Hi Kathy, What brand of watercolors are you using? If they are Koi, then yes they will probably fade. The same with dye inks or even Copic markers, especially if exposed to sunlight. I wouldn't trust Prang, Reeves, Crayola, or Michael's student brands either. Winsor & Newton is a trusted brand that has an affordable student line called Cotman at Michaels. Hobby Lobby carries a student grade called Van Gogh watercolors which are quite good. If you want to get an artist grade pan set, there are all kinds on Dickblick.com or Cheapjoes.com or Jerrysartarama.com.
I started studying watercolor a few months ago and found a great forum called WetCanvas.com. They have forums for nearly all media so it's a little overwhelming to navigate at first. Here's the link to the
Watercolor Learning Zone. Lightfastness is a BIG issue for watercolor artists and it takes a little research to find the trustworthy pigments. You'll see there are a couple of sticky threads at the top for lightfastness tests.
Each paint is made of up of one or more pigments which are identified by two letters and numbers:
PR denotes Pigment Red, PB is Pigment Blue, etc. Two paints of the same name aren't necessarily made of the same pigments which is why it's good to do your own research. Never trust the pigments Aureolin (PY40), Rose Madder Genuine (NR9), or Alizarin Crimson (PR83), or Opera Rose (PR81). They will fade or the Aureolin yellow will even turn brown!
One of the best sites for researching pigments is called Handprint.com. Here's the link to the
watercolor pigment info.
Hope this helps and doesn't confuse!
watercolor lightfastness?
