Contrary to misconceptions, the only difference between tube paint and pan paint is that tube paints has viscosity to allow it to be squeezed out of the tube while the pan paint ranges from moist to dry, other than that, and except for brands, they are basically the same and will display no visual difference except when using the dry brush application. Dry brushing requires that you get the paint from the tube and apply it to paper as obviously that is hard to do when using dry pan paint. When mixing watercolor paints, whether using the tube or from the pan, to obtain the densest color is to get it straight out from its container undiluted with water. On the other hand, to get the lightest color value is to saturate it with more water.
In mixing watercolor paints the key point is that the denser the paint used over large surfaces, the more the tendency of the paint to dry dull. Very dense paints will tend to have a leathery appearance that unless it is the actual purpose, this "bronzing " of the paint will lose the luminescent quality that are typical only to watercolor paintings. Likewise too saturated paints will get the paper very wet that again if that is actually not the purpose, controlling the paint on very wet paper will take more skill than is normally required.
While all saturation levels are used for watercolor, the normal mix applied ranges from a part of paint to ten parts of water. To prevent bronzing yet have that sharp look and retain the paints luminescence, the mixture will typically start at two parts of water to every part of the paint. A mixture of about six parts of water to a part of paint will still get a saturated color. After this, saturation levels are achieved depending on the value and color temperature that is desired. To get delicate pastels to subtle tints, more water is mixed.
When mixing watercolor paints, preserve the "raw" paints as much as possible and never allow it to be muddied by another color. To prevent this, pick a desired amount of paint with a clean brush from the paint well and put this on the mixing area. Before picking up another color insure that the brush used is not tainted with another color. Muddied paint when allowed to dry will make it a little difficult later on to pick pure colors.
There are different ways of mixing watercolor paints. One is to completely mix it on the palette for a desired or a matching color, it could also be mixed by loading the brush with a color or color combinations and applying it directly on paper, dropping colors into a wet surface is another method, and the use of glazing technique is also another method of mixing watercolor paints.
Watercolor paints also have the tendency to acquire mold when stored but not allowed to dry completely after using. It is then desirable to get only desired amounts during mixing colors as watercolors specially the bluish variations will have the tendency to produce an uneven and flaky texture when left to dry and rewetted.
Simply put, painting in tones with watercolor is shading or changing the tones of the color from light to dark and vice versa. An analogy is a charcoal sketch where the shades changes from white to black to illustrate the depth and differences that light affects the object or the image. In watercolor as in other coloring mediums, this is not so easy to achieve. The main reason is that artists could be distracted by the appeal of colors that often results to imbalance.
But creating tones in watercolor is very important. Sometimes it is even more important than the color itself. To draw an analogy, a pianist for example might be good at reading sheet music and might have perfectly disciplined fingers to run throughout all the keys with ease but if he cannot coordinate his feet on the damper pedal, the resonance of chords will overlap and so will every key pressed that instead of music, all that is produced is a cacophony of noises. Watercolor art works the same way. As Henri Matisse once said, "There (a painting) should be a relationship and a living harmony of all the tones".
Tones could be created with all colors, although lighter colors such as yellow will have less color tone possibilities than the darker colors such as reds and blues. Even so light colors could appear darker when surrounded by darker colors. This is also a tonal variation, a color illusion if you will that artists use and make adjustments but who gained first an understanding of color behavior.
Every good artist has to different degrees, practiced first on a grey value scale. A grey value scale is separated into 10 sections with the topmost color being pure white and the remaining nine is shaded 10% increments darker until the tenth or the bottom color is black. Comparing color tones based on the grey value scale gives the artist a very good idea on how color tones differ and how best to apply it. It also allows the artist uniformity on color tone application.
To achieve a good command at color toning, practice by painting a grey scale using black and white paints. Start with a white block at the opposite end and a black paint at the other and mix them in different range of grey. If you are starting from the darkest color the best way that this is done is to apply water as you go up the scale.
Once you can paint well with grey values, you can apply the same method with the colors that you use frequently. After that you can paint a value scale of all the colors that you have in your palette. These value scales will prove very important when you do actual watercolor work, as these tones are what you will use for color and tone referencing.
While working on the grey scale, you might be tempted to use white as you go to the lighter shades of grey. When painting a color scale however, it is not advisable since the color intensity will be lost. This practice always provided artists a very good working idea on how tones are created. Painting in tones is time well spent.
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