Watercolour paper test

I have tried out one of the sample pieces of paper supplied by Hahnemuhle - Akademie "Britannia" 300 gsm rough.  The paper has quite a pronounced ribbed texture which didn't really suit my way of working as wet in wet washes tended to settle, exaggerating that texture.  For someone working looser and on a larger scale this might not present a problem.  The watercolour washes remained quite vibrant and the paint did not sink into the paper, so washing out or lightening areas was easily achieved.  It might be worth trying out inks or fluid acrylics on another of these samples.

Watercolour on "Britannia" rough - 6.5" x 9"

Hahnemuhle Black Book

I have now had a chance to try out different media in the Hahnemuhle Black Book.

At the top, I have printed two of my foam stamps, plus two Softcut images - all using white gesso.  Once dry, the first three images were coloured with acrylic inks, the fourth with metallic and coloured pencils.  All these were successful.

Bottom left, is coloured pencil - I think the "tooth" of the paper worked well here.  I expect pastel will  be good too.

Bottom right - gouache.  At 120 lbs the paper is quite sturdy and there was no problem using wet media.

A nice paper to work with.

Hahnemuhle goodies

On Friday I received a nice big parcel from the German papermakers Hahnemuhle.  I had applied for their recently advertised free samples, but having liked what they saw on my blog they offered me some further supplies to review.  So now I shall have to set to and try them out.

Ten large sheets of Bamboo paper, a watercolour pad and a Black Book, plus some extras -
all tastefully wrapped in red tissue,  it's just like Christmas!

The Big Painting Challenge

For those of you in the UK, one of our local art group members (David White) is participating in this BBC One programme tonight (6 - 7 pm) - this is a series of six programmes.  Despite repeated "grilling" he has refused to reveal how he got on.

Snowdrops and A Grand Day Out

Earlier this week, we had a stunning day out at the Rococo Gardens at Painswick.  Sun and snowdrops aplenty.

Journal page 6" x 4"

The Red House, Painswick Rococo Gardens (6" x 4")
A quick on-site pencil sketch, with pen and watercolour added later

A fold booklet

A few days ago I tried out some acrylic printing with handmade foam stamps on an A3 sheet of black paper.  At the time I had no plan on how to use it, but subsequently decided to try out a simple fold structure.

Foam stamps, acrylic and inks

Folding and cutting template - an A3 sheet produced a 4" x 6" booklet

Once folded, the printed area formed the inside 8 pages, but the front and back were the reverse of the sheet and, therefore, blank.  I decorated those pages and added some rose-related quotes on the inside.

Outside cover

Inside of booklet

I was quite pleased with the outcome, although a slightly thicker paper might have been better - this was 135 gsm.