Artists working in pet portraits have many painting surfaces to choose from, but if you’re using water colour the best choice has to be water colour paper. The manufacture of high quality paper for artists can be thought of an art form in itself and undertaken by skilled craftsmen. Among the best are those that are hand made and provide artists with a choice of surfaces to suit a variety of painting techniques. These hand made papers are produced with a high linen content. Care has to be taken to remove all the impurities from the paper prior to it being treated with a layer of size to provide the perfect surface for the artists purposes. These high quality hand made papers can be identified by a watermark, this not only gives you the manufacturers name but tells you which is the correct side on which to paint. All papers have a ‘right’ and a ‘wrong’ side, the right side will be carefully prepared for the artist with a size and uniform texture.
Types of paper
Hot pressed paper (often shortened to HP) has the smoothest surface. This type of paper is suitable for drawing, pen and ink or line and wash. It is usually considered too smooth for water colour painting, though some may prefer this side effect.
Cold pressed paper is often referred to as ‘NOT’, as in not hot pressed. This is a more textured paper with a semi-rough surface. It provides a good support for water colourists who wish to create smooth washes or fine detailed brush work. This sort of paper holds the centre ground as far as texture goes and is more often than not suitable for the novice painter as it is suitable for most water colour effects.
Rough paper is most textured of the water colour papers and has a very pronounced “tooth”. When the artist uses a thin wash on this type of paper, the finish can be speckled, this is due to the pigment in the paint collecting in the recesses of the surface. It will also leave the higher areas white giving a brighter effect. These effects are often ultilised by the artist to produce the look and feel they wish to achieve, even so, they are unpredictable, so can be difficult for the inexperienced artist to control.
Tags: art, painting, paper, water colour