.I was lucky enough to spot a bargain online recently for Fabriano Artistico 200g watercolour paper. I don't really like using thin watercolour paper as it can be quite difficult to use but this was cheap enough to make it worth trying.
I chose 2 surfaces; 1 cold pressed and the other hot pressed. I wanted to see how the papers performed without being stretched.
I chose 2 surfaces; 1 cold pressed and the other hot pressed. I wanted to see how the papers performed without being stretched.
My first example was done on the cold pressed.
I used Lukas artists quality paints for this one.
Although the paint went on really nicely with a good even flow the paper cockled quite badly.This made it a bit difficult to work . Fortunately the texture of the paper seemed to hold onto the paint stopping it from running into the gullies formed by the cockling.
This picture shows the test sample after it had dried. Unexpectedly the paper dried quite flat showing a nice crisp finish far better than expected.
The second sample was done on the hot pressed paper
The paints used for this sample were Talens Van Gogh students paints.
The first thing I noticed was that the cockling on the HP wasn't nearly as bad as on the CP paper.
Unfortunately any benefits from this were negated owing to the fact that the surface of the paper was considerably harder. This stopped the paper from holding onto the paint allowing it to form puddles in the gullies of the paper.
This meant I had to mop up excess paint with a dry brush.
As can be seen from this image this paper also dried out relatively flat but owing to the lesser quality of the paints the final piece looked a bit wash out.
.In conclusion.
I wouldn't recommend these papers to anyone without a reasonable level of experience as they can be difficult to master. I don't think working on them un-stretched is a realistic option but if attached to a paper stretcher I think they would provide a really nice surface to work on. For best results I would also stick to using artists quality paints.
Footnote!
Unless these papers are on offer it's hardly worthwhile buying them as the cost savings between 200g and 300g versions is negated due to the amount of waste created after removing the paintings from the stretchers.
I wouldn't recommend these papers to anyone without a reasonable level of experience as they can be difficult to master. I don't think working on them un-stretched is a realistic option but if attached to a paper stretcher I think they would provide a really nice surface to work on. For best results I would also stick to using artists quality paints.
Footnote!
Unless these papers are on offer it's hardly worthwhile buying them as the cost savings between 200g and 300g versions is negated due to the amount of waste created after removing the paintings from the stretchers.