Watercolour Paint
Watercolor paint builds up color in transparent washes and allows the white and structure of the paper to become part of the image.
Watercolor pans, tubes and pigment selection
Watercolor pans are compact and economical for sketchbook and travel; tubes make it easier to mix larger amounts of saturated color. Compare transparency, granulation, lightfastness and how strongly a pigment is absorbed into the paper fiber. A smaller palette with easily mixable primary colors is often more useful than many almost identical shades.
Paper and water management
Use paper that can handle the number of wet layers: heavier watercolor paper distorts less and gives more working time. Fine-grained paper supports details; on a coarser structure the pigment is deposited more visibly. Allow a layer to dry before adding crisp details over it and test new pigment combinations on a test strip.
Also explore Paper · Brushes · Palettes for compatible materials and the next step in your project.
