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Do you have a favorite brand of paper? Have you found a particular surface that works well for a specific medium? Have you ever used an unusual material in order to save money?
Leave all your tips and tricks in the comments section. For my answer, read on…
When I’m not working on the computer, I use mostly gouache and oil paint. In general, I like to paint on paper, as opposed to canvas, wood, or panels. However, I like having a sturdy base to work on. Sometimes I will tape the paper down to a board, but the paper still bubbles and wrinkles easily. Illustration board is okay, but is often very bend-y and the extra heavyweight stuff is hard to find. Plus, I have a favorite brand of paper - Strathmore Bristol Vellum
My solution? I mount my paper on foam board. It gives me a sturdy flat base to work on, plus it’s light and easy to cut to any size. I can also use whatever kind of paper I choose, whether it’s bristol, watercolor, or drawing paper.
This is how I make my illustration board…
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Cut a piece of foam board that is slightly larger than your paper.
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Glue your paper onto your foam board. The quickest and easiest way to do this is use a good quality spray glue, like Super 77
. For the best stick, spray both surfaces before you stick them together.
If you paint with a lot of water, I’ve found that the paper tends to bubble a little, but it flattens back down as it dries. I’ve also experimented with using gesso to glue the paper down, which might be more durable in the long run; it’s just messier and tends to make the board bend slightly. See what works best for you and your medium.
Update: Kristin has noted in the comments section that spray glue tends to yellow the paper over time, which is a good point that I failed to mention. So, it is probably best to use gesso or find an archival spray glue.
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Place the paper on your board and carefully smooth out all air bubbles.
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After it dries, cut off the excess foam board. Voila! DIY illustration board!
Granted, I don’t know how long-lasting or archival this method is, but it seems to be working so far. If you like this method and come up with any suggestions or improvements, be sure to let me know.
So, what kinds of materials do YOU paint on? Let us know in the comments section.
DaniDraws.com
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October 15th, 2007 at 7:18 am
I’m a fan of fabriano paper in general. My favorite type is TIZIANO A4.
It’s great for colored pencils and pastel.
http://www.cartierefabriano.it/uk/_prodotti.html
also, you have an awesome blog.
October 15th, 2007 at 7:48 am
I paint on ARches 300 lb cold pressed handmade paper from France and I don’t need to mount it on anything. I paint on it like it is and there is no need to worry about it buckling. When I use the 140 lb I still don’t do anything. However if I know I am using a lot of water, I will masking tape it to my drawing board, tape comes off easy.
October 15th, 2007 at 9:44 am
I’ve found that the best surface for anything is a surface that doesn’t fight me. For example, I hated watercolors and always struggled with paper that wobbled and warped no matter what I did. Finally I got sick of it and shelled out the money for watercolor Gessobord. It was like discovering the wheel. All my painting problems were solved instantly. For charcoal or pastels, nothing beats Stonehenge. I gesso double-thick illustration boards for acrylics, oils, or oil pastels. (it’s usually cheaper than canvas, and it still paints like a dream) I use brown craft paper for quick sketches–it’s cheap and makes getting a full tonal range very easy. Some of my friends use contact paper instead of frisket film. For paper, nothing beats buying in bulk. Last quarter I was doing a lot of charcoal and pastel drawing, and I saved lots of time (and plenty of money) by buying a great big pack of Stonehenge paper over the Internet at the beginning of the quarter. It was almost all gone by the end, too.
Be careful with the spray glue. It isn’t archival and will yellow the paper over time. Have you tried using gum tape or staples? (also, do you stretch you paper before working? As someone who can’t paint on anything other than board, I’m curious.) Gum tape and staples have their own drawbacks, but they won’t yellow the paper.
October 15th, 2007 at 10:54 am
I love to sketch on paper from the copier at work. As far as painting; I paint like a rich man carelessly wasting layers upon layers of Adobe’s and Corel’s finest canvases and paint. It’s very archival but can suffer from the “I forgot to back every thing up and my computer crashed and I lost everything, again” I’ll print things out on an Epson 2200 and draw or paint on it some more. You can feed some very think paper, canvas, boards though it.
October 15th, 2007 at 12:14 pm
I paint with gouache on hot press arches blocks. Although I always cut the sheet off the block, trim to size, tape to a board, then paint (hording the scraps of various sizes in a folder for later). I would be a little nervous painting right on the block (for no good reason really, I know it’s the more proper way!).
In the past I played with lots of weird things like scanning/printing then tea-staining but I know how ridiculously non-archival this is and don’t even think about trying it anymore. I also like doing detailed drawings on super-smooth bristol, or everyone’s favorite - moleskine sketchbooks.
October 15th, 2007 at 11:26 pm
I’ve been taping paper to foam board ever since I took a pastels class back when I was in college. Dani is correct that it makes a sturdy lightweight board good for drawing and painintg on plus it’s easy to cut to any size. I take the foam pieces that I don’t use for drawing boards and use them as light bouncer in photography.
October 16th, 2007 at 7:55 am
Thanks for all the great comments, everyone. Kristin, I don’t stretch my paper before painting, and I’ve never tried gum tape or staples before. These are all great suggestions - I’m going to be doing a lot of experimenting!
October 16th, 2007 at 10:12 pm
I’m boring when it comes to this stuff. I don’t do anything exciting. When I draw, I will most likely use regular drawing paper or printer paper. Moleskine sketchbook is what I use more when I want to do good pen and ink, but (if I have it) Illustration or bristol board works well.
I paint on watercolor paper. I just keep the page attached in the pad, and tear it out when I want/ need to frame it.
October 16th, 2007 at 11:03 pm
I’ve always loved stonehenge myself…. especially for charcoal. I’ve drawn, painted, erased many times over on 1 sheet and the stuff holds up. I typically just thumbtack it to the wall and have at it.