meagre. W & N Cotman offer PY153 as Gamboge Hue so that might be worth a try and Van Gogh PY154 as Azo Yellow Light. In the USA genuine Cadmiums are part of the Cotman range BUT not in the UK (to Windsor and Newton's shame and I've told them so).

To sum up this isn't an exhaustive study by any means but a taster perhaps for further investigation if you're  interested. There are many more yellow pigments but these have been singled out as outstanding. As I've suggested I'm not yet convinced about PY150 (I've had another look at it and NO I'm not) but Handprint is the place to go because he covers virtually all the currently available yellows and gives a very detailed analysis of each pigment. Some might not agree with his findings but no one else has gone into the subject in such depth. One alternative for a medium yellow is the popular PY97. I have seen different views about this pigment and have used the Maimeri version in the past. Recently I obtained some of the `Try it 'sheets from Daniel Smith.They call it Hansa Yellow Medium. I quite liked it and almost ordered a tube from Jacksons, which I may do at some future stage. Added 19.10.12: I later purchased the Daniel Smith Hansa Yellow Medium and find it excellent. Something that I should have made clear is that you find the pigment information somewhere on the tube of paint. All the major manufacturers put it on their tubes, although  usually it is in  very small print and almost requires a magnifying glass to read! The following website gives good  general information on pigments (and much else). http://www.channeling-winslow-homer.com/

I'll conclude by again pointing out this piece is not meant to be some sort of gospel that everyone should follow. As Bruce McEvoy says different manufacturing tecniques and paint recipes means that the same pigment doesn't appear as an exact homogenous mix across the range of manufacturers. Variations exist and when choosing  personal preference  comes into it. In addition pigments are supplied by several firms and this is a factor in the resulting paint.

There are also other important yellows in the earth colours and they will be covered separately.

Thoughts on Painting Courses

This piece was prompted by receiving, with the latest issue (Feb 2011) of The Artist magazine, a 23 page full colour brochure entitled ART COURSES & HOLIDAYS 2011. Originally I intended to cover ALL the courses I have attended in one hit but realised this would be rather long so am splitting it into three parts. The second and third parts will be `The Judi Whitton Experience' and `The Charles Reid Experience'.  I have done more courses with Judi and Charles, although I did attend three earlier with Trevor Waugh. I have many photographs of these later courses.

First of all be aware that `courses ' and `holidays' in the above context can be two different things or three actually if you include `Summer Schools', offered by a variety of establishments. You need to be clear exactly what you want because many courses are more holiday than painting. The Artist brochure is stuffed with them, both for the UK and abroad and they seem to be proliferating year by year. Prices vary but in general art holidays/courses are quite expensive, some very much so.

 I have heard various stories about fellow artists experiences on some of these courses, some very negative, especially regarding the `tuition' aspect. The proliferation is obviously driven by demand but also for commercial reasons. They are a cash cow for those organizing and profiting from them. I'm not suggesting all are rubbish because that is not the case but sorting the wheat from the chaff is no easy task.To my astonishment a lady who used to attend my AVA group was recently listed as the `Resident Tutor' at an art holiday in Tuscany. To my knowledge she wasn't then a professional and certainly did not stand out as an artist. Perhaps she's an excellent teacher I really don't know but you have to wonder. I may be harsh but  the fact is a majority of those `teaching' art have no formal qualifications to do so. As a result a lot of the teaching is of a recipe formula with tips and tricks featuring heavily. If that is what you want fine but learning should go beyond that.  Certainly beware of those who state `all levels are welcome'. This burgeoning trend  has been extended with many artists, mostly those connected with the SAA (The Society for All Artists), through the extensive mail order catalogue, offering an ever increasing number of special brushes, paints , palettes, videos and much else. all designed to make you paint perfect pictures without difficulty in a flash! I have been on courses with people who had no prior idea of the tutor's style of painting and had done no research before booking. On occasion I expressed  surprise at this but such (critical) comment doesn't always go down well.

Back to my experience which began with Ron Ranson. I should say I initially attended weekly sessions at the local council-run Elsbridge House near my home. This was a lady called June Mills who never ever demonstrated and after a while dissatisfaction led me to an artist, who painted under the name of Mary Shaw, at her lovely studio on the banks of the River Avon in my home village of Saltford. Mary, or to give her real name Andrea Coleman, is an excellent artist primarily in a realistic style in acrylics. She also paints in watercolour using the Yarka range of paints. I met her again recently when she did an evening workshop at my Bathampton group. This was a lovely location, next to the Jolly Sailor pub but once again not really a great learning experience. Most of my time was spent copying paintings from books by Seago and Wesson provided by Andrea. Eventually the time to leave came and I cast about for some serious tuition.

My first port of call was Ron Ranson at another superb location, his lovely home in the Forest of Dean near Lydney.  One advantage  was that Ron had a superb collection of watercolour paintings by many famous watercolourists, as well as those he identified as up and coming. They could be  perused at leisure during breaks. I remember him saying he felt the Australians were leading the way. Several like Greg Allen have come to prominence since that occasion.

 Ron was the first of the artists who used modern marketing tecniques to promote himself, and while he has his critics, some just out of jealousy, is responsible for  thousands of people becoming watercolour painters. His initial book, he has written almost thirty, called something like `Watercolour Painting The Ron Ranson Tecnique',  sold over 350,000 copies which was a record for such a book, which I doubt  has been exceeded.  He lived sufficiently close for me to travel daily and after a one-day workshop I signed up for a 3 day course. It soon became obvious that Ron, who was approaching eighty at the time, had done this many times before and there was an element of going through the motions. The same stories from the one day course were repeated including much of his history - interesting without doubt but not why I was there. Ron's tecnique is based on the use of the hake and this was alien to many (including me). To be blunt it was awful and the paintings I attempted were absolutely dreadful. I wasn't alone and at the end of the course one man had become so frustrated he drove off in a cloud of dust in a furious mood.  The declared aim of many on the course was to `paint looser' but my lesson from that course is that you need to find a tutor to whom you can relate and be careful about changing style in such a drastic way. Ron moved to America a few years ago and his website is  http://www.ronranson.com/ I could say a lot more as Ron was very open about all sorts of things, including other artists, but will leave it at that!

 My continued search for the right tutor led  eventually to Trevor Waugh. I rang his studio and spoke to his then wife who on being queried stated very firmly `it isn't a holiday'. That was it I signed up and started the first at his studio at Great Barrington, Oxfordshire. This was another lovely location next to the River Windrush with an excellent pub, serving delicious food (I don't drink). The building, standing alone, was just off the road in a kind of grove and Trevor had both the ground floor, which was utilised as a gallery and sales area, plus an upstairs studio that accomodated a maximum of twelve students. Without a doubt Trevor is the most accomplished teacher I have been with and I say this without in any way decrying my mentors, Judi Whitton and Charles Reid. He had a professional art education at the prestigious Slade School in London with David Hockney amongst his tutors. Trevor, no shrinking violet, claimed he was considered one of their best students - in fact actually the best - and teaches a whole philosophy of art not just how to do a wash. My notes from his courses are extensive and exceed those from all the others. One even covers why people buy paintings. I eventually did three courses with Trevor. My only real problem with his teaching is that he does no pencil drawing whatsoever, straight in with the brush. Paintings begin with a variegated wash which forms the basis for the rest. He can also paint in different styles and did a copy of a John Singer Sargeant painting that was near perfect. This resulted from  a number of us perusing a book of Sargeants watercolours and someone saying he wondered how Sargeant painted one of an  Arab tribesman. Trevor promptly showed how. He is now based at Cheltenham and his website is:  http://www.trevorwaugh.com/

I think I'll finish this rather long piece and if you haven't lost interest long ago recommend that IF you want to learn from a painting course, as distinct  from a holiday with painting, you must research the tutor and his or her style and make sure this is what you want.

Charles Reid's 10-Lesson Course

When I reviewed Charles Reid's Watercolour Landscape Masterclass DVD I said I would shortly post a review of his `10-Lesson Course'. This has taken rather more time than anticipated as this is a three DVD set totalling four hours. Rather a lot to digest. I also had mixed views about it at first - not negative by any means - but I wanted to think about how to present a reasoned view and this involved several viewings and some thought. The reason I was in a slight quandary was how to interpret the value to those who are at different stages of the Charles Reid experience. Charles has many followers, of which I am one, but these vary from newly interested artists to those who have been following him for years.

I already have 11 books and the same number of DVDs, all of which are either well-thumbed or well-viewed. As a result much of what appears has been well covered previously although not all at the same time. I especially value his book and accompanying DVDs `Painting Flowers in  Watercolour', North Light Books/David & Charles 2001 and his most recent  `Watercolour Solutions'. What happens here is that  information on Charles basic approach and all his tecniques are fully explored and then some. All of it is valuable but to someone like me the best sections are 9 and 10. This involves one of Charles magnificent flower paintings and he finishes with some interesting observations such as a discussion and explanation of triads. A disappointment is that portrait and figure painting don't feature at all but obviously to include everything would involve a four or even five video set which is impractical. Come on Charles lets have an up to date Portrait video! Figure painting has been covered in at least two other video releases, one some time ago, one more recent although both are still obtainable.

What do the video's cover? Disc 1  lessons 1 to 5 which involve setting up, brushwork & water to paint ratio, using local colour, mixing colours, tying in cast shadows and finally mixing greens. Disc 2 lessons 6 to 8 contour drawing and green still life, edges and emphasis and finally composition and contour drawing. The third part covers lessons 9 and 10 when Charles paints a large still floral life and then discusses mixing triads with a final review of the painting. As you can see everything is there and to those embarking on the Charles Reid experience this set is a must. As for fans like me I'm glad I have it and I think it is something to study now and then to avoid regressing, which I find is a problem. Of course I don't claim to be able to paint like Charles, much as I'd like to, but I keep trying and live in hope.

I was motivated to complete this review because the latest issue of The Artist magazine, December 2010, has an advert from http://www.paintfix.com/, who produced and sell the DVDs. They are offering free EU shipping until December 31st. Cost of the full 3 video course is $99.95 with individual videos $39.95. A good Xmas present!

More on Daniel Smith Watercolours

I have now received two Daniel Smith paints, Quinacridone Gold (PO49) and Quinacridone Fuschia (PR202). Five others have just been ordered Cobalt Teal Blue (PG50), Quinacridone Coral (PR209), Quinacridone Pink (PV42), Burnt Tigers Eye (Primatek) and Indigo (PB60,PBk6). Due to the price being so high compared to other leading makes, including Windsor & Newton, I am being selective. Indigo may not seem so but I am intrigued that the DS version is based on PB60, the darkest blue of all, Certainly paints made with PR209, PG50 are available in other ranges but come highly recommended.

Interestingly Daniel Smith offer a `66 Try-it Color Sheet', available from Jacksons at £3.99p  http://www.jacksonsart.co.uk/   . This comprises four rows of Primatek colours at the top, four `Quinacridone, Cadmium & More' ' in the middle and three Luminescent colours at the bottom.

Daniel Smith 66 Try-it Color Sheet

A closer look.

In addition a small three colour sheet is free. This comprises Indigo, Hansa Yellow and Quinacridone Burnt Orange (`One of our most popular colors').

Three Colour Trial Sheet.

On the trial sheet the most interesting one is `Quinacridone Burnt Orange (PO48). This is a fairy new pigment only offered I believe by Smith, Graham and DaVinci at the moment. I would describe it as a `glowing' Burnt Sienna - bright red-orange is Smith's description - , Hansa Yellow is PY97 and Indigo is PB60/PBk6.

I am intrigued by the Primatek range but they are expensive and before buying  I suggest you read what Bruce McEvoy has to say in his very extensive analysis of this range.  www.handprint.com/HP/WCL/primatek.html . Many of the American artists who post on the Wetcanvas forum love Daniel Smith watercolours. The unique paints like the Primateks also have many fans.

Jacksons have already been out of stock of some sizes, including Q Gold and currently Q Rose so I suspect these paints are already moving. For amateurs though price is a big problem, probably also for some professionals. Currently the Daniel Smith paints are more expensive than W & N, Daler Rowney, Maimeri and Scminke to name just four leading makes. Are they worth it?  A full list of the Daniel Smith range is available on the website with full pigment details www.danielsmith.com/item--i-G-284-600Q

Luxartis and Brush Sizes

I recently purchased a Luxartis Size 10 Kolinsky sable. Luxartis brushes are used by the artist Jake Winkle www.jakewinkle.co.uk/ and it appears his wife runs the brush business www.luxartis.biz/ . Jake Winkle is an up and coming British artist of the younger generation and appears to be strongly influenced by John Yardley. His website is well worth a look.

The Luxartis site is an excellent one, well put together and very informative. It claims to use the highest quality Kolinsky sable which I don't dispute - I just don't know. As well as pointing out that there is no standard for brush sizes amongst manufacturers it also claims that the Luxartis brush heads are in general - but not always - longer and slimmer than many other makes.

From the top: SAA Kolinsky size 10, DaVinci Maestro 10 size 10, SAA size 8, Escoda 1212 size 10,

 DaVinci size 8, Luxartis size 10.

  

The first thing to notice is the difference in the size of the brush heads. The SAA (reputedly made by Raphael) and the Maestro are much larger. The SAA size 8 is marginally larger than the Escoda 10 with the Maestro size 8 a similar size. The smallest is the Luxartis size 10.  Price for the SAA 10, only available to members,  is £32.00p but they also do an excellent set of five which includes both the 8 (separately £20.00p) and the 10 for £47.99p. This is only available to members or affiliated art clubs or perhaps you know someone who is a member. The Maestro size 10 costs £41.25p and size 8 £22.70p. The Escoda 1212 size 10 is £19.30p. Jacksons http://www.jacksonsart.co.uk/  sell  these and also an own brand `Tajmir Kolinsky' at £17.35p which is obviously made by Escoda. The Luxartis size 10 costs £10.95p. This, despite the smaller brush head stills looks a very good buy. I have yet to try mine out but will report in due course. The rough equivalent in actual size to the SAA and DaVinci 10's would be the Luxartis size 14 or even perhaps the 16 at £19.95p and £24.95p respectively.

 To sum up prices of Kolinsky sable brushes are relatively affordable up to size 8.  After that prices can rocket due to the larger amounts of hair in the brush. Not  all brands though with the W & N Series 7 size 8 costing £86.80p! Can it possibly be worth it?  Raphael series 8404 10 £55.30p and 8 £31.90p. Isabey are close to Raphael in price. It appears there is much more tail hair in both the SAA and DaVinci brushes which size for size are generally much larger. Escoda sizes are smaller but well priced and of high quality. Luxartis are even smaller and if the 10 is typical don't seem longer as they claim, but are very well priced even so. Is the quality up to that of the others? I would also suggest Rosemary and Co http://www.rosemaryandco.com/ are also well worth considering. The series 33 Kolinsky are good and the cream of the lot is series 22, which is more expensive at £25.15p for size 8 and £44.45p for size 10. Brush head sizes stand up well when compared to the others. There are also several other prominent makes like Stratford and York, Pro Arte and Daler Rowney. We also have Rekab, the well regarded and priced Israeli brand, which is becoming easier to obtain in the UK. These manufacturers all list Kolinsky sable ranges. Prices shown are from current catalogues in my possesion, or in the case of Luxartis on the website and may change soon with the planned VAT increase.

Daniel Smith Watercolours (or is it watercolors!)

At long last the good news is that the acclaimed Daniel Smith range of watercolour paints, 247 colours and rising, is now available in the UK via Jacksons http://www.jacksonsart.co.uk/  or e-mail sales@jacksonsart.co.uk.
The bad news is that price is a problem, not so much for the professional artist perhaps but  certainly  for the amateur. While this range has a whole raft of unique colours and is widely praised by American artists as ` the best'  UK prices are higher than those in the USA and dearer than Windsor & Newton, as well as ALL  other leading makes. Are they worth it? Time will tell. The other benefits of the DS range, apart from the huge choice  http://www.danielsmith.com/ are a very high number of single pigment paints, high pigment content and a formulation that means the paints can be easily re-wetted.

With Graham http://www.mgraham.com/  now being stocked by Lawrence of Hove http://www.lawrence.co.uk/ and also the new Da Vinci range http://www.davincipaints.com/ we have the three leading American brands. Without doubt they are a serious combined threat to the long standing supremacy of Windsor & Newton. I have already ordered two colours to try, a small sample true but I am very well stocked with paints at the moment! I shall certainly buy more over time but I already have a good number of Grahams.

The ones ordered are Quinacridone Gold (PO49) and Quinacridone Fuschia (PR202). I am told by American friends on the Wetcanvas forums that the Quinacridones are particularly lustrous, but they have many other favourites. DS have apparently  bought  the remaining stocks of PO49 and are probably the sole source of this unique pigment, which has been discontinued by the usual producers. Many of these pigments are developed for the automotive industry and if they drop the colour then demand from the art world is insufficient to keep production going. Maimeri supposedly still offer Golden Lake which proclaims `quinacridone' on the tube but also details the pigment as `PV49'. A question to Maimeri about this went unanswered!  PV49? A  mistake it seems because this is an uncommon violet pigment (DS may offer it|) but what actually is in this paint?The Maimeri version is gritty and slightly greasy not at all like the original W & N version which unfortunately is now a three pigment mix. I still just happen to have two full pans of the original W & N version.