Painted Thoughts Blog: September 2010

, by Laure Ferlita

FWS

And We're Back from the Tradeshow!

18 Creative Thought(s)

, by Laure Ferlita

imaginary trip

Road Show!!!!

15 Creative Thought(s)

, by Laure Ferlita

artwork

Autumnal Equinox!

16 Creative Thought(s)

, by Laure Ferlita

advertising

FREE Shipping at Daniel Smith - Any Size Purchase!

2 Creative Thought(s)

, by Laure Ferlita

imaginary trip

Last Call for the Explorations Class!

No Creative Thought(s)

, by Laure Ferlita

journals

The paper testing goes on.... (more here and here)

I am still working in the Pineapple Journal with the Canson Edition watercolor paper and I must say I am enjoying it quite a bit. The colors are bright and lively, the paper does NOT buckle under repeated washes and it dries fairly flat as well.

Detail of corrected area

This is a partial slice of the page and it's partial for two reasons....one, it's not finished nor is it likely to be and two, it based very loosely on an image I've seen out on someone's blog and until I have it in writing that they will allow me to use their image I will not post it in its entirety. It's about copyright law and respecting other artists' rights. That's the first tale of caution. It's way easy to get caught up in an image and forget to ask!

The second tale of caution is if you look closely at the brown area you may be able to discern two areas that were "corrected." If not, take a look at the next image.

Detail of attempted correction

See the two dark "lines" of pigment? One curves to the left and one to the right? I wanted to add yellow petals in this area so I lifted the color as lightly as I could with a scrubbie. Once dry, I attempted to add color back over the area. Yuck! The surface was very fuzzy with no sizing left and no amount of burnishing would repair the damage. The only thing I could do was to put the heavy brown pigment back. It is far more noticeable on the actual page than in the scan.

It would seem that the Achilles heel for this paper is that you do not make significant course changes or correct large mistakes. Once the pigment is down, it doesn't come up easily nor does the paper accept pigment back over the corrected area very well. I also tried using a correction using clear tape. No good there either as it lifted the paper fibers when I lifted the tape.

In short, this paper is not Arches and does not take a repeated beating. However, as a watercolor sketching paper to be used in bound/stitched books, it's has Arches beat hands down for the lack of cracking of the paper, warpage and ease of use!

7 Creative Thought(s)

, by Laure Ferlita

journals

What is It About Rust and Decay?

8 Creative Thought(s)

, by Laure Ferlita

journals

Pristine, Paralyzing "Perfectness" UPDATED

19 Creative Thought(s)

, by Laure Ferlita

journals

A New Passion!!!

23 Creative Thought(s)

, by Laure Ferlita

journals

Another Paper Test!

Accordion Fold Journal -
Canson Edition Watercolor Paper

Thanks to Ann at BlueBird Hill and Pam at South Carolina Low Country blogs, I have a new paper to play with and the first results are posted above! Ann and Pam both highly endorsed Canson Edition Watercolor paper and as luck would have it, the art store had two pieces in the 140 lb. weight left. I told them to stick my name on them, I was on my way!

First four panels with the "cover" still blank

I picked up the paper late on Saturday and torn it down for a journal that evening. I had a scrap that was a little over 2 inches (5.08 cm) wide and 22 inches (55.88 cm) long. I created an accordion fold with 8 panels. The images I painted are random things that cropped up over the weekend. Wildflowers, a new mug (which you saw yesterday), more flowers, a slice of cake (which you saw yesterday) and some tomatoes from an outdoor market we went to on Monday.

Close up of middle panels

Results: the paper folds well with no cracking. Again, it seems the pigment sits up on the surface of the paper with little seeping into the fibers as I was able to remove color with little trouble. The colors are very vibrant on the paper and this may be part of the reason! Corrections were easy as it allowed me to erase with little or no trouble. I still want to test it a little further though.

End of the journal with final panel blank

If you purchase this paper, you will notice a definite, marked difference in the textures between the front and back of the sheet. It isn't something that will bother me as I don't paint across the page that often, and I like the idea of having a rougher texture for some subjects. The decision will have to be made to either work in page/date order or to skip around if you want to choose the best paper surface for the current subject matter. Since my journals always tend to be a little erratic anyway, this hasn't proven to be an issue yet!

I have thoroughly enjoyed playing with this "scrap" journal and I highly recommend this type of "play" if you are testing out a new paper—it provides spontaneity without the usual threat of a brand new journal to "break in." I hope to have the sketchbook/journal put together later today and I'll post it tomorrow if it is done in time! As I continue to test out the papers (Stonehenge and Canson), I'll post the info here.

15 Creative Thought(s)

, by Laure Ferlita

from life

Do You Have A Moment?

Would you care to join me for a piece of "imaginary" cake? I think I'm going to have a slice of Red Velvet (or as my mother calls, Red Devil)! Please, have any flavor you'd like and there are no calories! Can't beat that...

Red Velvet Cake Slice
Watercolor

You know, I used to....ignore birthdays. As much as you can ignore that sort of thing. Especially when you have folks around that want to share good wishes, happiness and laughter with you. In the last few years I've changed my attitude and started to embrace this day. I guess I look at it more as "I made it another year!' or "Wow, look at all that I've accomplished, not to mention the fun I've had, in the last year!" rather than "Oh, no! That number just went up. Again!"

When my thoughts do wander towards worrying about numbers, I've started saying, "Yes.....and?"

I remember my grandmother (who lived to be in her late 90's) said she was still 14—in her mind. She said she never "thought like she was old." She shared that with me when she was well in her 70's. At the time, I found it odd, but I wasn't really old enough to understand. Now, I know what she meant. I'm still in my twenties in my mind. It seems to be just the "packaging" that shows (and feels) its age.

'Tis a day of celebration in that I've made it another year and along the way I've marked off a few things from my "To Accomplish in this Lifetime" list. I've been happier in the last two years than I have been in a long, long time as well! That's not to say I'm not still striving to improve myself or my life; however, today is a day to reflect (with gratitude) on my life, so very full of blessings, friendship and happiness.

I also want to say thanks to each of you for helping to make my life far richer and filling it with happiness and laughter, for giving me the opportunity to "know" a bit about you and for the sharing and caring I've received and witnessed in the blogosphere!

Now, can I get you a cup of coffee or tea to go with that cake......

New Mug
Watercolor

18 Creative Thought(s)

, by Laure Ferlita

bag

She Did It!

29 Creative Thought(s)

, by Laure Ferlita

sketchbook

Playing with Paper

I recently paid a visit to one of our art supply stores in the area to pick up some open-stock Stonehenge paper. I've read on several blogs and on the Stonehenge web site as well that the paper is good for watercolors so I've been very curious to "see" and touch it for myself.

To say I was skeptical when I first handled the paper is an understatement!

Still, being a glutton for punishment (not really...I just didn't see how that many people could be wrong), I purchased a sheet of white and a sheet of gray that should be called putty as it is not gray. Not by a long shot. I purchased it with the intention of building a sketchbook. However, before I put in all the work of putting together a sketchbook I wanted to find out what the paper could or would do with regard to watercolors.

I tore down both sheets and with the scraps left over, started to play.......

Watercolor Samples on 90 lb. Stonehenge Paper

The very top sample is about .75 inches (1.905 cm) wide and is the white Stonehenge and surprise, surprise! Not only did it NOT turn to mush in my hands when I added water and pigment, it didn't bleed through nor did it warp. Yay!

Onto the gray.....these scraps were slightly wider, a little less than 2 inches (5 cm) wide. Starting on the bottom, I painted a quick pumpkin and then the tree. Again, so far, so good. Moving up to the middle strip, I painted the tree with the meadow and sky washes. Again, no warpage, no bleed, no mess. Then I moved on to pen and ink, both permanent and non-permanent. Success!

Now, the downside. This paper is very soft and the pigment seems to sit on the surface without sinking down into the fibers. Easy lifting, even of staining colors but will this be a problem with pages rubbing against each other when the book is closed? Also, this paper is not going to allow for too much correction work without getting bruised or damaged. My last concern is that I'm not sure how well it will accept erasing as I didn't use pencil on any of these samples. Sometimes (most of the time) erasing will change the surface of a paper and I don't this one will be an exception.

I do believe this paper will be great for just about any dry media as it did great with both pens. More testing to come. If I find any further info worth sharing, I'll post it. The main reason I decided to play with this paper is that it was recommended for making sketchbooks. The paper does not crack like some of the watercolor papers with heavy sizing on them.

Hope you a fabulous, long weekend with lots of art time and play time and rest time!