Granulation Set

Granulating Watercolour Sets

Granulation is what happens when a pigment particle is too heavy or too coarse to stay suspended, so it settles into the hollows of the paper as the wash dries. The result is a mottled, textured wash that no amount of technique will fake with a smooth staining colour.

Getting the effect

Granulating pigments are usually mineral rather than modern organic: the earths, the cobalts, ultramarine, viridian, manganese and the iron oxides. A rough or cold press cotton sheet exaggerates the effect because there are more hollows to settle into; hot pressed paper flattens it almost entirely.

Use plenty of water, lay the wash flat, and then leave it alone. Brushing back into a settling wash is what destroys the texture.

We stock granulating sets from Schmincke and others. See also watercolour, papers and pads and mop brushes. Stationerie, Kolkata, 25 years in art materials, shipped across India.