Alright, I’ve started this morning by laughing into my gourd and making tea leaves fly everywhere. Haha.
Inspiration struck me yesterday and I could not stop cleaning. I intended to stop at five because I wanted to get some art and Persona in but it didn’t happen. I gave myself about 10 minutes at the end of the night to play with my recently unearthed acrylic ink and to try and address a botched painting but… that was it! I went to bed at one and called it a night. Huh.
Tiny scraps of Arches oil painting paper with gouache and ink. Tempted to call them art snacks
These little fellas are my pseudo swatches of my HIMI/MIYA gouache. I had done a lot of experimenting with paper over the past three years and neglected to record any of it. I had this Arches oil painting paper that I had no idea how to use. I did oil paintings, yes, but they didn’t come out well. But I looked at the tooth of the paper and the fact it was powerful enough to take oils and thought… maybe water based media would be cool? Lo and behold I like them together a lot! The paint doesn’t really absorb into the paper as it normally would since I suspect there’s some sort of binder that repels water somewhat (but only somewhat!) That makes sense, but this is actually what I want. And hey, even though my oil paintings on this paper didn’t come out well I must say the oil applied and absorbed into it beautifully. Glad I was curious enough to get a pad.
I’ve tried several different watercolor papers and mixed media. Some of them have been perfect for my needs, but I’m going to have to try them all over again because I can’t remember what pad or block had the dream combination. So, in this blog post, I’m marking and documenting an observation I intend to remember. I have a lot of accumulated art supplies that are extremely useful but they need to be inventoried and supplemented with notes for their use. I didn’t think I’d reach a point in my life where that’d be necessary or desired! I enjoy that. And I’m grateful I’ve had the great fortune of being able to acquire this many materials and supplies. Alright, focus!
Additional note about this paper? For a very long time it was in low stock and seemed that it was going to be discontinued. Hardly anyone was selling it. Then it started coming back into supply potentially this year or last year. Serendipity? ;)
Arches Oil Painting Paper (likes)
Gouache
Acrylic ink
Toothy side with evenly dispersed weave (other side is patterned)
Bonus:
I unintentionally split a brush and ended up making little hatch marks. I’ve known about this technique previously but had kind of forgotten about it. This is a reminder to try it again sometime!
Oh yeah, I’ve also stumbled upon Pear Fleur’s videos on youtube and they’re fantastic for observing an extremely versatile artist take their time and work. She typically works with gouache and watercolor and it’s amazing what she does. She makes me want to refine my own approach!