Ana Victoria Calderón’s Favorite Watercolor Painting Materials

Ana Victoria Calderón shares her favorite materials for illustrating with watercolor

To browse Ana Victoria Calderon’s work (@anavictoriana) is to submerge yourself in a world of watercolor illustration. She creates little universes with ink and water on all kinds of canvases–collaborating with brands and publications around the globe.

We spoke to her about her favorite materials so we could share the tips and tricks of a seasoned pro and help you get the right material for your own watercolor creations.

What material do you usually use when working in watercolor? Which is your favorite?

There is a wide variety of material for watercolor painting. Over the years, I have experimented with many types of paper, paint, brushes, and extra materials. It is worth mentioning that when it comes to painting, we are talking about personal tastes, and these are mine.

My favorite everyday paper is Winsor & Newton (specifically, the Cotman line) with a spiral spine. I work with this for various reasons: personally, I like a notebook with a spiral as I am often working on more than one illustration at a time–maybe I’m working on a personal illustration but I have a client job on another page. The spiral lets me flick between the illustrations without having to remove the paper from the notebook.

This paper is quite cheap, which gives me the freedom to experiment without feeling like I’m wasting papers. It also absorbs well and adds brightness to my pieces.

For a high quality paper, Arches is undoubtedly the best. I only use this paper when I am doing a piece for an exhibition or if the original watercolor is important. I use this paper sparingly because of its price. It’s a luxurious paper made of 100% cotton and it’s wonderful. Most of my paintings are made to be scanned and reproduced and so I rarely need such high quality.

These are two brands I use but I don’t just use them. I experiment with all kinds of paper, pastel watercolor paper, handmade paper. Strathmore is another brand I like, among many others

What is very important is to use a paper designed for watercolor. There have been many times when students have come to classes with drawing paper or paper for mixed media and it just doesn’t work if the paper isn’t good enough. When we paint with watercolor, we use so much water that normal paper simply can’t absorb it and so we’ll never get the result we want. It’s important to find paper with which you are comfortable and that is right for you.

What’s the difference between liquid watercolor, watercolor tubes, and blocks?

All three are watercolors at the end of the day. The main characteristic of watercolor is that you can leave the paint on your palette and, years later, you’ll be able to use it again.

Watercolor tubes and blocks are similar to each other. When using a block, you simply wet the color you want to use, prepare it on your palette, and start to paint. With tubes, you simple squeeze a little out onto your palette, mix it with water, and start to paint.

With liquid watercolor you use a dropper to put some paint on the palette and mix it with water. In my experience, liquid watercolors come much more concentrated and offer more vivid colors. They are fun but harder to work with.

In what paint and format do your prefer to work?

Personally, I use a combination of all three. Generally, watercolor artists will have a mix of paints on their palette. They don’t clean it but rather create their own personal and organic combination of colors.

I love vibrant colors but sometimes they’re too much. Generally, I have a bit of liquid turquoise in my palette and I mix it with a blue from my block paints.

My favorite paint brands are Sennelier, Schmincke, and Winsor & Newton.

Tubes: Holbein.

Liquid: Dr. Ph. Martin's.

It’s worth mentioning that there are more economical good quality materials if you’re only just starting out. In my opinion, the Cotman line–the student range from Winsor & Newton, is excellent: I started painting with them when I didn’t have the money to invest in more expensive materials.

And your favorite brushes? What sizes do you usually use? Do you prefer them natural or synthetic?

In general, I use three types of brush at the same time when I’m painting: big, medium, and small for details. Something like that with a size range of 10, 3, and 0 up to 000. I like synthetic brushes, but that’s just a personal preference and it depends a lot on your style.

I’ve really been enjoying Princeton brushes recently, although I also often use a lot of brushes from Winsor & Newton.

I always save my brushes when I can’t use them to paint any longer and I use them to apply sticky materials like masking liquid or adhesives. I also have hard bristle and flat brushes to create a splatter effect.

What other materials do you tend to use when painting?

I use white ink a lot in my watercolors and my favorite white ink is definitely COPIC. I’ve tried thousands and I stick with this one, 100%.

I also like to integrate gold leaf, gold dust and other metals like bronze, silver, and India ink. Really, painting is all about experimentation. That's why my course includes the "little planets" lesson, so that my students learn to experiment by themselves.

Watercolor is very versatile and combines well with a variety of other materials. You can even experiment with salt, chlorine, and homemade materials that you never thought could make an incredible effect in combination with watercolor.

Right now, this is my favorite material. I often try out and experiment with new paints. I really encourage people to explore their personal tastes and don’t get lost in the idea that their material isn’t good enough. I just had a student set for the first three years of my career as an illustrator and that was more than enough to develop my own style and fall in love with the craft.

I hope you can feel as passionate about discovering and experimenting with new materials as I do :)

Ana Victoria Calderón teaches the course Modern Watercolor Techniques, in which she will show you how to apply watercolor techniques to create marvelous illustrations, and Techniques applied to watercolor illustration, where she teaches how to digitize illustrations, commercialize them, and apply them to design projects.

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