I’m sending a Christmas/birthday package to a friend and she likes interesting letters, and also trees, so I went with these two themes a little for my included note. I cut strips of graph paper and folded accordion style, then adhered them to these two little atc sized pieces of watercolor paper, which I had painted on and allowed to (mostly) dry. Cheap watercolor paper, I might add. My paints did not react the same way on it. They didn’t flow much, and the paper dried super fast (which isn’t good if you want the paints to move) The paints didn’t move like I wanted, but did bleed where I DIDN’T want… unusual! I hadn’t realized how spoiled Arches had made me. Or what a difference 100% cotton makes. I think you can fudge with other supplies, but not with paper. But the paper was thick and didn’t curl much, so that’s good. My favorite is (so far) this Arches cold press 140 lb block,
and Amazon is offering a pretty good price on it… It is nearly $40 at my art supply store (although I get 10% off there, too) Still this at under $27 is better. I’ve tried some heavier paper, too, and loved it, but this block is great… it keeps the pages from curling as you work. It’s a nice stiff backing to work on. I love it, in all sizes. Plus, it is fun to slide the palette knife (or any flat object, or even my fingernail) into the little gap, and slide it all the way around the paper, releasing the top sheet. It’s kind of like peeling the plastic protective pieces off metal or glass… I don’t know why, but that’s what it reminds me of. Or… that feeling when you remove the protector from the peanut butter jar and you are the first person to use the peanut butter??
Are there better papers? Yes. But right now this suits me fine. Its only drawback is you must work on one thing at a time, completing it before moving on. A dagger in my heart, but probably very good for me.
(The crap paper is a “Master’s Touch” pad of 12 sheets of 140 lb 4×6″ watercolor paper… the same weight, nice and heavy for ATCs. It cost me less than $2 and is still usable (I really shouldnt call it crap!!) and I’ll still use it for ATCs and postcards. Really for $2 it is fine, I just need to remember it isn’t Arches 🙂
ThreeSixFiveArt 