It's the Artist...

Not the materials

Photo by Tirza Van Dijk on Unsplash

While it is much easier to paint watercolors with good paper (100% cotton), good brushes (natural squirrel) and good paints, (I like Daniel Smith), at the end of the day, it is the artist. I struggled with this painting, on a new block of paper that I had not used before. I cussed it and said many bad things. I’m sure my heart rate went up and probably my adrenaline and cholesterol, too.

Problem was, it was the cover sheet, not the actual paper. It was thin, tan, and not the kind of thing that should be used for watercolor. The wash was rough, and I could not make it work like I wanted it to.

Watercolor on cover sheet paper

Once my painter friends stopped laughing at me (and they still do!) I tried the same subject on the actual Baohong paper, which is a very nice paper and a bit less spendy than Arches.

This one’s on good paper

Here’s a direct comparison of the two. The one on the right is smoother, with more definition and better highlights.

IT is SOOOOO much easier to use good paper, good paint and good brushes. You save yourself a stomach ache, frustrations and lots of teasing from your friends. So that is a tip for today. The top sheet of a block is ALWAYS there to protect the paper and is not for you to paint on. That is all.