WHICH PAPER?
Twice in a week, people have told me they were going to start painting in watercolour.
Not knowing if they were going to like it, they do not want to spend much money in equipment.
My concern is when one of them told me the experiment will be on ordinary paper as Watercolour paper is too expensive.
In the past too many friends told me they had abandoned Watercolour as
"they did not get on with it"
A few years ago, I was in the Art shop in Folkestone when a gentleman asked me how I knew which paper to choose.
I explained to him what I am going to explain here.
He told me he was using writing paper and had no intention to spend a fortune on a piece of paper.
"Anyway" he said "I cannot paint in watercolour"!!!!
PAPER
Ordinary paper is a great NO NO...
Painting watercolour on this kind of paper, will put off watercolour painting forever.
It is as bad as experimenting Oil on Glass.
There are ways to get watercolour paper that are on the cheap side:
A pack of 20 Mini starter paper can be bought for £8.95
with Ken Bromley
An excellent way to test paper behaviour
Not knowing if they were going to like it, they do not want to spend much money in equipment.
My concern is when one of them told me the experiment will be on ordinary paper as Watercolour paper is too expensive.
In the past too many friends told me they had abandoned Watercolour as
"they did not get on with it"
A few years ago, I was in the Art shop in Folkestone when a gentleman asked me how I knew which paper to choose.
I explained to him what I am going to explain here.
He told me he was using writing paper and had no intention to spend a fortune on a piece of paper.
"Anyway" he said "I cannot paint in watercolour"!!!!
PAPER
Ordinary paper is a great NO NO...
Painting watercolour on this kind of paper, will put off watercolour painting forever.
It is as bad as experimenting Oil on Glass.
There are ways to get watercolour paper that are on the cheap side:
A pack of 20 Mini starter paper can be bought for £8.95
with Ken Bromley
An excellent way to test paper behaviour
There is enough paper in this pack to give an idea how the colours behave and what can be done with watercolour.
I have also kept some of the paintings done on these papers.
MY PERSONAL EXPERIENCE WITH PAPER
I started with Bockinford paper. I did love it all these years ago.
They changed the production.
I no longer liked it!!!
So I had to do some experiments...
Just now I love working with:
Arches - Saunders Waterford - Fabriano Artistico and Millford
To my surprise, I have found that some paper do not behave twice the same way.
This is due to the press losing its felt and not being as efficient.
The best of paper can also have some flaws ...
Artists have to know how to adapt to different papers but also different behaviour.
If you are starting:
I would advise you to find out which paper you would love to work with.
Once you have made your choice, stick to it until you find your style and way to paint.
Buy one large sheet of paper that you can cut to pieces.
Some Online shops offer to cut the paper for you to the size required.
You might like to see how St Cuthberts Mill produces Saunders Waterford paper