Thank you for your report!
We have received your report and it is currently under investigation by a forum moderator.
Paper problems, or is it just me.....
Welcome to the forum.
Here you can discuss all things art with like-minded artists, join regular painting challenges, ask questions, buy and sell art materials and much more.
Make sure you sign in or register to join the discussions.
Hang on Studio Wall
This is a Studio member-only feature!
Join our Studio membership and save your favourite Painters Online content, from gallery artwork to step-by-step guides, to your own online mood boards. Create your go-to place for inspiration and learning. Plus, members can also enjoy a range of exciting features including monthly art videos and a digital magazine library.
If you are already a Studio member, simply login to your account.
Not a Studio member? Why not try our free 30-day trial - no commitment, no credit card required
Showing page 1 of 2
- 1
- 2
Message
Posted
Hmm. Having a lot of trouble with this Fabriano lightweight paper I've so far ruined three sheets of it; could be that I'm just trying to force myself to paint when I'm not actually in the mood, but I can't get the paint to spread without the paper cockling hideously: paint just sits on it and won't move, paper won't take more water ..... Ugh. I'm afraid I shall have to scrap the lot and go back to Bockingford, or - at considerable cost - Arches.
It might have helped if I hadn't run out of Pthalo Blue, and had to have recourse to Prussian, which is dull as ditchwater by comparison. But there's more to it than that - the paint just isn't mobile...... I had one success with this paper, but have enjoyed none since......... So it's not a fault with the paper, I suspect, it's just that it's not the paper for me.
Posted
I just read last night, and I think it was on Artist's and Illustrators website, that Fabriano has a right and a wrong side, so maybe check which side you are painting on? As you say lightweight paper, could it be that it needs stretching? (but I am sure you will know all this already?)
I only have Fabriano in a block, (bought it years ago when I was flush).
Edited
by Nerys
Posted
Robert Jones (5/2/2015)I love Fabriano Artistico paper,but the 140lb paper cockles like mad so I use the 300lb one, which stays perfectly flat regardless of how much water you throw at it. I have found that all makes of paper of 140lbs and below cockle and bend and the only solution, regardless of make you favour, is to go to a heavier paper.
Hmm. Having a lot of trouble with this Fabriano lightweight paper I've so far ruined three sheets of it; could be that I'm just trying to force myself to paint when I'm not actually in the mood, but I can't get the paint to spread without the paper cockling hideously: paint just sits on it and won't move, paper won't take more water ..... Ugh. I'm afraid I shall have to scrap the lot and go back to Bockingford, or - at considerable cost - Arches. It might have helped if I hadn't run out of Pthalo Blue, and had to have recourse to Prussian, which is dull as ditchwater by comparison. But there's more to it than that - the paint just isn't mobile...... I had one success with this paper, but have enjoyed none since......... So it's not a fault with the paper, I suspect, it's just that it's not the paper for me.
Posted
I think you've all hit the nail on the head - I went for a cheaper paper (ie, lighter weight, 140lbs) which might have worked with a smaller sheet; but for quarter Imperial, it just didn't.
I've persevered though - in the sense that I've tried again, rather than laboured over the thing, which is the surest way I know to ruin any painting in any medium - and found rather more success by wetting the paper first, then dropping the colour in; this isn't my usual method, but then this isn't my usual paper - it's at least got the paint moving about, which it previously refused to do.
As for the right or wrong side - the problem here is telling which is which, but examined against a raking light, there IS a difference, and I've used the other side to that which I was using: this seems to be helping, too. (Anyone know more about this? I know that some papers do have a right and wrong side, is Fabriano 140lb paper one of them?)
On the whole, the papers I prefer are Bockingford, Arches, and Saunders Waterford - all in heavier weights, although I've found Bockingford quite forgiving in the past (why didn't I use it this time? Fancied a change - just goes to show that constancy brings its own rewards.... ).
I'll keep trying with this paper - after all, I have a pack of it and it's a bit of a waste if I don't! - but I'm anticipating a visit to one of the many online stores: I'd like a big watercolour palette; a big fat tube of Pthalo Blue; and a pack of heavyweight paper (no birthday coming up, so it looks as if I'll have to dig into the wallet and disturb the moths). Speaking of Alan Owen, he has a video on YouTube in which he mentions that you do yourself no favours by using paper that's too light in weight - should have listened....
(By the way - we had tags under the dialogue boxes: true, I hadn't much use for them, but they seem to have gorn........ )
Posted
Just to update - I've now finished two quarter Imperial sized watercolours on the Fabriano paper, using mostly the hake brush, and - no further problems. I'm really not sure why, but suspect I was out of practice, unfamiliar with the paper, probably using the wrong side, and maybe just didn't think hard enough about what I was doing - or thought too hard.....
It would seem my best bet is just to carry on painting and don't get distracted (by things like election campaigns, which are going to end horribly anyway by the look of it............).
Posted
Was there no watermark on the fabriano Robert? there are lots of different papers by Fabriano, my favourite Fabriano Artistico CP 300gsm, watermarked, 100% cotton. There is also a 50% cotton which is nasty to paint on. i'm using a stretched block of rough 300gsm which i am finally starting to enjoy. i always stretch half sheets and bigger and i use the blocks for travelling. i love both arches and fabriano and use them interchangeably depending on availability.
Posted
Robert, if you are still looking for a big watercolour palette, one of the best is the John Pike Palette:
http://www.jacksonsart.com/search.php?input_search=John+Pike&stock=0&x=0&y=0
It comes with the paint wells in 2 sizes: regular and big well. Big well allows for bigger brushes and more paint on your palette. Made of high impact styrene. Size is 10 1/2 x 15“.
Both the lid and the palette sections provide HUGE mixing areas.
Posted
My palette of choice has always been the Liz Deakin, palette from Ken Bromley, I have several of them, it is has beautifully deep divisions for large washes and it costs only £14.95.
Liz Deakin Palette
Posted
Many thanks for these suggestions - I am still looking for a palette that will suit me; the arrival of the electricity bill has caused a certain hiatus in my art equipment purchasing..... but as soon as the pot is restored to health I shall dip into it and buy the few things I need: t'ain't much, really - just some painting boards for oils and acrylics; a tube of Titanium White oil paint; ditto of Cadmium Yellow; Cobalt Blue; perhaps a bit of lead white if I can sneak it in; the watercolour palette; Chromacolour whites; and I daren't look any further into the supplies store, because I shall certainly find a vast amount I need and just must, desperately, have....
Incidentally, rather than open a new thread I thought I'd wander off topic slightly: brushes this time. I don't know how many of you follow the work of Steve Cronin, watercolourist, on YouTube - he of the incredibly dirty palette that still seems to work perfectly for him, on his favourite Fabriano paper. His most used brush is/was a Ron Ranson Hake, with the handle cut down (I use Hakes as well, but like the handle as the makers intended). Well - nothing lasts forever: the top just fell off his trusty Hake; the wood had rotted through. Probably, Steve wasn't able to let the brush dry out properly because he paints so much - if you can, it's a good idea to let it dry right out horizontally, and then store it upright: mop as much water as you can out of the ferrule as well as the hair. I've found that even then, the stitching can rot away - I re-stitched one, but using cotton thread I doubt it'll work for long. Happily, they're still quite cheap. I've looked with interest at Frank Clarke's version of the Hake, which is goat hair in a metal ferrule ..... but then that'd be something else to spend money on.....
Wish I'd married an heiress. Or an heir, come to that. Anybody.......?
Showing page 1 of 2
- 1
- 2