John V Stevenson of S.Frederick, Md. writes

Dear Captain,

Since visiting your web site I realize I will become a fan of your talent and your inspiration!..can your please
describe for me what you mean by ' sedimentary color '?

Sure John

Pigments are either significantly heavier than water or not. The heavier ones sediment out very quickly, pooling in the valleys of watercolor paper. This makes for a lovely shimmer in the final painting. BUT. It only works if you let the wash settle, and then DO NOT MESS WITH IT. This is covered in the video lesson about watercolor paint.

I am wondering how long watercolor paint lasts after being put into palate wells.

Forever. If you keep it wet, say by putting the palette inside a sealed plastic bag, poorer quality paints will mildew in anywhere from a few days to a few weeks. If you let them dry, they are good forever.

Here is what I do with my travel palette: Let it dry thoroughly at the end of a trip.

A few days before the next trip, I spray water on the paint. Then I seal the palette in a
plastic bag with a wet sponge. This works too well sometimes. If the paint becomes too
soft, it will run around inside the palette. So when someone else is going to handle my
bags ( Like flying ) I take care to get it just a little soft before the day of travel. When I get to my destination I seal it up with the very wet sponge again. In the morning its good to go.

Chris Crossen asks:

message: Hi, just watched your video on wetting paper. Thanks... very informative.I
have a question: I am painting a large watercolor (lanaquarelle cold press 40x60") that
will take a number of days if not weeks to complete. My general thought is to clamp the
paper down to the table using large clamps and 1" thin wooden frame over the paper to
provide fixation. I plan on wetting the paper while it's clamped, letting it dry, and
then proceed to paint over the ensuing weeks... keeping the paper clamped down to the
table. Do you think this will work to prevent warping, etc.? Any other ideas for such a
large piece of paper?ThanksChris

I let it warp. Once done I put it face down on a flat surface. Then wet it pretty liberally on the back to within a few mm if the edge. Lay some cloth (a towel ) over the back, put a piece board over the sandwich an add some weights. The whole thing will dry flat as new.