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. 

side by side comparison of rough on the left, hot press on the right

       
Here are some masa paper paintings from last time:

Pam M.

Carol #3

Karen Rice loose landscape on rough press

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b324G1lVapg

Rachel Parker varner paints on hot press

https://www.google.com/search?q=find+a+video+on+painting+watercolor+on+hot+press+paper&rlz=1CATRIY_enUS1215&oq=&gs_lcrp=EgZjaHJvbWUqCQgDECMYJxjqAjIJCAAQIxgnGOoCMgkIARAuGCcY6gIyCQgCECMYJxjqAjIJCAMQIxgnGOoCMgkIBBAjGCcY6gIyCQgFECMYJxjqAjIJCAYQIxgnGOoCMgkIBxAjGCcY6gLSAQk0MTc1ajBqMTWoAgiwAgE&sourceid=chrome&ie=UTF-8#fpstate=ive&vld=cid:70333ef1,vid:1At1F2pBXKg,st:0

 YUPO

Yupo is a polypropylene plastic non-porous surface. The paints slips and slides and never soaks into it like paper, so the color remains on top and is very intense.

There are several techniques, OK LOTS of techniques for yupo. First, there are 4 things to remember about painting on yupo:

1. It gets fingerprints easily, which make it hard for watercolor to adhere to the paper. So clean your paper with alcohol and a soft cloth that has no lint in it. You can clean it with soap and water also.

2. Generally, you will paint with a thicker consistency than you normally would. You have more control over it.

3. If you don't like something, just apply water and erase it. Some colors will stain it and leave a "ghost" print, but generally, you can paint and erase all you want.

4. Try to used a watercolor pencil for your drawings. You don't want to erase on this paper.

5. When painting one color over another, just paint lightly with one stroke. Two strokes will move the paint underneath.

I painted these peppers I found at a local farm down the road.

First I applied some yellow paint to the entire page, and then used a 3" sponge roller to spread it and flatten the color. Then I let it dry. You can see it has some spots in it. That is from lint that got on the paper and in the paint from paper towels and tissues that I'd wiped it with.

I used a colored pencil to draw some of the pepper shapes, beginning with the red on the left. I used a warm red and a cool one. When it was completely dry, I pulled out some white highlights with water on a brush...not super wet, just damp. Too much water causes problems.

You can either pull the background color off with a damp brush to paint in your shapes, or you can paint right over it. 

You can use lots of tools, some you find in your kitchen, like small spatulas, or squeegie, or color shapers used for pastels. Alcohol , plastic wrap, paper towels, spray bottles.Credit cards and other sharp edges tools will work, but they will also leave scratches on the paper. You can do a certain amount of stamping and stenciling. 

When finished, you can use a workable fixative to set the work. I usually frame tthem under glass to protect the paint from moisture. 

Here are a few (mostly not finished, but looking good) that students did in class:

Jackie

Melanie used transparent yupo

Sarah added pen

Lydia

Sylvia

Vickie used alcohol spray

Below is a link to a lengthy video. The beginning shows many ways to create textures in yupo.

Mary Schlosser Shumaker WC 1 hr 23 min

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=59Oxl8XjCSE

Below is a shorter video using some basic techniques for a sunflower:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hWNiybDBlOo

someone asked about using plastic wrap: (Lynda Norman)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C07ycF4rZ-k&t=178s

There are several other blogs on yupo. Here is one below:

https://www.blogger.com/blog/post/edit/8812132386157895665/6463799288270858032

Finishing touches on Masa paper: Using pastels and watercolor pencils

 

PASTELS AND PENCIL to add details:

After you have painted as much as you can, and the painting has been mounted and dry, you can darken or lighten areas with paint, pastels, or watercolor pencil.

Here's a little show and tell from class. Each project was so unique and beautiful.

My petunias before enhanced with pastels and after:

            I used some watercolor pencils and inktense pencils to darken the flower centers and make some dark greens in negative spaces. I added a little pastel to some of the flowers, and dragged a dark pastel across the shadow of the pot. I added some light green pastel to some of the leaves that had gotten too dark. I also darkened some of the wood grain with some pastel.

Carol L.

Carol's cropped a bit to make it more interesting. I think she used some

pastels in some of the yellow and dark areas and some pencil between petals.

Meg: That table looks like it has the sun shining on it.

Lydia freehanded all of this. She has some pastel to enhance the flowers, I think. WC pencil in the darks to create some hard edges. 

Judy's woodpecker.

Jackie's panda. Used white pastel around the face to make it furry. Dark pencil for the eyes and mouth, with some white gel pen for highlight in the eyes. Some pastel black on some of the fur.

Barb: most of these vibrant colors are in watercolor with some ink outlining. Mostly used a bit of pastel to add some orange to the petals and to add white specks in the centers.

Sylvia's background blends so well with the foreground. It reminds me of antique parchment.

Cathi's has a bit of pen and ink added after it was mounted and dried.

Robby's lemon's are so fun, they pracically painted themselves. She didn't need

any more enhancement at all.

Sara negative painted some darks around the flowers and leaves to balance out the dark in the foreground. There is some blue pastel over the dark and brown areas. I like how the dark moves you through the picture now.

Pam's parrot only needed a few minor touches. She used some pastel to lighten the wood stump and give it texture. Black WC pencil on the beak, and a few dark touches to the legs and body. 

Carol S just got started, but it looks good already. I'll post the finished one when she finishes it.

I still need Francis' deer, Shirley's hummingbird, and Vicki's sunflowers, hopefully next week.

More Masa Paper

 MASA PAPER PETUNIAS

I have several blogs on Masa Paper.

You can start it two different ways. Whatever way you choose, mark the back of the paper - the shiny side - with a small ink X so you don't get confused when it is wet.

You can draw your picture onto the paper before you wrinkle it. The advantage to this is that it is much easier to use a light box on the flat paper. You can draw it with heavy pencil or micron pen.

OR

You can wrinkle the paper first. Then soak it in clear water for a few seconds. Lay the wet paper on an absorbent surface (I use a puppy pad). Then with a large brush, randomly add colors to your paper and let them run together. Then dry it completely. The advantage to this is that you come up with a random, unplanned design to begin your painting.

Some people like to glue the paper to a surface before painting. I prefer to do as much painting as I can before glueing, because I get more of the wrinkle effect. 

On this painting of PETUNIAS, I started with drawing the flowers first, then created a random design on the wet paper using yellows, magenta, and some blues (cerulean) all over. I dried it completely before going to the next step.

Here you can barely see the drawing.

Then I began to paint the large shapes around the flowers. First the pot, using a combination of French ultramarine and neutral tint. I used a size 12 round or 3/4" flat, painting a little dry so that the brush doesn't scrub the paper, and leaves texture. I dried the pot and painted in the basic color for the table, still using a large brush on dry paper to pick up the texture of the paper.

I painted in a mixture of greens (using French ultramarine, quin gold, and yellow.) outlining the flowers.

I will go in with darker green later to negative paint some leaves.

I've filled in the centers with purple and painted pink shadows in the flowers. Darkened the cracks in the wood, and added darker green shadows. Almost ready to adhere it to a backing.

Glueing onto a board gives me a little more control over the paint.

I use either YES paste or heavy mat gel for the glue. Apply it about 3" at a time to the paper or board, and start gluing the masa paper down. The glue can dry quickly, so you want to get the paper onto it before it dries. Put some wax paper on top. Use a roller to press it down. Some people like to leave some wrinkles, but if you want it flat, you'll need to roll it with a breyer. 

GRISAILLE/BRUNAILLE/VERDAILLE etc.

PAINTING A GRISAILLE

A grisaille is generally a term that means "gray." You are painting a gray...or brown or other color...underpainting, concentrating on the values first. This is most often associated with oil paintings. The gray underpainting is done first; when dry, a glaze of color is added. 

You can still do this process with watercolor, but you have to be careful about a few things. Watercolors tend to "move" when you glaze a color over them. So for the base colors, you have to choose a very

STAINING color. Notorious stainers are: Aureolin Yellow, Quin gold, (any quinacridones), Alizarin Crimson, Pthalo Blue and Pthalo Green, Indigo, and my new discovery Permanent Brown.

I enjoy doing pictures this way because I'm not worrying about what color to add. I'm just focused on getting the values right.

The first thing I did was get a reference from Reference Photos for Artists on Facebook.

I uploaded it into my Notanizer and changed it to 3 values so I could see the changes more clearly.

3 value version of reference

Reference photo: by Andrea Ludman 9/30/23

I started out with a sketch on cold press paper

I began "sculpting" the shading using Permanent Brown. First in light layers,

then increasing the values in layers.

When I was happy with the values, I dried it completely. This is essential if you don't want the layers to move. Then I began glazing other colors over the pots.I used quin gold and transparent pyrrol orange for the large pot; turquoise for the far pot; an alizarin crimson for the red pot. You may have to paint more than one glaze of color to get the effect you want.

Remember, you are painting over the entire pot, shading and all. 

In class we tried different colors for the base layers to see what different effects it has.

TRANSPARENT STAINING COLORS

STAINING colors get into the fibers of your paper and grab on. It's very hard to lift or loosen them, like getting a wine stain on a white tablecloth. 

These are applied in layers, though. The reason for this is: As you apply a layer you are giving the paint time to really stain the paper. A thick layer of any paint will reconstitute, just as it does in your palette.

If you do not use a STAINING color for the base, it can move and muddy any color you put on top.

Below is a YouTube about different ways to shade in watercolor. She uses wet into wet, but it's good to see how many ways you can accomplish the same thing.

youtube by Erika Lancaster on 4 ways to 'shade"

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tfkL6BmegQY

I've been looking for a YouTube about how to shade basic shapes. This is a drawing tutorial (about 9 min) but worth looking at if you are having trouble knowing where to shade a form. You can practice using your watercolors to create these simple gradations.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vMr6eimcolc

We also prepped paper for the masa paper project. There are quite a few demos of masa paper on my blog, but I think this one has good directions on it.

https://draft.blogger.com/blog/post/edit/8812132386157895665/3528868140791947027