Paper is Key for a Watercolour Painting

I am astounded… the paper that we use to paint our watercolours is so very important. Since I started painting last May I have been using the Moleskine watercolour sketchbooks, with a few attempts with an Arches paper and a Fabriano paper (I have not tried them long enough to be able to say which one I prefer… I know that they are very different). This weekend, using the Stillman & Birn Beta Series sketchbook, is a whole new adjustment. As I said yesterday, I love this paper… and I am adjusting to it. When I let my paint “bead” onto the paper, and it dries out, the beads almost disappear as the paper seems to unify the washes. Wow! I need practice with this paper, but it is very interesting to paint on it.

The Hertzberg building is the central buildling at Cégep John Abbott College, and its name honours Gerhard Herzberg, a physicist and physical chemist who won the Nobel Prize for Chemistry in 1971. The college is named after John Abbott (1821-1893), who then became the first native born prime minister of Canada, and former Mayor of Montreal who lived in nearby Senneville.

Voici l’édifice Hertzberg au Cégep John Abbott College. C’est tellement une belle architecture, avec une fénestration incroyable. Ce qui est triste est que certaines fenêtres sont bannies, par manque d’espace, car une bibliothèque peut résider en avant d’une fenêtre ou une cloison pour diviser un espace. Les terrains de ce Cégep sont immense (300 acres) et ont beaucoup d’arbres matures. Cette semaine les élèves étaient couchés sur le gazon, regroupés en petits groupes… beaux moments.

 

2 thoughts on “Paper is Key for a Watercolour Painting

  1. Hi Shari :: thank you! Yes I love that paper, the brush and paints glide on it… even though it is cold pressed. I am enjoying trying out a new paper too — never did realize how important the paper is with watercolour.

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