Fresh
Posted: March 5, 2012 Filed under: Uncategorized 6 CommentsKeeping a painting fresh is something all watercolour painters aspire to. Today I really overworked a sketch and there was nothing fresh about it. It ended up in the garbage. The best remedy for that: do another sketch right away but spend only 10 minutes on it. This was done with a Sakura Brush pen and watercolour on Fabriano paper.
That’s the spirit! Straight back in the saddle again.
So, how big are these sheets of Fabriano that you are using now?
A full sheet of Fabriano is 22″ x 30″. “Old Pole New Pole” was on an eighth of a sheet, 7.5″ x 11″, about double my Moleskine pad. This one and the one I tore up are on one sixteenth of a sheet or 7.5 x 5.5.
Thank you. And is this really heavy weight or do you do that stretching stuff?
No stretching. Just taped with masking tape to a sheet of plexiglass. And it’s not the really heavyweight stuff, just the 140 lb paper.
I don’t understand. Don’t you read the “How to Watercolour” books? They ALL say that you need to stretch paper of that weight! Do you use 4WD brushes to negotiate the ridges and valleys? : )
I have never stretched paper. I think you would need to if you applied gallons of water to the paper but since I don’t I never have a problem. And the Fabriano paper is less textured than an Arches paper.