#4 Granulating Pigments
During the last three years I have learned that watercolorists love pigments and not just color choices (and there are many), but the special properties that these pigments hold and how they interact with the paper and other pigments.
One of the most amazing things watercolor does is called granulation. Granulation occurs when the powdered pigment is more coursely ground, and/or is also a heavy pigment. As you add water the pigment spreads out and when it is applied the pigment settles on the paper. Granulating pigments due to their weight and size, settle further down into the texture of the paper, producing granulation as seen in the photograph above. Granulating pigments create awesome textures in nature for bark, rocks and more! If you want to know which pigments are granulating check out Daniels Smiths website. You can actually choose "granulating" in a drop down menu and it will list any of it's 1600+ colors that give this texture. If you are interested in learning more about creating texture in watercolor I will be teaching a two evening class in August--more details to follow.
***Important items to note: