There are so many options when it comes to choosing the right watercolour papers for you. Hot pressed, cold pressed, smooth, rough...etc. What do these all mean?
How is Watercolour Paper Made?
Watercolour colour is primed with a hard size, made of gelatine, on the top of the paper, which allows the water the penetrate, while the pigment remains on the surface. This also helps you make corrections if needed. The paper is sometimes also internally sized, meaning the gelatine and water mixtures is mixed with the paper pulp. This guarantees that if the surface is no longer intact due to scratching of scrubbing, the absorbency of the paper is not effected. Usually when purchasing high-end paper, it is size internally and externally.
The different textures of paper available are: Hot Pressed, Cold Pressed and Rough. Paper weight is either measured in grams per square metre or by lbs per ream. The weight of the papers usually range between 90 lb to 400lb. If calculating in GSM the range is between 243 gsm to 850 gsm. The most common watercolour paper found is 300 gsm, however the higher the better the paper handles the water.
Papers can also vary in whiteness, from bright white to creamy off-white. A paper that is called extra white still cannot be described as being bright white, however are whiter than other watercolour papers. If a paper is actually very white, this is achieved by adding bleach to the paper and titanium dioxide pigment. Some lower cost papers add optical brightening agents, which when exposed to light, turn yellow.
Here's a basic guide on the different kinds of watercolour paper textures:
Image of Hahnemuhel watercolour papers with different the different textures. Starting from the top it shows rough, cold pressed and hot pressed.
Hot Pressed Paper
Hot pressed paper is a smooth paper, which is favoured by artists who enjoy painting intricate details. The paper is smooth as the paper is pressed between 2 hot metal rollers.
Cold Pressed Paper
Cold Pressed Paper is also known as 'Not'. The paper has a slight tooth to it, which allow the paint to sink into the texture a little while allowing some detail in the work.
Rough Surface Paper
This is the roughest form you paper you can find as it pressed between textured sheets while being dried. The rough texture allows any effects to become enhanced, therefore it is ideal for more expressive and less detailed paintings.
What Formats can you find to buy Watercolour Paper?
What does 100% Cotton Paper mean?
Paper made of 100% cotton means that the fibres that make up the paper, are longer and more durable than wood-free cellulose fibres. If the paper is scrubbed and saturated with water, you have a guarantee that the paper will not be damaged. 100% cotton rag is considered the best quality paper, compared to wood-free paper and bamboo paper.
What is Watercolour Ground?
This ground can be applied to any absorbent or semi-absorbent surface, and you can paint with your watercolours. This means, you can apply the ground on wood, canvas, fabric etc, which will act the same way as your paper. Some grounds can create a smooth texture and some can create more texture. For example, QoR Watercolour Ground can be applied smoothly, while the QoR Cold Press Ground creates a unique rough texture, and looks and feels like handmade paper. You can also create texture with the QoR Light Dimentional Ground.
1. Start Small
2. Set up your Work Space
Select your work space in a well ventilated room. Set up all your materials including your: oil paints, mediums and solvents, brushes, palette, metal dipper, container to wash your brushes and a cloth.
3. Sketch it out
You can start with a light sketch either using a pencil or a soft pastel pencil. Another option is applying a thin underpainting using a mix of oil paint and turpentine. The turpentine will speed up the drying time, allowing you add more layers of paint without waiting.
4. Select your Brushes
Choose the right brushes for you. There are the professional range and the student range of brushes. In the professional range you can choose between soft haired brushes or bristle hog hair. Bristle brushes are considered the most commonly used for oil painting. As oil paints are more viscous, the hog hairs are sturdy enough to move the paint, without losing its shape.
If you want to read more about how brushes are made, take a look at our previous blog.
5. Prime your Surface
Depending on the surface you've chosen, apply a layer of gesso to prevent the oil seeping into the surface. Furthermore, this protects the surface from the acids found in the paint. Some canvases are already pre-primed so you can skip this step. You can add another layer or two, to get a smooth surface.
6. Colour Mixing
Get familiar with mixing your colours. If you're starting out, you can start with a limited colour palette of red, blue, yellow, white, black, burnt umber and possibly magenta. This will give you the opportunity to get familiar with mixing your own colours. When you feel confident, you can introduce the secondary colours.
7. Understand Oil Paint Medium and Solvents
Mediums and solvents are used to alter the consistency, drying time and the finish of your oil paint. Here are the mediums and solvents commonly used when painting with oil paint:
8. The Fat over Lean Rule
The fat over lean rule helps you create a painting that is flexible, avoiding cracking as the years pass due to better adhering to the surface. The basis of the rule is the the bottom layer should be leaner, with fattier layers above. Lean paint means oil paint that is mixed with a thinner such as turpentine. This makes the paint less 'fatty', making it wetter and runnier, and dries quicker. The above fatty layer means oil paint with a high oil content, by adding an oil medium like linseed oil. With this method, it would mean that the bottom layer dries much quicker than the above layer, and helps that each new layer is more flexible than the ones before.
10. Varnish
Varnishing is an essential final step in the oil painting process. It will not only make your painting look better, but also protect it for decades.
Varnishing will give the painting a unified surface quality. In some cases, once your painting is fully dried, you will notice different surface qualities, some areas more glossy than others. This is due to oil colours naturally drying with different surface qualities due to the differences in the pigments and the binder. Once the varnish is apply, the surface of the paint layer will become unified.
You will need to choose your varnish finish - matt, satin or gloss. Gloss varnish will nicely saturate the dry paint layer, creating more depth in the painting. Matt will give the paint layers a direct appearance, lightening some of the dark areas. Satin will give you an in between quality, creating more depth without too much gloss. You can also choose different applications: by brush, spray or airbrush.
Besides the aesthetic value of varnishing your painting, unvarnished paintings are vulnerable to aging. It is suggested to purchase a varnish which protects against UV damage. It is suggested to wait 6 to 12 months before varnishing your finished oil painting.
Choose the image you want to colour match. Make sure the image is clear. Open the following link on the Golden Artist Colours website:
https://www.goldenpaints.com/mixer
Select the Image Option.
Step 2:
Click 'Choose File' in order to add your image.
Step 3:
Select the area on the image that you wish to discover the colour. The Virtual Paint Mixer will create a combination of Golden Artist Colours in order to create your chosen colour.
Step 4:
All the colours required to mix your chosen colour will be displayed, with the volume ratio of each colour. In the case of the chosen painting, in order to create the colour a ratio of 1 gram of Pyrrole Orange and 3 grams of Pyrrole Red Light is needed. The plus and minus near each colour can be used to increase or decrease the amount of each colour. This helps in order to visualise the mix of paint, without physically mixing the paint.
Tradition and innovation are the main values of lineo. The brushes are Handmade in Germany at Mesko Pinselfabtrik GmbH. The brush factory is both, tradition-conscious and innovative.
Different Hair Types
Kolinsky Red Sable Hair
This type of hair is considered the highest quality of hair, coming from the Siberian Kolinsky red sable. It comes specifically from the tail of the male sable, who is native to Northern Siberia and Northern china. Due to the severe cold, the animals adapt, growing a very thick winter coat. This hair is best for premium brushes, that have extremely fine tips. The colour of the hair is light, and has favourable elasticity and resilience.
Red Sable Hair
Red sable comes from a sable species that live in more southerly regions, with better climatic conditions. This hair is not as expensive as the Kolinsky red sable, as it is not as strong and the hair colour is a little darker. However, red sable is one of the highest quality hairs used in brushes.
Squirrel Hair
Squirrel hair comes from the tail of the Canadian and Russian squirrel, with two types used for artist brushes; Blue squirrel hair and Kazan squirrel hair. This type of hair is very soft and has amazing paint absorption quality. However, it has less resilience than the red sable hair.
'Toray' Synthetic Hair
The 'Toray' is a manufactured synthetic hair, which has a conical shape like natural hairs. It has a high degree of elasticity and favourable resilience, however lacks the natural scaly structure of the natural hairs and less holding capacity. It has nice painting characteristics.
Chungking Bristles
These bristles originate from the region around the city of Chungking in China. These bristles are usually bright, very robust and characterised by very favourable paint absorption and elasticity.
Other hair types used for brushes exist such as Ox hair, Goat hair and blends of natural and synthetic hairs.
Ferrules
Ferrules are the metal sheaths that provide the brush with some of its shape. They are the connection between the brush head and the handle. The different types of ferrules are: seamless nickel, aluminium, tin with soldered or crimped seams. Lineo brush makes use the best seamless nickel ferrules from drawn bass tubing. They retain their shape and provide a firm and lasting connection between handle and brush head.
Handle
All Lineo Brushes have handles made of genuine natural wood. Some come with natural handles, and some have lacquered handles. These handles are all made in Germany.
Gumming
At the end of a production sequence, all high-quality lineo artist hair and bristle brushes are treated with a gum arabic solution, so that they will be protected during transport and reach the customer undamaged.
Protective Hair Covers
To better protect the brushes, especially for shipping, we use protective brush hair covers. These are made from transparent plastic.
Acrylic Pouring is a fluid painting technique, which depends on the art materials being used. This blog will guide you on how to use silicone oil in acrylic pours, and what materials are best to achieve the style you want.
What causes cells in Acrylic Pouring?
These cells are created due to a difference in density between the paint colours. The number of cells and the size of the cells therefore depends on the different densities of the colours. Silicone Oil is one of the ways you can achieve these cells.
How does Silicone Oil work?
Common knowledge is that oil and water do not mix. Acrylic paint is water based, and when mixed with the silicone oil, the two layers of the paint will separate.
Steps to create an Acrylic Pour Painting:
1. Choose your Acrylic Paint
You can go for an acrylic paint that is already fluid, such as Golden Fluid Acrylics, which do not require you to add water, retaining their high pigment. Another alternative is using normal acrylics of a low viscosity, such as Vallejo Studio Acrylics or Golden Heavy Body Acrylics, adding water to achieve the desired consistency.
Pour each colour in separate cups or silicone measuring cups (environmentally friendly option).
2. Add your Pouring Medium
Pouring medium is an additive which is used to make the acrylic paint pour and flow smoothly. Therefore pouring medium acts as a diluting agent and a binder.
Add your pouring medium to each colour in the cups. The ratio of acrylic paint and pouring medium mixture should be approximately acrylic paint 1:1.5. Mix each colour separately with a wooden craft stick carefully.
3. Add the Silicone Oil Cell Medium
Add 2-3 drops of silicone oil per 15ml of acrylic paint, in some of the colours. It is not required to add this to each colour, however it is suggested to add it to the base colour. Mix it carefully.
4. Pour it!
There are several methods used when pouring the acrylic paint on the canvas or wooden panel. Following the video, the dirty pour is a common technique, where all the colours are poured into the same cup (do not mix), then pouring onto the canvas. Move the canvas around, until all the surface is covered.
5. Heat
Heat the paint using either a heat gun or a torch. A hairdryer is not suggested as excess wind will move the paint too much. As the paint is heated, the cells will begin to burst and create the desired effect.
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A sandpaper block for pointing pencils or shaping charcoal and pastels can be handy to have. It is useful if you've got larger pencils or strangely shaped charcoal which does not fit a conventional sharpener. With the sandpaper block, you can also create various shapes at the end of your pencil or stick.
Each sandpaper block contains multiple sheets, so when you've worn one out you can just move onto the next sheet.
A kneadable eraser, known by many is the putty rubber, erases well however more gently that a normal eraser. Being pliable and being able to shape into smaller pieces, the putty rubber is good for erasing small areas. It also comes in very handy if you just want to slightly lift off some of the pencil to create a lighter area.
Blending Stumps are used to blend graphite and charcoal, moving it around on the surface of the paper to create different shades. They are a much cleaner alternative to using your fingers, preventing any of the natural oils on your fingers to be introduced to the paper.
Paper stumps/Blending stumps are normally made from compressed paper and they come is various thicknesses and sizes. If you want to clean off a dirty blending stump, you can do this by rubbing it on a fine sandpaper or using a putty rubber to remove some of the excess dirt.
The Eraser Pencil, is an eraser core encased in wood-cased pencil barrel. This makes it perfect for fine detail erasing and it sharpens like ordinary pencils. It's great for precision erasing when a little more control is needed. Think of it as reverse drawing rather than erasing.
Fixative Spray is an aerosol spray used on your final artwork done using charcoal, chalk, graphite or pastels. Fixative spray keeps surfaces from smudging, fading, or flaking after the work is complete.
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