Artists can choose from many different painting surfaces, but if they're using water colours the best choice has to be hand made water colour paper. The high quality types are hand made and offer the artist a choice of surfaces to suit their painting techniques. These hand made papers can be differentiated by a watermark, this not only gives you the manufacturers name but shows you the correct side to paint on. All papers have a 'right' and a 'wrong' side, the 'right' side having been carefully made-up for the artist with size and uniform texture. There are three important paper groups: 1. 'Hot pressed' paper; (sometimes referred to as HP) has a smooth hard surface. This kind of paper is suitable for drawing, pen and ink or line and wash. However, it is usually thought of as too smooth for some water colour techniques. 2. 'Cold pressed' paper; this is often sold as 'NOT', as in 'not hot pressed'. This is a more textured paper with a semi-rough surface. It offers a good support for water colourists who wish to create smooth washes or fine detailed brush work. It has a medium texture and is generally considered suitable for the novice painter as you can create most water colour techniques on it. 3. 'Rough' paper; this is the roughest of the water colour papers, with a very defined "tooth". When the artist applies a thin wash to this paper the finish can be speckled, as the pigment gets caught in the surface cavities. It can also leave higher areas white giving a brighter effect. These traits are used by the artist to great effect, however, they are unpredictable and can be difficult for the inexperienced artist to control. Stretching water colour paper Paper weights are measured in Pounds, and based on the weight of a ream of paper (480 sheets). Light weight paper, that is to say anything around 70lb or less, will cost less but runs the risk of wrinkling quite badly when wet. A problem that is unavoidable if the artist is using large areas of wash. The best way to try and avoid this problem is to stretch the paper. You can get specialist frames for stretching water colour paper, but these are more suited to heavier weights of paper. A frame offers little support for lighter papers, which makes them vunerable to damage, though they do create a very sympathetic surface to paint on, similar to that of stretched canvas. All the same, paper can be stretched on a wooden panel or board. To do this you'll need to firstly soak the sheet of paper in a shallow tray for a few minutes, keeping the paper flat. Take the paper out, holding it carefully by one edge and shake off the excess water. Lay the wet paper on the board or panel, this should be free of dirt, dust and lumps and bumps. Be sure the paper is totally flat and starting with water-soluable gummed paper, this should ideally be about 3 inches wide, to tape one edge of the paper to the board. Repeat this on all four sides. Next, push a drawing pin into the tapped corners of the paper, this helps prevent wrinkling as the paper dries. As the paper dries, it'll shrink slightly, the gummed paper will dry out with the paper and grip the edges to the board, creating a taught surface on which to paint.
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Artists have many painting surfaces to choose from, but if they're using water colours the best choice has to be hand made water colour paper. The very best quality types are hand made and offer the artist a choice of surfaces to suit their painting techniques. These hand made papers can be differentiated by a watermark, this not only gives you the manufacturers name but shows you the correct side to paint on. All papers have a 'right' and a 'wrong' side, the 'right' side having been carefully ...
Rob Tyrrell is a professional artist specialising in pet portraits, he works mainly using oils and water colour. You can find out more about his his work and view samples of his pet portraits at http://www.robtyrrell-petportraits.co.uk
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