Mesa Community College - Beginning Watercolor Class
6 weeks - beginning Feb 6 thru Mar 13, 2010
Saturdays from 10:00am - 12:30pm, Red Mountain Campus, Room to be announced
Non-credit, community education


Mesa Community College - Watercolor Studio
5 weeks - beginning Mar 27 thru Apr 24, 2010
Saturday mornings from 10am - 12:30pm, Red Mountain Campus, Room to be announced
Non-credit, community education


Instructor: James Metcalf

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Class Materials:

Brushes - Natural watercolor bristle: Buy at least one 1" flat and one #12 round. Recommended rounds - #2, 6, 10, 12; rigger. Buy the best you can afford. You can buy synthetic brushes, but they do not hold up well.

Paper - Watercolor block is recommended - size up to about 12 x 16", 140 lb. Hot or cold press, smooth or rough is students choice. My preference is cold press rough. A second smaller watercolor pad is recommended for testing colors/techniques.

Note: Paper should be at least 140 lb. if you plan to soak and stretch your paper or use collage techniques. Soak the paper in a tub for at least 15 minutes. Lift out let excess water drip off and put on plywood or masonite backing board and secure with paper tape and or staples while wet. Then let dry completely.

With 300 lb. paper you do not have to stretch if you do not wish to do so.

90 lb. paper is student grade, but unless you are doing straight dry brush techniques, the paper may not hold up to scrubbing and wet-on-wet techniques.

Paints - Transparent water colors.
Basic Palette - Cad yellow light (or Lemon Yellow), Cad yellow medium, Cad red medium, Alizrin crimson, Ultramarine blue (or Cobalt blue), Pthalocyanine blue, Pthalocyanine green, Hookers green, Burnt Sienna, Burnt Umber. Optional Colors - Paynes gray, Yellow ochre, Sap green, Cerulean blue, Violet, Chinese white.

My Palette - Payne's gray, Davey's gray, Black, Aliziran crimson, Cad. red-medium, Geranium Lake, Cad. yellow-medium, Naples yellow, Yellow Ochre, Cad. Orange, Cobalt blue, Ultramarine blue, Thalo blue, Prussian blue, Cerulean blue, Turquoise blue, Thalo violet, Thalo yellow green, Sap green, Viridian green, Earth green, Hookers green, Burnt umber, Burnt sienna, Raw umber, Raw sienna, Vandyke brown, Indian red, Sepia brown...

Watercolor tray - Large retangular tray for mixing colors (i.e. Robert Wood rectangular tray with 24 wells and two large separated mixing areas is a very good choice). Any art store will have. Optional - an enamel butcher tray, also at art store.

Backing Board - This can be about 18 x 24", flat piece of 3/16" plywood, foamcore, or cardboard

Misc. materials - Mat knife and/or xacto knife, spray bottle, water jug/jar, masking fluid, salt, eraser, rubber cement pickup, #2 pencils, masking tape, paper towels, kleenex, old toothbrush, bulldog clips, natural sponge, tissue paper, plastic wrap, etc.


© 2008 James Metcalf