The Real Deal

I while back I posted a story about my Dr Ph. Martin liquid ‘radiant concentrated’ liquid dyes that were masquerading as watercolours. Despite their fancy-sounding name, many online reviewers had come to the conclusion that these impostors were not lightfast, and were probably only suitable for commercial work, rather than fine art. What they do have going for them is the super-bright saturation of the hues, and they can easily be reactivated in the palette after they dry out.

I had already found that they did not behave in the same way as watercolour paint as far as creating textural effects by dropping salt onto wet wash. Nor do they seem to have the same lovely luminescent quality of true watercolour if they are watered down or mixed too much – the colours start to look flat.

Discovering how expensive watercolour paint was in art stores (many cost more than $20 for a 5mL tube), I managed to find a small, inexpensive box of Holbeins on eBay, and have since augmented this basic set with a few extra colours by Winsor & Newton (I haven’t yet discovered any difference in quality). As much as I used to love my Dr Ph’s, my watercolour paintings seem to have more depth and vibrancy.

And happily, these watercolour paints do behave as the tutorials online promised. I have experimented so far with fairly fine-grained iodised cooking salt and enormous chunks of rock salt, which was all I had in my pantry. I’d like to try some flaked sea salt too, and see if there’s any difference in the formation of the texture.

It will be perfect to create the crusty old skin of the monsters I am illustrating for a children’s book series.