Embracing Granulation in Watercolour
Greetings! I finished a painting earlier this year, and woke up this morning really wanting to share more about the process of it on here.
The painting came about due to me setting up a new watercolour palette. For a while now I have wanted to consolidate my art supplies down into a kit that is concise and what I need without being overly restricted. With watercolours, I theorised that a three palette system would suit me and my painting needs. My main palette, a small six-colour travel palette, and then an “expansion palette”.
I may make an entire blog post just on what the idea of an expansion palette is, and how I have set mine up. I certainly could talk about it for a while! To summarise though, it is the place for all of the colours that have a place in my creative process but aren’t used on a nearly-every-painting basis. My very frequently used pigments are all on my main palette for ease of access, but I wanted that same ease of access for the colours I keep around for particular reasons and special effects. By special effects I mainly mean properties like opaqueness or heavy granulation.
Close-up details of the lion portrait, showing the granulation of French Ultramarine in the shadows and background.
What is granulation?
Granulation in watercolour refers to when the pigment particles settle on the paper unevenly, clumping together and producing visually noticeable irregular textures. Not all pigments granulate, and those that do can range in their intensity. The amount of water and the texture of paper you use can also alter the appearance of granulating pigments as well.
The star of today’s post is the pigment PB29, otherwise known as Ultramarine Blue. Specifically, I am going to talk about French Ultramarine by Schmincke. Ultramarine is a pigment that is known to granulate, but the intensity of that granulation varies brand to brand. Much like how the same pigment can vary slightly in hue or transparency brand to brand, so can the level of granulation you can expect from the paint.
My everyday Ultramarine Blue that is on my main palette is Ultramarine Deep by Sennelier. The exact same pigment - PB29 - but with a subtle granulation in comparison to other brands. That more soft effect allows for a wider range of applications in my illustrations and paintings, and does not tend to “overpower” the resulting textures.
Schmincke’s French Ultramarine on the other hand granulates. Through dot cards and samples I have been able to try a handful of PB29s by different paint manufacturers and Schmincke’s is by far the most textural and intense granulation I have ever come across. It produces absolutely gorgeous textures as a result, but can easily overpower washes and the overall effects I may want in a piece.
Initial paint mixing tests, showing how much French Ultramarine separates in mixes.
How to handle a heavily granulating paint
Before even putting brush to paper, I knew I needed to go in with a plan in order to work with the heavy granulation. Using my previous knowledge of French Ultramarine, I knew it was going to separate out in some areas to almost stark blue. Exactly how and where is a little more difficult to predict, but I could take advantage of the effect in how I planned the cool areas of the portrait. I planned to work with the intensity and randomness instead of against it.
I went in with the plan of studying a portrait in very warm lighting, leading to very cool shadows. What is considered “cool” or “warm” in painting is a little subjective, and is best exemplified through comparison. By laying two colours next to each other it is easier to say which is warmer or cooler than the other. For the purpose of this painting blue would serve as the cool component, and earthy oranges would serve as the opposing warm.
Due to the nature of French ultramarine, I guessed that the resulting shadows would have some very intensely blue granulation. So I leaned into that possibility by planning to oppose it with very warm earth oranges in the light, and keeping the warmest tones only in the light. Blue and orange also act as complementary colours, which should help balance each other’s intensity. That was the plan anyway!
Close-up details of the lion’s eye, showing the warmth in the light and coolness in the shadows.
To tie the piece together I also planned to use a mixture of the French Ultramarine and the warm earth tones from the portrait to mix the background greens. This resulted in the ultramarine granulation appearing more cohesively throughout the painting.
For the warm tones I stuck to three paints in various quantities, all from the expansion palette. It was an opportunity to really let Terra Rosa by M Graham shine, since I don’t often get the chance to use it in my ink illustrations due to its opacity. For slightly more transparent applications I utilised Maroon Perylene by M Graham (yes, they put the words the other way around). To reach the earthy yellows you may expect Yellow Ochre to make an appearance, but this time I actually used New Gamboge. These three paints in unison provided the base earth tones for the portrait.
The finished watercolour painting, with gouache details.
The final touches were painted in with white gouache - Titanium White by Winsor & Newton - rather than masking or avoiding those areas. I have been enjoying the pop gouache adds at the end recently, though I tend to adjust my method of preserving or adding white depending on what I feel the piece needs.
This whole process really gave me a renewed appreciation for both French Ultramarine and heavily granulating paints in general. It also helped me see how my painting and pigment knowledge has progressed over the years. Planning out a painting like this and the resulting effects coming out how I envisioned, yet also with that gorgeous randomness watercolour brings, was a real confidence booster. There is always a path ahead to keep climbing, but looking out every now and again to enjoy the view you have so far is a lovely part of the journey.
That’s all for now, lovelies. Happy drawing!
