So I have decided to take the www.onlinecardclasses.com Watercolor for Cardmakers Intermediate Techniques taught by the incomparable Dawn from WPlus9. These are my pre-class excercises! I decided to primarily use my Kuretaki Gansai Tambi Japanese watercolours to complete this class, but given the opacity it hasn't been a true indication of what watercolour can achieve. I plan to invest in some Winsor & Newton Professional watercolours when I can afford to, but for now, what I have will do!
My below samples are also on Strathmore Cold Press 140lb water colour paper, which I am not sure is Artist quality given the fact that you can see "blooms" in my swatches. This is from the paper drying at different rates causing the wet paint to 'overtake' the damp paint and push it to the side, ergo, blooming. My glazing was also a terrible failure, and I am sure this is because of the opacity of the Gansai Tambi paints. I tried to use an equal amount of water vs paint and waited until my first swatches were completely dry, but most of it just looks a muddy mess. Oh well! It taught me something... I need to buy translucent artist grade paints to get those beautiful layering glazes!
I highly recommend this class to anyone, I have only been through the first few lessons and have already learnt a wealth of information. I will continue to update with photos as I progress :)
Elle xx
I'm interested to hear your experience with the Gansai Tambi paints. I was a bit late to the class and only swatched the small set of Daniel Smith artist quality watercolor paints I bought after my Gansai Tambi set. I had noticed before the class that high pigment applications of the Gansai Tambi can dry with a sheen that I seem to see in your color wheel. Though I love the colors for use in small areas in cards, I'm now glad I invested in a few artist grade tubes before attempting some of the more advanced techniques in the class (though, as you mentioned, paper quality is also a factor). Thank you for sharing your results.
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