Old Holland : Watercolour

The launch of the Old Holland's oil paint series in a unique range of 168 colours was followed by the launch Old Holland Classic Watercolours in the same rich range. One of the unique characteristics of these watercolours is the unparalleled colour strength (maximum pigmentation). Whilst this high colour strength requires a slightly different approach on the part of the aquarellist (so little paint is needed from the tube or cup for the desired colour effect that you have to get used to the ratio of paint to diluent), the advantages are clear. It is well-known that Old Holland attaches a hand-painted colour strip to its tubes of oil paint and acrylic paint, showing the paint in the tube in question. A different solution was chosen for the watercolours. The labels of the tubes and cups of watercolour do not show the full tone of the paint, but the undertone (a logical choice following on from the technique of watercolour painting). The colours on the labels are screen printed with the watercolour in this undertone, using a screen printing technique developed specially for Old Holland. It is well known that some pigments used in watercolours display special characteristics:Granulation: the pigment particles attach themselves to the paper as a splotchy tone. Examples of this include Manganese blue, Ultramarine blue dark and Raw Sienna.Flocculation: pigment particles aggregate together, giving the same effect as granulation. Examples include Viridian green light and dark, Green Earth and Raw Umber.The watercolour series also includes a number of opaque, supertransparent (with the suffix 'lake' in the name) and semitransparent colours.