Watercolor by Vladimir London for VII International Biennial

Описание: This watercolor is created by Vladimir London for the 7th International Biennial.This exhibition is dedicated to the new techniques, concepts and developments in watercolor. 

The painting you will see in this video is unique. It has a specially modified binding medium that has never been used in watercolor painting before. The recipe of this water-soluble medium is my know-how and I will explain its properties and benefits later in this video. Also, I will show you all the steps of this artwork creation from the initial drawing to the finished painting.

Traditionally, watercolor paints are made of finely ground pigments mixed with medium. Usual watercolor medium consists of gum-arabic as the main binder, with addition of plasticizers and dispersants, humectants, extenders and brighteners. It has no chalk and is very transparent. Due to its formula, watercolor paints can be applied very diluted, can easily flow on the paper surface, and even under many layers the white support is visible under multiple layers of very transparent washes. This is what makes watercolor different from other water-based media.

However, traditional watercolor has some major downsides. Because gum-arabic absorbs water, it can be dissolved after it dries. This makes watercolor artworks prone to humid weather and bacteria, which eat gum-arabic and grow inside paper, ruining an artwork with time. Another problem with watercolor is that fine pigment particles sink into paper fibers and undergo the drying shift, when colors become up to 30% lighter when dry. Also, some pigments are prone to lifting, it is when dried paint, when dissolved by upper wet layers, becomes muddy or washed out. To solve these problems, the traditional watercolor medium has to be modified.

Combining watercolor and encaustic paints into one mix was an impossible idea until I studied in depth many scientific articles published in the last 50 years. A beeswax can be treated in certain ways to become white, more transparent, less fatty, and fully soluble in water at a room temperature. To be suitable for watercolor, such treated beeswax also has to be additionally modified with potash, an alkaline potassium compound. Colophony, together with wax also undergoes saponification. This treatment drastically changes the physical properties of Punic wax that is mixed with resin. It becomes water soluble when cold, which makes it possible to be mixed with gum-arabic watercolor paints. Despite only a small amount (under 10%) of saponified wax containing metal soaps is added to watercolor, it changes properties of paint the following ways: 
• Wax and resin will not deteriorate because it repels bacteria.
• The artwork surface will be less influenced by weather and humidity.
• This medium will better bind paint pigments, so the painted surface will be less erasable.
• The colors will become brighter and more saturated because pigment particles will not sink deep into the paper fibers.
• The drying shift will be reduced.
• Such modified watercolor paint will stick not only to porous and absorbent surfaces like paper, but also to polished and even glossy supports, such as glazed ceramic and glass, although it would require a greater amount of saponified wax.
•  This watercolor paint will be more transparent because beeswax and colophony are fully transparent in thin layers.
• The layers of paint will stick better to each other without lifting underlayers when wet.

In this artwork, I combine two media - pure watercolor and modified Punic wax watercolor. For example, the girl’s face is painted with the addition of wax and resin, while her hairstyle will have an underpainting in pure gum-arabic watercolor with layers of wax medium on top. Such top layers will create an interesting decorative effect that could not be obtained in any other way.

Another good thing about this modified medium is that despite containing beeswax and colophony, it is fully water-dilutable before it dries for several days.

Links mentioned in this video:

Free Life Drawing video lessons - https://lifedrawing.academy/free

Free watercolor painting tutorials - https://watercoloracademy.com/free

Video on how Vladimir London painted the “Best Encaustic Portrait in the Last 2000 Years” - https://lifedrawing.academy/life-draw...

Watercolor Academy personal tutoring course - https://watercoloracademy.com/persona...

Book by Vladimir London - How to Draw a Portrait: Step-by-step Instructions for Beginner Artists -
https://www.amazon.com/How-Draw-Portr...

The “Book on Watercolor” by Vladimir London - https://www.amazon.com/Book-Watercolo...