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home page
intro
site search (provided by Google)
FAQ (frequently asked questions)
updates
recent works
links
mail
journal
watercolor papers
guide to watercolor papers
– Alcantara
– Amatruda
– Arches (Arjo Wiggins)
– Canson
– Fabriano
– Hahnemühle
– Hayle Mill
– Jack Richeson
– Kilimanjaro
– Lanaquarelle
– Moulin de Larroque
– Pasquale de Ponte
– Ruscombe Mill
– St. Armand
– Saunders Waterford
– Strathmore
– Twinrocker
– Van Gelder
– Velké Losiny
– Whatman
– Winsor & Newton
– Zerkall
how watercolor papers are made
– the paper furnish
– how paper is made
– paper finishes
– paper formats
– weights of paper
– how paper is sold
how to test watercolor papers
storing, mounting & framing
– paper hazards
– handling papers
– storing papers
– mounting and framing
watercolor brushes
guide to watercolor brushes
– Cheap Joe's
– Daniel Smith
– daVinci
– Escoda
– Grumbacher
– Isabey
– Kalish
– Loew-Cornell
– Raphaël
– Rekab
– Robert Simmons
– Rosemary & Co
– Utrecht
– Winsor & Newton
– Yarka
how watercolor brushes are made
– types of brushes
– brush manufacture
– brush hair & bristle
how to test watercolor brushes
– the good brush
– a basic brush set
– buying brushes
brush care & storage
– using brushes
– cleaning brushes
– brush remedies
– storing brushes

site map

 
 comments : requests

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watercolor paints
how to choose watercolor paints
how watercolor paints are made
– paint ingredients
    the backbone composition
    pigment
    brightener
    binder
    plasticizer
    humectant
    filler
    other additives
    water
    handmade watercolors
– pigment types
    natural inorganic
    synthetic inorganic
    natural organic
    synthetic organic
– pigment manufacture
– paint manufacture
the material attributes of paints
– pigment & paint attributes
    color appearance
    particle size
    lightfastness
    tinting strength
    refractive index
    specific gravity
– basic paint tests
    draw down sample
    tinting test
    dissolving test
    sedimentation test
    drying and rewetting test
    black field test
    microscopic examination
– test paintings
– making paint swatches
doing your own lightfastness tests
labeling, lightfastness & toxicity
– pigments, paints & "colors"
– the marketing romance
– paint ingredient information
– lightfastness tests
– lightfastness with a grain of salt
– artistic responsibility
– health & environmental issues
watercolor brands
– Art Spectrum
– Blockx
– Daler–Rowney
– Daniel Smith
– DaVinci
– Holbein
– Lukas
– Maimeri
– M. Graham & Co.
– Old Holland
– Rembrandt
– Robert Doak
– Schmincke
– Sennelier
– Utrecht
– Winsor & Newton
– Yarka
guide to watercolor pigments
– magenta
– red
– orange
– earth (brown, gold or ochre)
– yellow
– green
– blue
– purple
– black, gray & white
what the ratings mean
watercolor drying shifts
hue purity of watercolor paints
earth pigments tour
earth pigments map
daniel smith primatek™ paints
cadmium color key
2004 lightfastness tests
tube, pan & liquid watercolors
– a brief history of watercolors
– tube vs. pan
– when to use
– paint tube tricks
– dry pan tricks
– liquid watercolors
gouache & bodycolor
interference paints
palettes
a basic palette
– related paint resources
– the keystone paints
– exploring the mixing strategy
– expanding the palette
– common palette issues
the complete palette
key to the palette scheme
palette types
– brand matters
– transparent
– opaque
– nonstaining
– staining
– saturated
– earth
– textured
– combining paints in a palette
palette paintings
– intro
– 1. value design palette
– 2. velázquez palette
– classical palette
– 3. "primary" triad palette
– chuck long
– marlies najaka
– 4. split "primary" palette
– nita engle
– michael rocco
– lucy willis
– mel stabin
– 5. artist's "primaries" palette
– charles leclair
– jeanne dobie
– trevor chamberlain
– dale laitinen
– liz donovan
– 6. secondary palette
– carol carter
– jim kosvanec
– 7. modernized paul signac
technique
spirit of watercolor
the work place
watching yourself paint
plateaus and pits
saving your work
the sketchbook
drawing techniques
– the essence of drawing
– drawing materials
– drawing papers
– drawing technique
– drawing styles
aids to drawing
– not a new idea
– copying the image
– tracing the image
– documenting with photographs
– creative editing with photographs
– representing the world
modeling form with light & shadow
elements of perspective
– page 1: perspective in the world
– page 2: central perspective
– page 3: two point perspective
– page 4: three point perspective
– page 5: advanced perspective techniques
– page 6: shadows, reflections & atmosphere
composition and design
– principles of design
– elements of design
– a pattern vocabulary
– notan
– rules of "good shape"
– design & context
format proportions
– the key format proportions
– constructing the format proportions
– composing with the format proportions
– other format proportion schemes
– format proportions in western paintings
– are the proportions "real"?
– use what works
preliminary studies
– layout and proportion
– the value sketch
– color studies
color harmonies
– basic issues in color design
– theories of color harmony
– traditional hue harmonies
– introduction to full color harmonies
– a natural color harmony
– ruskin's last word
working with paints
– major palette types
– life without a palette
– rinse water & pure water
– work routine & storage
– mixing tube paints
– mixing pan paints
– brush mixing tricks
basic mixing method
an intuitive color study
– the guiding ideas
– color study principles
paint wheels
– why make a paint wheel?
– how to make a paint wheel
– three paint wheels
– lessons from a paint wheel
the secret of glowing color
– the luminosity myth
– techniques for glowing color
– "not black, not light"
– exploring dilution
– the range of paint appearance
– dilution and lightness
– mixing shortcuts
– technical data
the six levels of paint dilution
painting in neutrals
– neutrals in context
– near neutrals and color design
– seeing color value
– seeing hue bias
– mixing complementary paints
– the material qualities of paint
watercolor mixing complements
the brush and brushstrokes
– brushstroke attributes
– the swiss army brush
– how a brush works
– brush wetness & capacity
– brushstroke evolution
– brush technique
– the confident brush
the six degrees of brush wetness
other application techniques
– splattering brushes
– sponges
– sticks
– palette knives
– razor blades
– resist and tape
– water and air
steps in a painting
preparing papers for painting
– evolution of the paper surface
– to cockle or not
– how to not stretch papers
– how to stretch papers
– my fastening method
– how to cut or tear paper
the nature of water
the six stages of paper wetness
wet in wet (1)
– the balancing act
– flow, backrun & diffusion
– how wet is the paper?
– surface vs. inner wetness
– balancing wetness in paper, brush & paint
– four edge shaping techniques
wet in wet (2)
– an inventory of marks
– charging, blotting & shaping
– controlling backruns
– working with wet paper
– brushes & brush wetness
– paint & pigment attributes
– strategies for learning
– seven popular effects
monotype
laying a wash
– the setup, brushes & papers
– pigment types
– paint behavior
– tilting the wash
– wash brushstrokes
– to wet or not to wet
– wash strategies
– hints and guidelines
using glazes
resists and edge control
watercolor drybrush
texturing methods
lifting and fixing
signing, documenting and copyright
mixed media
painting outdoors
plein air paint kit
mixing green
– the green mixing system
– green mixing recipes
– pigment choices
– green mixing problems
painting portraits
painting the figure
color vision
light and the eye
– light: the spectrum we can see
– design of the eye
– three plus one light receptors
– trichromatic mixtures
– constraints on color vision
colorblindness
colormaking attributes
– measuring light & color
   radiometry
   photometry
   colorimetry
– the geometry of light
   luminous flux
   luminous intensity
   viewing geometry
   illuminance
   luminance
   retinal illuminance
– the colormaking attributes
   brightness/lightness
   hue
   hue purity
   optimal color stimuli
   are three attributes enough?
– painting saturation & value
   how to judge saturation
   chroma, lightness & saturation
   the painters' "broken colors"
the geometry of color perception
– newton's hue circle
   color similarity
   Newton's Opticks
   the hue circle
   the analysis of white
   complementary mixtures
   Newton's legacy
– Hering's opponent processes
   Hering's Urfarben
   Hering's opponent processes
   the opponent functions
   what are the opponent functions?
– from cones to colors
   a geometrical color standard
   cone excitation space
   cone contrast space
   perceptual opponent space
   necessary additional transformations
– the geometry of colormaking attributes
   response compression
   luminance discrimination
   hue discrimination
   hue purity discrimination
   color attributes combined
   summary of color geometry
– individual differences in color experience
– color & language
basic forms of color
– basic forms of color
– unrelated vs. related color
– self luminous vs. surface color
– local vs. veiled color
– plane vs. depth color
– summary of basic forms of color
adaptation, anchoring & contrast
– luminance adaptation
– brightness, lightness & anchoring
– chromatic adaptation
– successive color contrasts
– chromatic induction
– luminance & color changes
– color constancy
additive & subtractive color mixing
– additive color mixing
– subtractive color mixing
– substance uncertainty
– "theory" vs. experience
do "primary" colors exist?
– the ancient primaries
– the painter's primaries
– Newtonian color confusions
– material trichromacy
– comprehensive color models
– perceptual trichromacy
– colorimetry
– imaginary or imperfect primaries
the color top
modern color models
– the evolution of color models
– Swedish Natural Color System
– Munsell Color System
– OSA uniform color scales
– CIELUV uniform color space
– CIELAB uniform color space
– CIECAM color appearance model
CIECAM aCbC plane
PDF version of CIECAM aCbC plane
CIELAB a*b* plane
PDF version of CIELAB a*b* plane
comparison of hue circles
the structure of vision (i)
– the weave of vision
– center/surround receptive fields
– image frequency analysis
– edge & region detection
the structure of vision (ii)
– texture & surface analysis
– depth & volume perception
– object & scene recognition
– the visual field
color in the world
– the causes of color
– surfaces & lights
– surface & shadow color
– special material colors
– physical color changes
tonal value
– the dominance of value
– the value scale
– hue, lightness & saturation
– the artist's value wheel
– shades, tones and tints
– grayscales & gamut mapping
– shadows, saturation and value
– painting values
the artist's value wheel
PDF version of the artist's value wheel
color temperature
– warm vs. cool colors
– what causes warm color effects?
– the origin of warm/cool
– the warm/cool contrast in paints
– unsaturated color zones
– painting warm or cool
color wheels
– creating a color wheel
– "primary" color wheel
   "primary" colors and paints
   why use "primary" colors?
   mixing step scales
   true "primary" color relationships
– secondary color wheel
   secondary colors and paints
   complementary colors
   a complementary grain of salt
– tertiary color wheel
   tertiary colors and paints
   the old & modern tertiary colors
– more is less? a gamut comparison
   artists mix paints, not "colors"
– color names
mixing with a color wheel
– complementary color contrasts
– saturation costs
– the color wheel fallacy
– basic mixing method
– split "primary" palette
– unequal color spacing
testing the color wheel
– testing the mixing method
– mixtures between two "primary" colors
– mixtures among all tertiary colors
an artist's color wheel
– visual vs. mixing complements
– the artist's color wheel
– tour of the color wheel
– why the difference?
– making your own color wheel
the artist's color wheel (CIECAM version)
PDF version of the artist's color wheel (CIECAM version)
the artist's color wheel (CIELAB version)
PDF version of the artist's color wheel (CIELAB version)
an artist's color theory
– lightness, saturation, hue
– color temperature
– unsaturated color zones
– those pesky "primary" colors
– color harmony
– the dungeon of "color theory"
– an intuitive color study
– teach yourself to see
books
buyer beware
learning the basics
The Watercolor Book – David Dewey
Watercolor School: A Practical Guide to Painting in Watercolor – Hazel Harrison
Watercolor For the Serious Beginner – Mary Whyte
Complete Guide to Watercolor Painting – Edgar A. Whitney
Basic Watercolor Answer Book – Catherine Anderson
Watercolor: A New Beginning – Ann Lindsay
Step–by–Step Guide to Painting Realistic Watercolors – Dawn McLeod Heim
The Palette Magazine – William Lawrence & Christopher Schink
The New Drawing on the Right Side of Your Brain – Betty Edwards
Keys to Drawing – Bert Dodson
The Artist's Complete Guide to Figure Drawing – Anthony Ryder
The Drawing Book – Richard McDaniel
Everything You Ever Wanted to Know About Watercolor – Marian Appellof
pigments, paints & papers
Bright Earth: Art and the Invention of Color – Philip Ball
Hilary Page's Guide to Watercolor Paints – Hilary Page
The Wilcox Guide to the Best Watercolor Paints – Michael Wilcox
The Artist's Guide to Selecting Colors – Michael Wilcox
The Book of Fine Paper – Sylvie Turner
The Watercolor Artist's Paper Directory – Ian Sidaway
color science & "color theory"
Color and Culture – John Gage
The Science of Art: Optical Themes in Western Art from Brunelleschi to Seurat – Martin Kemp
Color Categories in Thought and Language – C.L. Hardin & Luisa Maffi
The New Munsell Student Color Set – Joy Turner Luke
The Principles of Harmony and Contrast of Colors – Michel–Eugène Chevreul
Modern Chromatics – Ogden Rood
Theory of Colours – Johann Wolfgang von Goethe
Interaction of Color – Joseph Albers
Exploring Color – Nita Leland
Color Right From the Start – Hilary Page
Color Choices – Stephen Quiller
Painter's Guide to Color – Stephen Quiller
Transparent Watercolor Wheel – Jim Kosvanec
Blue and Yellow Don't Make Green – Michael Wilcox
Color Theory Made Easy – Jim Ames
Zoltan Szabo's Color-by-Color Guide to Watercolor – Zoltan Szabo
Color – M. Stephen Doherty
Color in Contemporary Painting – Charles LeClair
advanced instruction
Making Color Sing – Jeanne Dobie
Painting Light and Shadow in Watercolor – Skip Lawrence
The Natural Way to Paint – Charles Reid
Painting Flowers in Watercolor
Painting What You Want to See
Taking Risks with Watercolour – Shirley Trevena
Painting Spectacular Light Effects in Watercolor – Paul Jackson
Capturing Light in Watercolor – Marilyn Simandle & Lewis Lehrman
Watercolor from the Heart – Barbara Nechis
The Art of Watercolor Painting – Charles LeClair
Leonardo on Painting – edited by Martin Kemp
The Elements of Drawing – John Ruskin
The Art Spirit – Robert Henri
Art and Visual Perception – Rudolph Arnheim
Art & Illusion – Ernst Gombrich
Art & Fear – David Bayles & Ted Orland
how to by subject
Painting Watercolor Florals That Glow – Jan Kunz
Botanical Illustration in Watercolor – Eleanor Wunderlich
Painting Crystal and Flowers in Watercolor – Susanna Spann
Building Brilliant Watercolors – Judy Treman
The Sierra Club Guide to Painting in Nature – Cathy Johnson
Carlson's Guide to Landscape Painting – John F. Carlson
Trevor Chamberlain: Light and Atmosphere in Watercolour – Trevor Chamberlain & Angela Gair
Painting Watercolor Portraits – Al Stine
Basic Techniques for Painting Textures in Watercolor – Rachel Rubin Wolf
Painting Realistic Watercolor Textures – Michael Rocco
How to Make a Watercolor Paint Itself – Nita Engle
handbooks
The Artist's Handbook of Materials and Techniques – Ralph Mayer
Painting Materials: A short encyclopedia – Rutherford Gettens & George Stout
The Painter's Handbook – Mark David Gottsegen
artists
introduction
botanical illustration
the topographical tradition
the poetic landscape
francis towne
thomas girtin
joseph mallord william turner
william blake
john constable
late georgian watercolors
thomas rowlandson
john sell cotman
peter de wint
david cox
william henry hunt
richard parkes bonington
victorian watercolors
samuel palmer
john ruskin
alfred william hunt
the pre–raphaelites
hercules brabazon brabazon
james mcneill whistler
19th century european watercolors
19th century american watercolors
winslow homer
paul cezanne
auguste rodin
thomas eakins
maurice prendergast
frederick childe hassam
paul signac
john singer sargent
wassily kandinsky
emil nolde
john marin
raoul dufy
william russell flint
paul klee
edward hopper
arthur dove
charles demuth
marguerite zorach
georgia o'keeffe
the ohio watercolorists
charles burchfield
george grosz
egon schiele
fairfield porter
california scene painters
andrew wyeth
philip pearlstein
gerhard richter
joseph raffael
trevor chamberlain
carolyn brady
francesco clemente
carol carter
retailers
– Amsterdam Art
– Art Supply Warehouse
– Cheap Joe's
– Daniel Smith Artist Materials
– Dick Blick Artist Materials
– Jerry's Artarama
– Ken Bromley Art Supplies
– Montmartre Art Supplies
– New York Central Art Supply
– Pearl Paint
– Utrecht Art Supplies
 

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Last revised 08.01.2005 • © 2005 Bruce MacEvoy