Granulation in Skies
This is a question I’ve wanted to ask for some time. I know that granulation is favoured by many watercolour artists, so this may be a bit controversial :) I would like to avoid granulation in my skies unless I’m aiming for a stormy look. There is a soothing harmony to Olly’s skies that I would like to emulate (but most definitely haven’t managed). I prefer to have some warmth and colour variation in my skies and often use some variation of cobalt blue, raw sienna, rose madder and either Winsor and Newton light red or burnt sienna. I was using Saunders rough paper but have switched to cold press to minimise a granular look. I’d be grateful for any advice on how I might minimise granulation and any thoughts on problems with my colour choices.
Hi Kerstin,
Not at all an expert on this, but I think this has more to do with how fine/coarse the pigments are ground than the pigments themselves, and maybe which other additives they include in their paints. I use W&N myself, a superb brand, and even their really affordable Cotman range should do a great job for anyone. I find that the Cotman paints often granulate less than their professional equivalents, for some reason, if less granulation is what you're after.
By the way, you can easily shop Daler Rowney's pigments from Jackson's Art (jacksonsart.co.uk) if you want to try them - it turns out they actually take care of the extra VAT and custom fees hassle, at least for orders to Norway, but I'm guessing it works similarly for the other Scandi countries. I just had some supplies delivered from them, and shipping wasn't more expensive than ordering from Panduro/Kreatima. Just beware, Daler Rowney professional paints aren't especially cheaper than W&N professional, if you measure by ml...