Painting on toned paper

This is somewhat late, but Happy New Year everyone! 

I have been extremely busy with new projects, but while working in my studio today I came across this painting that I did with my class in 2010. I thought you might like to see it.

This painting is on Arches 300lb cold pressed watercolour paper that I toned with Schmincke walnut brown watercolour paint. This was a 'wet' application of colour. When the paint was dry I did a contour drawing of a budding amaryllis on the paper.

Using the same paint as was used for the background, I glazed over the flower using values from light to dark. I intentionally let the light side of the stem, and the foreground leaf disappear, (or almost disappear) into the background colouring.

I enjoy making monochromatic paintings and drawings on toned backgrounds. Above is a sepia pen sketch I made of the grain elevators that used to be in Starbuck, Manitoba.

How to tone watercolour paper

 

Method one: toning dry paper

Use a flat wash technique to glaze colour over an entire sheet of watercolour paper if you want a perfectly flat and even toned paper. The above sample was painted on dry, Arches 300lb cold pressed watercolour paper. It was then left to dry before I made my contour drawing of an amaryllis bud. 

Method two: toning wet paper 

Maybe you would like something more interesting in your background tones. You may achieve this by painting on wet watercolour paper. 

Mix up a quantity of sepia (or any colour). I like excess colour to run off the paper so I don’t tape it down. Paper toweling is handy to collect excess colour.

Both the back and the front of the paper were wet so it didin't dry too quickly. The paper was then placed on a piece of plexiglas. Using a hake brush, the colour was applied to the top left and right corners of the paper.

The plexiglas was then picked up and tilted back and  forth to direct the colour’s flow.
If the colour didn't move where I want it, I used a fine spray of water to lighten, or direct the colour. When I was satisfied with the look, I left the paper to dry. It was propped up so any excess fluid would flow to the bottom where it was collected. This background was also painted on Arches 300lb, cold pressed paper.

Problems:

Fluid can collect behind the paper along any edge and create run backs or blossoms as you can see in the bottom right corner of the above example. This problem can be limited by gently lifting the edges of the paper to clean away excess fluid using a tissue.

Fluid colour may run back up into the paper even if it is propped up for drying. Check the bottom edge of the paper from time to time and remove any fluid that has collected there.

I plan ahead for this happening by using paper that is larger than I require for my painting. This allows me to crop the edges if necessary.

Tip:

If you would like to paint on toned watercolour paper, but don't want to paint your own paper, seek out Bockingford's pre-toned watercolour paper. It comes several colours including cream, eggshell, blue, and oatmeal. Bockingford paper is forgiving so you can lift even the most stubborn of watercolour paint.

Hope you enjoy this little impromptu lesson. Please comment if you have any questions.

Art Materials Made in Canada

For those who wish for home grown art supplies, check out Stevenson's watercolour paints–and other materials–made in Ontario. To learn more see: www.dlstevenson.ca

If you are a paper collector like me then you will be happy to know about the handmade paper including watercolour and sketchbook paper, made by the St. Armand company of Montreal, Quebec. I like their brown paper for sketches, and monotone watercolour painting. The 300 lb Dominion watercolour paper takes some getting used to but it might be what you need if you are looking for a new experience with watercolour paper.
   They don't usually sell directly to the public but you can go to their manufacturing location to make a purchase, or to take a tour. And you can take your favourite art materials to try on their paper. To learn more about these, and other things visit their web site. www.st-armand.com.

Do you know of any other Canadian manufacturers of art supplies? If so, please leave a comment below.

What is "Not" watercolour paper?

Although it is difficult to tell from the above picture, this is a wash on Schut Aquarel Flamboyant, extra rough paper. This paper is acid free and 50% cotton. Weight is 115 lbs. Made in Holland.

There are basically three types of watercolour paper. Cold Pressed, Hot Pressed, and Rough. However, sometimes you might see watercolour paper labelled as 'Not.'  This means the paper is 'not' hot pressed, but cold pressed paper.

Once in awhile you might find a paper called 'soft press.' Currently, I believe the Fabriano company makes the only soft press paper available. I haven't tested it, but the company says that it has a texture that lies between a hot press and a cold pressed surface.

Cold pressed paper has some texture but not as much as 'rough' paper does. Hot pressed paper is smooth, without texture. The surface texture varies from company to company so it is well worth the effort to experiment with more than one brand. Because this could become an expensive venture, try to find sample packages of watercolour paper.

If you belong to an art group, testing watercolour paper could be a fun group project. Each person participating would supply sample size pieces of one brand of paper. Reports could be written on the findings of each paper.

As a variation on this theme, the group could organize, and purchase a number of different watercolour papers which would then be distributed to participants in sample size pieces for testing.

If you have any questions about watercolour paper please don't hesitate to ask. If I don't know the answer I'll find someone who does.

Aquarius II Watercolour Paper

Watercolour and ink sketch on Aquarius II

Above is a watercolour sketch I made on Aquarius II one summer afternoon. I was driving along the edge of town when I noticed a storm approaching. Luckily I had my sketching stuff with me so I pulled off the road and started painting the ominous sky. I managed to get a fair bit done before the rain started pouring down on the car windows, blocking my view of this amazing scene.

This paper was found by chance when I purchased a Strathmore Watercolor Paper Sampler. Aquarius II is made from natural and synthetic materials, and is only 80lbs in weight. The surface texture lies somewhere between cold and hot pressed. Aquarius II is whiter that some other watercolour papers.

Although Aquarius II is supposed to stay flat when washes are applied, I found that it buckled if the edges were fastened down with masking tape. However, once the tape was removed, the paper dried flat. Masking fluid will slightly disturb the surface when it is removed so this material should be used with care.

I love painting and sketching on Aquarius II. It will take many washes without breaking down. It is quite suitable for drawing and glazing techniques and works nicely with not only watercolour but also watercolour pencils, gouache and thinned acrylics.

It is possible to remove colours–depending upon their staining quality–by scrubbing gently with a brush. It was interesting to note that even though masking fluid disturbed the surface, the paper withstood gentle scrubbing. Colours dry bright on this surface.

Aquarius II is available in 22" x 30" sheets, and in spiral bound pads. The pads don't have many pages so I like to buy the sheets and make my own sketchbooks in a size I prefer. Because the paper is only 80lb it works well for this purpose. It is also suitable to use for painting greeting cards.