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Wow! All change since I was last here - and a question about paper
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Message
Posted
Hi everyone, I was on here a lot back in 2017-ish, sadly health things got in the way, but finally back now. I hope those of you that were here before are well, and those of you that have joined since - hi!
I am much more into watercolour painting than I was, but just have a question about paper. I currently use The Langton 300gsm rough grain watercolour paper, and love the way the paint spreads in wet in wet. However even with the paper taped to a ridgid board, and leaving it to be bone dry before removing the tape, the paper does not return to being totally flat. I have been reading about Arches paper and it looks good, and am happy to pay a higher price for paper that will cope even better with a lot of 'wet in wet' but I do still want to be sure that it is suited to blooming and wet in wet techniques. Has anyone here used Arches and can let me know what it is like, or have any other paper recommendations. Here are a couple of examples so you can see the style I currently achieve and would like to continue to do so. Thank you, Lucy!
Posted
Hi Lucy, with lightweight paper, such as Langton or any other make for that matter, adding excessive water to the surface will always lead to cockling. Simply taping it down is useless!
There are two simple ways to proceed - you will need to stretch this weight of paper using gummed tape onto a rigid board, which can sometimes be a hit and miss but is relatively easy to do. There are plenty of instructions online, but shout up if you need advice.
The easiest (and quickest) way is to use a heavier weight paper, I use both Arches and Fabriano Artistico 300lb, this will take all the washes that you can throw at it, within reason!
Just to add, you can buy watercolour blocks, these are excellent and won’t cockle! I’ve got a couple of different size Arches ones, worth a try.
Edited
by Alan Bickley
Posted
I may have misunderstood, but you say 'before removing the tape' - do you mean you remove the tape before you start painting? If so, the paper will still cockle - and masking tape, which I presume is what you're using, since you couldn't remove gummed paper tape anyway, is unreliable stuff - paper can still cockle and the tape pull away from the board, even if you use two (or more) sections of tape on top on one another.
If you want a light weight paper - 140lb is pretty light, though there are lighter ones still - to stay flat, you really need to use either one of those paper stretchers (Bromley's for instance) or gummed (archival) tape.
But better to avoid the whole faff if you can afford to, and get yourself heavier weight paper (Arches, Saunders, several others) or, as suggested, blocks. Some people like stretching paper, by the way - it's part of the whole watercolour ritual for them ... can't say I'm among their number, generally speaking; though - it does give you time to think.
Posted
I always use Saunders Waterford NOT 300 lb in high white - it’s a really robust paper and produces some lovely effects with watercolour washes, especially if salt is added. It’s not cheap, but for me is well worth the extra expense and it saves all that bother of having to stretch paper or have it cockling. Being thicker, it is more absorbent though and I found it took a bit of getting used to at first, the drying time can be a little longer. Ken Bromley sell it at a discount, with further savings if you buy more than one pack at a time.
Posted
Thanks Fiona and Alan, I appreciate your insight. I am going to be painting various different sizes up to 11x14. I am wondering if i am better off buying pads / sheets and cutting them down rather than blocks. Is there a significant benefit of blocks that is worth me bearing in mind?
Hi Robert - Sorry, I meant I tape (masking tape) the paper onto a board before I start a painting and don't take it off until it is fully dry. I think I will definitely go for heavier paper, when I am in the mood to paint I want to get going straight away rather than having to delay and stretch the paper etc.
Hi Jenny, thank you for the recommendation, I'll have a look at that one too.
Posted
You can’t buy decent weight paper in pads Lucy. It’s generally 140lb or thereabouts.
Blocks are again around 140lb, but are glued to all four edges and a stout backboard, these won’t (or shouldn’t) cockle!
You may well be better to opt for a good brand 300lb, any of the manufacturers mentioned will be ideal.
Ken Bromley will cut a full sheet into halves or quarters at no extra cost.
Posted
Another watercolours question - so thought i would add on here! It's my 40th birthday on the 22nd January (gulp!) and my boyfriend wants to treat me to a professional set of watercolour paints. I am on Ken Bromley now and doing a bit of research and consensus seems to be that Sennelier, Schmincke and Rembrandt have the most positive views (bearing in mind I sell my paintings sometimes so need to be confident they will last - as well as any watercolour can) - would love to know if any of you use these and what you make of them? I am assuming that the three I mentioned are probably all similar quality, but hearing from you if you have used them would be really useful. Thanks!
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