Saturday, December 21, 2019

Watercolor Painting; Practice On A New Surface

Hello Everyone;
In the past, I have tried any number of different surfaces to paint my watercolors on.  I tried boards, paper, watercolor ground just to name a few.  I keep searching for that perfect support that will allow my work to shine, but also make it easy for my customers to display their purchase.  Traditional supports for watercolors is paper.  With paper, your painting needs to be matted, then framed behind glass to protect it.  Watercolor canvas is nice, because you just have to seal it, then frame without glass.  The problem with watercolor canvas is that the paint does not absorb anywhere.  It stays on top of the canvas.  The colors are bright, but it is very difficult to make the work look good (in my opinion).  Ideally, you would have something in between paper and canvas.  A support that absorbs paint and water similar to high end watercolor paper, but the colors still remain close to the surface for brilliance.  I am not sure yet if I have found that surface, but this Aquabord made by Ampersand is trying to fill that need.  Pictured here is a 5" X 7" piece of aquabord I am practicing different elements on.  It has some resemblance to cold press watercolor paper, but just a little.  This surface takes some getting used to, but so far, I like the way my work is looking.  You can find it anywhere online that sells fine art supplies, but I have found that Blick seems to have the best prices.  This is a 3 pack I paid approx $7.50 for US dollars.  Aquabord comes in many popular sizes and best of all, they have a 1" 1/2" cradle.  That means you can seal your work and your customers do not have to spend additional money on framing, just hang as is.  I do not know yet if I am going all in on this product, but I do know I will be doing much more experimenting.  So far, this definitely has possibilities.  Let me know if you have ever painted on this surface and what you found.  Have a blessed day everyone.

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