Chris Campbell Watercolors: Hot Press vs Rough

Hot Press vs. Rough Press Papers

I am painting this cat twice, once in hot press and once on rough to show the advantages of each type of paper.

Hot Press

Hot press is very smooth, almost like Bristol board. Think of ironing your clothes to remove wrinkles--Hot press.

Hot press is often associated with botanicals because you can get such detail with it. People love it with ink and wash. Its smooth surface doesn't damage your pens. The colors seem brighter and bolder because the color sits on top of the paper more than being absorbed by cold press. Another advantage is that it is easier to lift color.

There is a learning curve, however. Hot press seems to dry faster initially so that blends are a bit trickier. You have to use more water at first to get a smooth wash or getting the colors to mix wet on wet. You also will find that you see more brush strokes than on cold press. When the paper is damp, color will spread, but not as much as on cold press paper.

Here is how I painted the hot press kitty. The reference is from Karen Lindh on Facebook References for Artists - Animals.

I began with the lightest colors and shadows first. I wet the ears and added a pink mix, even when they aren't going to end up pink.I painted the nose also. I wet the areas first, making certain they don't dry before I can add the paint. I used transparent pyrrol orange on the face.

I found the areas of shadow that were pale.

Here I wet the light shadow areas and added blues and pinks, especially to separate the head from the body.

Here I've added some darks in the ears. I put the first blues in the eyes. For the eyes, which are not done yet, I wet them and added cerulean blue, and as it was drying I took advantage of the fact that hot press allows you to add paint to a damp area without spreading too far. White the lighter blue was drying I added French ultramarine to the centers. I lifted some lighter areas in the tops of the eyes while still damp.

While waiting for the eyes to dry, I began making darker fur with Paynes gray and a fine brush. Around the nose, I darkened the nostrils with a brown and used a light lavender for the shadow under the nose. I also created the mouth, starting with a bit of pink and added blue and brown. I also outlined the eyes with Paynes gray on a #2 brush.

Continuing black marks on his face. I'm beginning to wish I had masked out the whiskers, but I can grab those later.

I darkened the eyes with some turquoise, with Paynes gray in the pupil. For the dark fur on the body, I used burnt sienna and French ultramarine and salted while wet.

Next I softened some edges with a brush that is a little stiff, but not a hard bristles brush that we consider a "scrub" brush. I made a pretty wild background by wetting it first, then dropping in transparent pyrrol orange and French ultramarine.

USING ROUGH PAPER FOR THE CAT

Rough Paper also has its own learning curve. The surface has more bumps and texture. It is great for landscapes and seascapes that you plan to dry brush on. If you are after a smooth blend or graduated sky, you will have to be sure the paper is wet, and don't use granulating paint on those areas.

Granulating paint and texture techniques work great on rough press. The heavier particles in the paint fall down into the crevices and look sandy. It's not hard to find granulating paints you can use: French ultramarine and burnt sienna, especially together, will do nicely. But for other heavily granulating paints, you can try:

"lunar" paints: black, earth, blue, etc.

"genuine" paints--they are made from genuine stones like jadeite, serpentine, etc.

French Ultramarine, Manganese Blue Hue, Cerulean, Cobalt Turquoise, and Ultramarine Violet.lunar blue

Greens: Cascade Green, Undersea Green, and Green Apatite Genuine.

Earth Tones: Raw Umber, Burnt Umber, Lunar Earth, and Garnet Genuine.

Blacks & Grays: Lunar Black, Mars Black, Payne's Gray, and Davy's Grey, shadow violet, sodalite genuine

There are others, but these are very common

One thing to remember about achieving texture with granulating paints is that they will granulate better if they are not thick and dark. Lighter and watery shows more texture.

Except for masking the whiskers this time, I began the cat on rough press very much like the hot press: the pink in the ears and nose; light blue in the eyes, light shadows on the body. The difference is that I used some granulating paints on the dark areas on the body.....just French ultramarine and burnt sienna.

On the fore paw, I wet the surface and added some blue/gray paint while it was drying to create a furry look. I darkened inside the ears.

I began making some of the fur and darkened the nose. I continued to make some shapes of the face lightly.

Used a #2 brush on the black fur and used burnt sienna for the brown fur. I deepened the blues around the eyes, and the color in the mouth area.

Removed the masking on the whiskers and nose, and used a lifting brush to soften the furry edges and on the nose and eyes. I decided on no background this time. I may yet go in with some white for the fur in the ears.