Paper

I use a lot of paper in my art, from fine watercolour to tissue paper, and everything in between.  Copics require a certain set, watercolours another.  I have discovered some things over the years that I'd like to share, hoping they may help someone else.

Paper is one of those materials that really matter.  Standard wisdom is, the better your materials, the better the result.  And in general, that's a reasonable equation. If you're just starting with watercolours, don't worry too much about the paper you use.  And try new papers, don't just stick with one as you learn, you'll find real differences between them. If you want to know more about how to choose a watercolour paper, a good place to start is this page.

The single best general paper I've found for use with Copics and watercolours - my two primary mediums - is an inexpensive one, and not one recommended by the manufacturer for wet media.  Strathmore's Bristol Vellum is a lovely paper with enough weight to hold up to my heavy-handed way with wet pigment, and it is a delight to use in very small sizes; I frequently paint in miniature - 1x2" for example.  When I first started using Copics, I used them with heavy cold-pressed watercolour paper, which meant I blew through a LOT of ink, especially expensive with Copics.  The advantages were that the paper gave the work a look of watercolour (I find Copics a lot easier to manipulate than watercolours), and it allowed for much nicer blending than any other paper, resulting in a lack of demarcation lines as is frequently seen with markers.

Another thing I don't generally worry about is "archival quality" paper. UNLESS I'm working on a large (2x3 feet, for example) piece, using $35/sheet watercolour paper and my most expensive watercolours, for which I will probably charge over $1000, I don't believe that the work needs to be around forever.  I like the Buddhist ideal of impermanence, so, for me, my art doesn't merit the additional expense and trouble of archival materials unless it's a particularly good piece. Maybe not even then... :-) If you're interested in more information on archival materials, there's a lot available on the Net.  Here's an article on archival materials I found interesting.

So that's a little on paper.  I haven't talked about tissue or handmade papers, and maybe I will, another time. So what kind of paper do you use that really works for your art?

The 10,000 Foot View

So I've been noodling on how to best use this blog.  There're a ton of products (materials and tools) I plan to review, along with some books and maybe even a dvd or two.  But I also want to offer some help in using the tools and materials.  I've not yet created a full-blown tutorial, but I hope to remedy that oversight here, along with bringing tips and techniques to help you in making your inner art a bit easier to express.

Woven, knitted, crocheted, needle-felted and beaded pins

You should know that I work with a WIDE variety of art forms, with the incumbent array of tools, materials, and techniques.  So it may be that I'll need to separate all the different art forms into categories, again, that's TBD.

Since we're moving into Spring on our way to Summer, the textiles are slowly being put away and the paints and pencils and papers are starting to emerge.

Blind Contour ATC

I'm always interested in hearing what you want to know more about.  Is there an art supply you've always wanted to try, but weren't sure how to start?  Or do you have an idea but can't quite figure out what material or technique to use to turn it into reality?  Or have you been working with something for awhile without the success you had hoped for?  There's a good chance that we can figure it out, working together, so talk to me.  Leave a comment or drop me a note.

Blind Contour ATC

Meanwhile, I'll try to come up with a more detailed plan for what you can expect here in terms of schedule.  If you have suggestions or ideas, please share them with me.

Derwent Inktense Treasure Hoard

I was VERY fortunate recently to be given the set of Derwent materials you see in the photo above.  Included were:

•  36 Inktense watercolour pencils 
•  12 Inktense watercolour  blocks
•    3 watercolour block Grippers
•    and a Grate 'n Shake

If you've never used the Derwent Inktense line of products, you are really missing something special, and really rather different than any other watercolour media I've used, especially other pencil sets.

I've been messing about with watercolours since I was a kid, but really only seriously in the past few years.  I discovered watercolour pencils in the 90s, but found them grainy and difficult to use.  Rather than the lovely fluid movement achieved with pan or tube colours, pencils scratched the page, leaving behind pencil marks and clumps of colour along with bare spots.  They were useful as VERY casual sketching tools, but not for doing any real work.

As the years passed, I occasionally found another brand of pencils, but never found any that were pleasing at all until I discovered the Derwent brand.  Not the Inktense...they didn't exist yet.  The Derwent pencils were a shade better than the General's Kimberley, Prang, Prismacolor, or the Staedtler Karat, but only if used by pulling the colour from the pencils rather than drawing on the page and THEN wetting it.  Which, btw, is one of my favourite ways to use the Inktense, too.

So I muddled along with the Derwent watercolour pencils until one day, when I walked into the art supply store to find a new Derwent display labeled Inktense.  Ever hopeful that I'd find the perfect watercolour pencil, I tried one on a test page in the store.  It went on smooth and creamy instead of grainy and scratchy or just too hard.  And then I smeared some spit (hey, there WAS no water available) into the pigment and was impressed by how saturated the colour was.  So I bought three colours as a test and an adjunct to the other watercolour pencils I was using.  I bought Deep Indigo, India Ink, and Leaf Green.  All dark colours, and basic to my preferred palette.

After using those three colours more than all the rest of the other type of pencil altogether, I knew I needed to have more, More, MORE! BWHAHAHA!!!

These pencils lay on better than any similar product, and the colour is rich.  One thing that I really like is the permanence of the colours.  I can paint one area, let it dry a VERY little bit, and then paint right on top of it without altering the colour.  With traditional watercolours, I frequently have to wait and wait for the piece to dry before I continue painting.  The blocks are simply the same pigment as the pencils, but in block form, which allows for a wide variety of marks when using them directly on paper.  The gripper devices are for holding the blocks while drawing with them.  I'll get to the grate n shake in a sec.

Here's how I use the pencils, the blocks, and the grate n shake.

Kuretake Phys Waterbrush

Although I occasionally draw directly on paper, and when I do, I use an extremely light touch because of how much pigment is delivered, my most common method is to touch my wet brush to the pencil, loading my brush with pigment and then laying that onto the page.  I prefer using a Kuretake Phys waterbrush to my favourite sumi brushes.  Pentel also makes a good waterbrush, though it generally tends to be a bit drier than the Kuretake.

Pentel Waterbrush

Steamy Gentleman

I find loading my brush with pigment and using that to paint with gives me a LOT of control over where the colour goes and how much I lay down.  Too much?  Wipe the brush and just touch the area again with the wet tip, and it will lift a little colour out.   I do precisely the same thing with the colour blocks, but they allow me to load more colour far quicker than with the pencil tips.

I also use the Inktense products in conjunction with other media, including Daniel Smith Watercolour Sticks and Copic Markers.  Steamy Gentleman (to the right) was done with a combination of Inktense, Copic, and Rapidograph pen.  Crow Mechanic (below) is pure Inktense, with a little white gel for a very few highlights.

Crow Mechanic

I promised you information on how to use the Grate 'n Shake.  It's a pretty cool tool, really.  You use it with the blocks, not the pencils.  You can grate some colour into the receptacle, and then add water to it for use with a more traditional painting method, OR..and this is the really cool part...you can grate more than one colour into the receptacle with some water and thus blend your own colours.  But there's one more trick that I like to use the grater to achieve.  I like to grate a set of colours into the dry receptacle, then shake them onto the page, and spray them with water.  Instant colour explosion!  Throw a little salt into the mix and you've got even more instant magic!  Cool, huh?

It's Spring...So Textiles or Paint?

I find I'm drawn to Textiles in the winter months, and to paint in the summer.  Fall often finds me dropping into the doldrums, not sure what to do next, and either experimenting with new ideas and materials or cleaning and reorganising my life.  Spring has the opposite effect, with the greatest difficulty in reining myself in, and choosing a single idea or tool or material to play with next.  If Fall is the season of SAD (Seasonal Affective Disorder), then Spring is the season of ADD (Attention Deficit Disorder).  Either way, ORDER is what is needed most!

I've been playing with inks lately.  See, I traded another artist a glass grinding machine for a set of Rapidograph pens.  It was a delightful trade, as each of us wanted what the other had and never used!

Omas, Italy

St Dupont, French

Knowing full well that Rapidograph and other technical pens are known for their clogging and irretrievable malfunctions, I loaded four pens up and started drawing.  And I was back to my youth in an instant!  What a pleasure technical pens are for me to use...and a real pain, too.  Unlike pens with preloaded ink, technical pens are very much like calligraphy and fountain pens in that a pause while touching the paper WILL result in a blob of ink.  So it takes a little practice to learn how to hold a technical pen (upright, not at an angle as you would a writing instrument), and to learn how lightly or heavily to touch and swoop.  But what a treat to see how deliciously they flow and mark the page!

Pelikan, German

When I ran through the first load of ink, I consulted my favourite source, the AMAZING Akamai Art Supply of Port Townsend, Washington.  If you EVER have the opportunity, Akamai alone is worth the trip to our little Victorian tourist town.  Nothing less than fabulous!

"What kind of ink can I use other than the dreadfully expensive Rapidograph ink in my pens?" I asked.  The extremely knowledgeable and reliable Shirley (one of the owners) answered, "Any good ink you would use in a fountain pen, as long as it's clear."  "So no India Ink or other opaque inks?"  "Yep."

Mont Blanc, French

And knowing I had an entire drawer full of Mont Blanc, Parker, Omas, St. Dupont, Pelikan, Aladine, and J. Herbin inks - in many shades of red, green, blue, black, and purple, I returned home and set to work.  First the pen and reservoir had to be cleaned.  I knew this had to be done thoroughly, as most of the tales of clogging had everything to do with old ink interfering with the delivery system.  So first I took all the pieces apart and held them under warm water, shaking the ink-stained water out every few seconds.  After all visible ink was gone, and nothing more was issuing forth even when the parts were shaken, I then set the tip to soak in a small bowl of warm water for 24 hours. 

J. Herbin ink, French

Pen and Ink and Copic Moleskine

The next day, I selected one delicious bottle of ink - Herbin's Encre´ Rouge Fuschia -the exact colour of dove's blood, AND it's delicately scented, too!), and filled the pen's reservoir.  A slight shake or two, and I was able to draw a thin link across the page of ecru Crane's stationary paper.  Sheer bliss!