01/09/2016
What materials will you need for the Ballito Art Workshops watercolour event on 10 September.
The basic rule when equipping yourself with art materials is, “Always buy the best materials you can afford.”
Firstly: One good Size 12, synthetic round watercolour brush.
Sounds easy enough, but not so, I discovered after doing a survey of possible suppliers.
Suppliers are mainly stocking the cheaper brushes and brushes such as the “Cotmans” (English) are prohibitively expensive with the exchange rate.
Prices range from about R40-R50 for the cheaper versions ( Prime Art, Dala and Ashrad)
To about R140 for the “Raphael Precision” (Italian Art Shop- They send anywhere in the country for R50.) I have also found the Daler Taklon D77 good (Deckle Edge CT) and also the Eve Golden Taklon brushes, available from Eve art supplies in Johannesburg.
The main thing is to have a large synthetic round, that holds a lot of water and comes to a good point.( If you would like a better brush and would like me to source it for you, just let me know by Monday of next week.)
Secondly: Paints.
I will talk more about these in the workshop. The simplest solution would be to buy 3 Cotman watercolours: Ultramarine, permanent rose and lemon yellow hue. (Available at P and A and Leanna’s, Umhlali)
There are cheaper paints, like the Reeves tubes, which would be fine if you just want to have some fun, but cheaper paints have a lot of fillers in them and are difficult to work with and often not transparent.
By the way, artistswarehouse on line have a special on “White Nights” watercolours – a set of 12 artist’s quality watercolours for about R230. Sounds like a good one and they would send it to you in 2-3 days. Worth looking at.
Thirdly: Watercolour paper.
It is essential to have watercolour quality paper, but there are a number of quite affordable pads of watercolour paper to make a start.
Your local art shop should be able to advise you.
Top of the range would be a sheet of Arches, Waterford or Fabiano Paper. (100% cotton), but all in good time.
Fourthly: A white plate or mixing palette. That’s an easy one.
A pencil and a few paper towels and you are good to go. (There are jars for water in the art room)
Perhaps you already have a set of watercolours and brushes, but if not, as I said, buy the best you can afford. If it is a little overwhelming, just let me know by Tuesday and I will get in the supplies you need.
One brush, a few paints, a plate and some paper and you’re ready to begin to discover the “joy” of watercolour-something that should give you pleasure for many years to come.
Marj - 083 330 3369
