Category Archives: Materials

Testing Materials (6) – Black Watercolor Paper

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In the last post about materials, I mentioned that Stonehenge has a line a black watercolor paper. The official name is Legion Stonehenge Aqua Cold Press Black. It’s 140lb, and 100% cotton.

I ordered a pad and tried a couple of paintings:

Figure painting on black paper
Nikki, watercolor on paper, 9 x 12, September, 2020
Abstract gouache painting of black paper
Astrid in Design, gouache on paper, 9 x 10, September 2020

Here’s what I find out so far:

  • It behaves like a good quality 140lb watercolor paper. So in theory, you can use water.
  • However, as one can imagine, transparent color doesn’t fire well on black paper. You need a lot of pigment for a color to show, and the colors still dry lighter. So you can’t really use a lot of water.
  • Like any type of black paper, how you deal with value on it is quite counterintuitive.
  • In the first painting I used mostly watercolor and mixed in some gouache white in the highlight area. The second painting is gouache. I personally like the the gouache one better.
  • I feel like I am very lack of imagination with this paper. For the second painting, I believe I could achieve similar effect with ink resist method. While using black paper makes it easier in certain ways, ink resist could have some unexpected result. In other words, it is not particularly empowering.
  • It could be just I don’t know how to make the most out of it.

Testing Materials (5) – Black Drawing Paper

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I have a Strathmore black drawing paper pad that I bought for colored pencil drawings. Unfortunately after a few attempts, I came to the conclusion that colored pencil is too testing for my patience and on black paper, that’s even more so. A drawing like the following, to reach the desired effect (smoother skin, brighter color etc.), would need probably another 20 to 50 layers of coloring (or skills I don’t have to begin with):

Lily, colored pencil, 9 x 12 in, 2020

So what to do with the rest of the paper? Gouache came to mind because the colors come thick and don’t need much water (or at least you can use it that way).

Jazmine, gouache on paper, 9 x 12 in, 2020

I very much like the effect, but as you can see there are wrinkles on paper caused by accidental water drops.

Here’s another one:

Monique, gouache on paper, 9 x 12 in, 2020

After I did these paintings, I found out that Stonehenge actually has a line of black watercolor paper. Order placed already, and stay tuned!

Testing Materials (4) – More Water Soluble Markers

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I know Crayola is a kid brand, and I don’t think Crayola Washable Markers are made for watercolor artists. However, for your daily doodling, and small art projects, they work wonders. The markers have conical tips that allow both broad and thin lines, and the colors are quite vibrant:

  • Rose, marker on paper, 4 x 4.
  • Flower, marker on paper, 4 x 4.

I recently got hold of a different brand, Tombow Dual Brush Pen Art Markers. You can see from the way it’s packaged (Primary, Secondary, Grayscale, Portrait etc.), Towbow is for artist. With a nylon brush on one side and a fine tip on the other, you can achieve more versatile marks with it. I tried Tombow and Crayola side by side and find them behave similarly:

  • Crayola
  • Tombow

A few notes:

  • I used 140lb watercolor paper, and all my paintings are small.
  • The colors are quite vibrant and they don’t dry lighter. However, if you have excessive water, it will wash the ink away.
  • You can go back lifting or adding colors. If you add colors with markers when the paper is wet, remember it is much hasher on the paper than applying watercolor with watercolor brushes.
  • As for lightfastness, both Crayola and Tombow claim their colors will fade over time. So maybe not use them in your masterpieces? The prickly pear flower one (top right) was on the wall without any protection for many years and I haven’t seen any color change yet.
  • It is convenient and fun!
Jazmine, Crayola and Tombow markers on paper, 5 x 5, 2020

Experimenting with Materials (3) – Caran d’Ache

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Caran d’Ache is a brand not a specific product, but I only know that now! The product is Caran d’Ache Classic Neocolor II Water-Soluble Pastels. My former watercolor teacher introduced it to me many years ago, and called it Caran d’Ache. Even though I bought a 40 colors pack, all these years, I never bothered to read the words on the package, and thus I never knew it was pastel!

I didn’t like Caran d’Ache back then. It’s waxy and leaves a mark like that of a crayon. It also won’t completely dissolve in water. I didn’t appreciate texture very much at that time, and was afraid of any mark that I couldn’t get rid of or hide. I only recently started to pay attention to marks making and textures, and how they enrich composition and set free expression. That why I decided to give the product more chances.

Here are some of ways I tried. First I just used it to sketch, and them apply water and watercolor on top of it. Toward the end, I used them to add more accents.

Catherine, draft.
Catherine, watercolor, 7.5 x 10 in, 2020

I also tried to wet the paper first, with some color, and then applied the Caran d’Ache before the paper dried. Some color bleeds more than others. In the red color figure, I went back and force a bit with the pastel and a wet brush to achieve a desirable result. In the greenish one, the paper dried quickly, and I was only able to do a drawing.

Female figure, 5 x 10 in, 2020
Female figure, 9 x 12 in, 2020

Here a lot of the design in the painting came as an after thought, and Caran d’Ache is a very convenient tool to draw out ideas. While it won’t completely dissolve, it’s easy to hide it with gouache, and it’s also effective in adding textures:

Tigger, watercolor and gouache on paper, 18 x 24in.

A few notes about Caran d’Ache:

  • It’s versatile but overall, works better in expressive drawing – where you don’t care to hide your marks.
  • It’s useful in finalizing or amending a painting,
  • I am not entirely satisfied with the way I am using it, still too careful and too timid.
  • I feel like if I am more competent with or have more confidence in my drawing skill, I could make better use of this tool.
  • I’ll keep playing with it. I have a hunch that it will set me free some day. 🙂