One factor that influences how a watercolor painting turns out is the paper. Papers made especially for watercolor are able to absorb water without wrinkling (much), and they stay wet for several minutes, allowing the pigments to move around after the artist puts them on. More water on the paper means more movement and spreading of pigments.
But--you can also use watercolor on any paper at all. However, the results can be frustrating. Can you tell the paper of this little painting wrinkled a lot near the top?
I used plenty of water on the paper while doing the sky, hoping the cloud colors would intermix, but this paper was not made for watercolor. It wrinkled quickly. So when I painted the rest of the scene, I did not put water on the paper except for what the brush carried. Later I flattened the painting with pressure, which only made the wrinkles permanent. Oh well!
BUT! There can be advantages to using this kind of paper. In fact, I had intentionally bought this little book because it was made for drawing, not painting. I knew the paper would not be ideal for watercolor. It was best for pen or pencil (no water involved there!). Look how nicely it behaved with pen (even with my sloppy writing).
Why did I choose this mediocre paper? Because I wanted to force myself not to spend a long time creating any one painting, and instead make quicker "sketches."
This sketchbook became the journal I kept while exploring the eastern side of the Sierra Nevada... and there is so much to see! I didn't want to spend a lot of that trip looking at paper and paints instead of looking at the natural wonders that abound!
Mediocre paper also has the disadvantage of colors seeping through to the other side of the page, like this:
The blue and other random blotches of color are from a painting on the other side of this page. Needless to say, there are ways of preventing this problem! Can you think of some?
Next post, I'll share some of the discoveries on that trip. Come back and visit!
