Materials: Watercolor Value Chart, Transparency, Staining,

Inspiration

Something done by the artist giving a watercolor demo at an art supply store.

Materials

• Some probably cold-press watercolor I don't like
• Black sharpies -- next time I'll get the jumbo width one.
• A pencil and a ruler for the grid-making.
• A 24 pan set of Yarka St. Petersburg Artists' Watercolors she also gave me.
• A jar for water, and lots of rinses and refills.

 

Step 1:  Draw a light grid.

I separated my 9" • 12" page into two 4.5" vertical columns and 23 horizontal 1/2" rows, leaving space at the top for the title. This could also be set up by using thin masking tape.

In each half:

• The first column is 1.5" wide, and the second is 1/2" wide.  
• The third is also 1/2" wide, for the permanent ink.  This doesn't need to be as wide, and if I do it again, I'll do a 3/16" with for black ink under the colors and 3/16" for a thick line over the dried colors.
• The fourth column is 2" wide, and I used that to show the staining power of each paint with a "lift-off" technique.  Next time I'll set this up a bit differently so I can have a gradient with pure tint at one end and dilute it with water as it moves across the cell. 
• The last column is 1/2" wide for notes, as shown in red pen.

Step 2:  Add the permanent ink.

In the third column on each half, fill it in completely with a Sharpie marker.  I suggest getting the Jumbo width for this.  Alternately, fill in the left half of those columns before applying paint, and the right half after the paint has dried.

Step 3:  Add the color names.

In the first column on each half, add the color names in spectral order.  I've skipped cells here to allow for more colors if I get another set.  Note in the bottom-right corner of these cells, transparent (T), semi-opaque (S-O), or opaque (O).

Step 4:  Add the colors.

Add a drop of clean water to each pan -- I added several, and that was too much.  Adding water to each pan saves you from adding muddy rinse water to your pans as you go.  Next time I'll use an eye dropper to make it more uniform.

Swizzle your damp, clean brush in each pan separately (using a timer next time) and add this pure tint across the top of the cell.  Rinse the brush thoroughly and draw the brush across the bottom of the cell, ensuring that the water allows the pigment to bloom to the bottom of the cell, creating a gradient.

Repeat for all remaining colors.

Step 5:  Lift the colors.

Using a wet brush, attempt to 'erase' a spot of each color using a timer, and blot with a clean paper towel.  How white the paper in that spot afterwards will give you an idea of how 'staining' that color is.  (Don't let the colors dry first, as I did with this one.)

Step 6:  Let it dry, add a separate line of permanent ink, and make any notes.

Use this as a reference for color selection for future projects.