I love watercolor. I love the after texture that it creates– the different mixes of colors blended to create a harmonious painting. I love how it has a “life” of its own– the way the colors just creep towards each other creating a surprise or sometimes what they call a “happy accident”. I love brushes. I love the sight of watercolor tubes on a palette. I love watching or seeing people’s paintings in watercolor. Imagine the joy it brings to me when I want to give this medium a try!
I can say I am quite confident when it comes to digital painting because that is something I can control. I can always have it undone if I dislike the colors or if there are mistakes along the way. However, in watercolor, there is this hesitation of making mistakes that somehow hinders me from fully embracing this wonderful medium.
How else to start and brush away the fear than taking the first step and buy the supplies? After a lot of research, I have finally managed to buy my first set of watercolor supplies at Deovir Art Store at SM Manila.
Clockwise: A brush holder for storing my brushes; Brushes (#12 and #6 round, a flat 1″ and a rigger for thin strokes respectively); A mug which I did not buy but needed for putting water; Mixing palette with cover for storing the colors and mixing them; Pebeo Studio Watercolor in tubes which are surprisingly cheap and has quite a good quality pigment which I bought it at National Bookstore at Robinson Place, Manila.
I am off to start creating some paints using an old watercolor sketchbook given by my Mom and try to experiment as much as possible without apprehension. I will be studying from the internet so I hope I can get as much information. If you want to do something so badly, nothing can stop you– not even the expenses, discouragement by others, or fear itself.
A free ebook that helps you create expressive sketches of your life in pen and watercolor.
12 Responses
Jonats
Goodluck on your paintings :D Definitely worth to watch out for.
Elisa Choi
Thanks a lot jonats. I am enjoying every bit of it.. need to study more :)
Shiela
wow. this is sooo cool. :) good job lis!
Elisa Choi
Thanks so much Shiela! I’m still experimenting a lot! :p
Pao Mateo
Hi, another watercolor enthusiast here! :)
I found your blog while Googling for good watercolors available locally…and I’m very pleased I did! Your blog is truly inspiring!
I super love your watercolor haul! You make me want to head over to Deovir now and get Pebeo watercolors too :) I use (VERY) cheap watercolors for my illustrated diary sketches but I guess I needed to an upgrade. Thanks for this and I’m excited to see more posts from you ^_^
Elisa Choi
Hi, Pao! Thanks so much! For Pebeo watercolor, I bought it cheaply at National Bookstore at Robinsons Place Manila. I will edit the post and mention it there as well. I checked out your blog and wow… you are a very creative artist! Your works are very beautiful :) I have followed you.. I got a tumblr too –lyricalthoughts.tumblr.com– that’s me! Thanks again for your comments! Have a nice day!
Juan
Hello Elisa.
I live in Costa Rica and a couple of weeks ago I was on a trip. I needed to paint a small watercolor. I have been doing watercolors for nearly 20 years and have always used Windsor and Newton paints (very expensive nowadays).
The Art Supply store only had some cheap student paints, one of them the Pebeo set. I bought it for something like $9 US with very low expectations.
What a surprise! The colors turned to be quite brilliant, and very transparent. The few I tried (Primay Lemon. Alizarin Crimson, Prussian Blue and Burnt Siena) are non staining and therefore easy to lift to correct mistakes. The saturation is acceptable and the paint flows very easily, good for making gradations.
I am now researching more this brand (that´s how I found your blog) and thinking of buying some tubes of their higher grade product, Pebeo Fragonnard. Also expensive, but a bit less than W&N.
You have chosen a good product to start with. Best of luck, but do not be overly optimistic. I have been struggling with watercolor for a long time and although frustrating sometimes, it is a joy to play with.
Elisa Choi
Hi Juan, Thanks a lot for messaging me. It’s nice to hear your experience on Pebeo. Pebeo is cheaper than most brands and I just want to give this a chance. So far so good though I am thinking if the other brands’ colors do not have the lifting off colors? Let’s say I have painted something so long ago then I go back to touch the painting a bit of my wet hands.. will the colors wear off? Because in Pebeo the colors are lifted still and I am a bit worried if you get what I mean. Anyhow I am enjoying the process of learning and hope to be good at it. Enjoy and have a great day!
Juan
Thank you Elisa. Any /watercolor is susceptible to be damaged if you handle it with wet hands. That is why they are usually framed with glass. A problem with this is that in introduces reflections, unless you use a special type of (expensive) glass called anti–reflect.
Lattely I’ve been spraying my small watercolors with an aerosol called WORKABLE FIXATIV by Krylon. Normally it is used to protect pencil and pastel drawings, but seems to work well with watercolors also.
Elisa Choi
Thanks so much Juan for your helpful information. If I am good enough I will certainly protect my works using the fixative. I hope I could see your works someday… :)
Fral
hi! I came across your blog looking for a good watercolor (mixing) palette to go with my tubes.
And the one you own is lovely! You purchased your empty palette at Deovir right? How much was it? :)
By the way I am a Pebeo user too and loving it! However I think it tends to be a bit chalky when it throrougly dries up. Mainly because of the extenders.
All that said, I hope you can help me on my search of the perfect mixing palette! Thanks! :)
Elisa Choi
Hello Fral! Thanks a lot for dropping by. Pebeo watercolor is cheaper than most branded watercolor and that might be the reason why I love it. Aside from that it gives off vibrant colors too. However I am not sure if this is an artist grade paint since the color tends to come up or fade a bit as time pass by. Might be the extenders as you said. My sister gave me a brand called Pentel watercolor tubes. I’ll try it and see how it goes.
The palette with cover cost about 107 pesos at Deovir. I love this palette because it’s cheap and could go with you when you want to paint outside. It got a lot of pans for your paint and many wells for you to pull out paint and apply onto paper or even mix it there. I highly recommend this. If you opt for larger mixing palette they also sell those circular with wells but no cover. National Bookstore also sell those kinds. Experiment and see how it fits for you. :) Happy painting my dear! :)