Understanding Granulating Pigments with Carolyn Lord
You squeeze out some watercolor. Mix it with another color and something weird starts to happen.
It’s almost like your paint is… broken? It starts to separate into little sand-like particles.
Is it time to throw away a whole tube of paint?
Ep.21 guest Carolyn Lord says not so fast. What you’ve uncovered is in fact a tube of granulating paint.
Granulating pigments do what their name implies, granulate.
When you mix them with other colors in your palette or lay them down on the paper, granulating pigments will separate out just a little bit and create a sense of texture in your work.
Certain earthy pigments have granulating qualities including cerulean, raw sienna, and the cobalts just to name a few.
Put it to Practice:
Granulating pigments are a great way to get texture in your work. But make sure you WANT that texture.
For example, if you’re painting a child’s smooth skin, maybe you don’t want your pigments granulating.
But if you’re painting a reference with sidewalk, a wall, or a coast headlands then they suddenly add wonderful texture just on their own.
If you’re not sure if your pigments are granulating, pull out a sheet of watercolor paper and lay some down to test it. You’ll begin to learn which of your colors granulate and which don’t.