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Frustrating weather....
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Message
Posted
As Alan Bickley correctly advised me, I need to photograph paintings outdoors - my flat being sepulchral and grim. And for the last two days, it's either been raining, or is raining: and finding somewhere to lay a watercolour that isn't sodden is problematic. I have a new one, of a twilit scene: I like dull paintings - back to Corot again...
The snag is, it incorporates a rosy glow: to be specific, a mix of permanent rose (PV19) and yellow ochre. Indoors, the camera picks up all the colours except - the rose: without which, the painting doesn't make a lot of sense. I may go as far as to stamp my little foot and cast a cynical glance at the sky - anyway, take my word for it for now: I HAVE painted another watercolour, and am once again, after a long lay-off, making progress with the medium.
My problems with it, I now realize, came with my transition from Bockingford to Arches rough - both good papers, the second a very good paper, but there is a really big difference between them: it was like learning to paint all over again for me..... I wonder how typical an experience this is.
Posted
Robert, you have pointed out a very important point, regarding watercolour paper. Personally, what I have learned with various types, is for example, there are certain things, I wouldn't paint on Cold Pressed watercolour paper as, through experience, I know, I'm going to produce a better finish on a Hot Pressed and vice-versa. You really have to think about your painting and what paper is going to best suit it in terms of texture, how the watercolour is going respond to that texture and the likely finish you are wanting to achieve. Of course, on a Hot Pressed, the watercolour washes and merges much more quickly. I always have both types of various sizes and brands.
Posted
It’s not just the difference between the various brands and types of watercolour paper, the paper weight also makes a difference. I’ve always used Saunders Waterford NOT, but started off with it in the lighter weight, but got fed up with the need to stretch it, and moved to the much heavier 300 lbs weight, which was quite different to work with - much more absorbent and the paint took longer to dry. It took me a while to get used to it, which I hadn’t expected.
Edited
by Jenny Harris
Posted
I’ve tried most of them over the years, going back to the time when I had to use the thinner stuff because of the price!
Now, like Jenny, I only buy the heavier weight papers, more recently that being the hand made paper from Two Rivers paper mill in Somerset.
That’s their white standard range Not paper which obviously has deckled edges to a full sheet - and also I’ve been using their Turner Grey paper which is challenging but wonderful stuff to work with!
It is considerably different from say Fabriano, and you do have to adapt - but I enjoy adapting.
I’ve got a painting going in to next months online Two Rivers newsletter if anyone is interested, there’s opportunities for all of us to have our work displayed on there, just send something you’ve painted using TR paper!
Why not sign up to receive their newsletters, simple to do and they don’t harass you!
Edited
by Alan Bickley
Posted
I'll do that - I have bookmarked their website, but can't have signed up to it because I don't get mails from them (just from every other ruddy company under the sun; it'll be good to get an email from a company I WANT to hear from).
I have used a lot of papers in the past - it's getting hold of the ones I liked most that's the problem, because they were either Scheollershammer or Hahnamuller (or something....): one of the, Sch'hammer I think, made a torchon paper I found very good; finding it again - well, I'll try harder.