Loose Watercolour Castle Painting

Описание: I actually like this painting and how it turned out! It was an interesting process that produced something in the end. I like the granulation in the sky and the light on the castle. I could have planned the castle shape and shadows!

Happy New Year! And Happy Painting for 2026!

For the best course to understand the medium of watercolour and gain confidence:
https://www.scottswinsonclasses.com/c...

SMR Paintings:   / smrpaintings  
Lena Gemzoe:   / lenagemzoe  

Paper:
Half a Sheet (56cm x 38cm) Arches Rough, 100% Cotton, 300gsm Acid Free Paper

Paints: (all paints used are Winsor and Newton artist quality tubes of watercolour)
Winsor Yellow
French Ultra Marine
Raw Umber
Burnt Umber

Brushes:
2” Holbein Hake
1 ½” Holbein Hake
1” Holbein Hake
Fan Brush size 4 Hogs Hair
Size 12 Round Pure Kolinsky Sable
Flat Nylon
Series 7 Size 0 Round Kolinsky Sable

Other:
Piece of 6mm MDF
3M Scotch Magic Tape (Green Packet) to attach the paper to the board
3M Removable Tape for the horizon
Jars for the water
Daylight Bulbs for good lighting
Hair Dryer
Spray Bottle large
Spray Bottle fine mister
Razor Blade
Metal Ruler
Tissues


Paper - if you can afford it try and use Arches Cold Pressed 300gsm paper or any other 100% cotton paper. Sheets most of the time are the cheapest way to go. I can get Hahnemuhle sheets (53cm x 78cm) for $11.50 Australian from my local art store when buying them one at a time. This gives me 16 sheets of A5 which is much cheaper than buying a pad. If you can afford to buy 50 sheets at a time that can save you a lot of money!

Arches A4 Cold Pressed 300gsm 100% Cotton Pad: https://geni.us/Arches300gsmPad

Arches A3 Cold Pressed 300gsm 100% Cotton Pad: https://geni.us/Arches9x12Pad

Arches A3 Block if you wanted to use that instead of tape to a board:
https://geni.us/ArchesWatercolourPaper

Alternatives to Arches Paper:
Saunders Waterford Watercolour Paper Sheets 300gsm cold pressed 100% cotton from your local art supplies store. Or the links from amazon below.
Sheets of 425gsm:https://geni.us/SaundersWaterford
Block 9”x12”: https://geni.us/SaundersWaterfordBlock

Hahnemuhle Etching Paper Sheets 300gsm (75% cotton 25% high alpha cellulose)
https://geni.us/HahnemuhleEtchingPaper

Stonehenge Paper Sheets 20” x 30”: https://geni.us/StonehengePaper

Baohong Watercolour Blocks: Much cheaper than Arches and good quality paper
https://geni.us/bahongwatercolorblock


Any other 100% cotton, cold pressed, acid free papers

The other paper I use a huge amount is Rives BFK Etching Paper by Arches 280gsm, 100% cotton, white, 56cm x 76cm sheets: https://geni.us/RivesBFKEtching

Paints - you only need 6 colours for this course. You can use Winsor and Newton artist quality or Cotman student quality paints. You can use other brands but the colours and names will be different. The colours are:

Yellow Ochre
Paynes Grey
Raw Umber
Burnt Umber
Cobalt Blue
Light Red

You will also mix up a grey in a separate bowl using Cobalt Blue and Light Red

Cotman Student Quality Paints
Cobalt Blue amazon: https://geni.us/cotmancobaltblue
Light Red amazon: https://geni.us/cotmanlightred
Yellow Ochre amazon: https://geni.us/cotmanyellowochre

Winsor and Newton Artist Quality Paints (If you can afford it I would encourage you to buy these!)
Cobalt Blue amazon: https://geni.us/WinsorNewtonCobaltBlue
Yellow Ochre amazon: https://geni.us/YellowOchreTube
Light Red amazon: https://geni.us/LightRedTube

Brushes - you only need 6 brushes and a couple of cheap mixing brushes.

Size 12 Round Sable
Pure Kolinsky Round Sable Size 12 - Cornellisen (quite expensive over £150)
https://geni.us/PureKolinskySableSize
https://geni.us/IsabeyPureKolinsky

or
Synthetic Round Sable Size 12 - Micadore For Artists - roymac Revolution Taklon - ($20)
https://geni.us/SyntheticRound

Hake Brushes x 2
Holbein 2” Hake Brush (my preference)
Holbein 1” Hake Brush (my preference)
https://geni.us/HolbeinHakeBrush
or
Ron Ranson Large Hake Brush (about 2”)
Ron Ranson Small Hake Brush (about 1”)
https://geni.us/RonRanson

Flat Nylon
Long Flat Nylon (¾” wide and 1” long bristles) - Robert Wade Neef 980 Taklon Wash: https://geni.us/RobertWadeNylon


Fan Brush
Fan Brush (I own size 1’s mainly and a size 6) - can be any brand really - I own two Winsor and Newton size 1 fan brushes and an Art Spectrum Series 1000FAN size 6.
I would get Hogs Hair Fan Brushes as they make more interesting marks but that is always personal preference. Some cheap ones on amazon are on the link below:
https://geni.us/DugatoFanBrushSet


Small Round Sable
Series 7 size ‘0’ Winsor and Newton Finish Round Sable (lovely small brush but more expensive than synthetic): https://geni.us/Series7WinsorandNewton

A cheaper alternative to the series 7 round sable is: Size 00 Winsor and Newton Cotman Round
https://geni.us/CotmanRound00