by Currie Jean

Created on: April 07, 2008

Traditional watercolor paintings can add a soft look to any room. They're found in offices and waiting rooms for a special reason: they're not only pretty, but calming and inviting. Such an effect is created in the remnants of the watercolor technique itself, as water is considered a calming, flowing, easygoing and refreshing element. This theme translates into the artwork. Creating watercolor art yourself can add all these elements to your surroundings with an added benefit: they're catered to your own tastes in both style and subject matter.

Tube Paints

Watercolor paints, especially the higher-quality varieties, are available in tubes. Tube paints are easy to mix with water, and are good to use when painting large areas. Using tube paints keeps your paints from being contaminated with other colors. Since tube paints already contain liquid, they're easier on your brushes than pan paints. They don't require you to scrub with the brush to pick up pigment.

The down side is that tube paints require the additional purchase of a palette. A palette has many small indentations, into which tube paint can be squeezed and mixed. If paint dries in the palette, it can still be used, as it remains water-soluble.

Pan Paints

Pan paints come in boxes, usually as small circles or rectangles of solid, but not completely dry, watercolor paint. They are less expensive than tube paints, and are easily transportable. When painting with pan paints, the colors are immediately accessible, meaning that a palette isn't necessary - the pan of hard paints can be used as a palette, especially since the lid usually has indentations in which you can mix water and colors together.

Pan paints can, on the other hand, become contaminated with other colors, unless the artist using them is especially careful not to mix them. Contaminated, mixed pan paints can be cleaned off with a wet paper towel, though, so this isn't a very big deal. When using pan paints, be careful not to scrub too hard with the brush to lift paint up, as this can damage the bristles.

Watercolor pencils

A third option for pigment is the watercolor pencil. A set of watercolor pencils looks just like regular colored pencils, and can be used like colored pencils when an artist is not interested in painting. When water is applied to a watercolor pencil drawing, the pigment on the page acts like watercolor, allowing the artist to brush color across the page and soften the look while simultaneously being able to create a lot of detail. The

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