Have you ever dreamed of trying out new materials and techniques? Or do you just love jumping from one material to another depending on your mood?Īt some point, I even dedicated one sketchbook to one media. I’m looking for papers with smooth surface.Are you the type of artist who enjoys experimenting? It dries too slow something that is not convenient at all, especially when I want to sketch something and then move to the next sketch.Īs I have to choose between Canson’s lighter papers any photo contribution about what surfaces and weights are available will be greatly appreciated.ĭo you have perhaps something to suggest? The thread though turned out to be about what paper to choose for my sketchbooks as my recent experience ( during my holidays ) showed that 300grs 100% cotton paper, is not appropriate for sketching outdoors, because it has drying issues. I have decided what kind of paper I’ll purchase for my paintings and that will be Moulin de Roy 300grs Hot Pressed in its roll version. Might as well learn to paint on the good paper as the bad paper. Paint behaves completely differently on the two categories of paper. įor best watercolor results, one may want to ditch the cellulose or wood fiber papers and find a 100% cotton fiber paper which supports the way in which one paints. If you can get the Montval papers, go for it. It’s sturdy paper that won’t wrinkle too much when wet – & if you want to work very wet, I would suggest stretching the paper first. OH – almost forgot – I have had good results on this paper with gouache.Īs for other canson papers, the Montval line of watercolor paper is pretty decent. You can’t really see it, but the gesso almost makes the finished painting look like it sparkles a bit. This is some play I did on the same Canson MM paper you are asking about – 2 thinned gesso layers, dried, then just let loose with the watercolors to play with the effects. Try painting the surface of the paper with 2 or 3 thinned down layers of gesso, letting it dry, then using that as a surfaces for your watercolor. I use these pads all the time for drawing images to then transfer onto my watercolor paper.Ī cool use of the paper, though, is that it accepts acrylics exceptionally well. The paper kinda sucks up the paint on your brush immediately, & leaves the colors looking rather dull. Those Canson XL mixed media pads aren’t really very good for watercolor. I know that I trouble you but there are not that many options regarding paper here and I have to find a solution now otherwise if I run out of paper I will then have to pay its weight in gold. What is its surface, does it buckles, is it smooth, grainy, CP. So you would do me a great favour if you could post some images of whatever you have from Canson in order to decide what to I have used Modval at 300grs but not the lighter one. The Canson XL whole range of blocks will be probably available too. So I’m looking at Canson’s international site to see what they offer,though this doesn’t mean of course that everything that might offer there will be available for buying here too. They can order for me most of the Canson paper ranges and I’m seriously thinking to buy my supplies in bulk quantities, in order to have peace of mind no matter what is going to happen with the financial situation here. Now I have some access to the official distributor of Canson papers in Greece. An order that I had put for Saunders Waterford extra white paper, ( that was pre paid also) was cancelled and they gave me back my money. Due to the capital control’s that were applied here for the last three months now, there are shortages on particular art papers. Well let me tell you what is going on with the papers. Would it be a lot of trouble for you to post here a photo or scanned image of this paper’s surface? I’ve also used pastel, acrylic, coloured pencil, etc on the 160gsm Mix Media paper.

However, I was scrubbing quite a bit to get some watercolour markers to disperse and it didn’t rip or anything. It can take some washes but I don’t know if it can take a lot since I have only done lots of washes on my Daler Rowney cotton paper (mostly because I want to get my money’s worth so I make more effort with my paintings on that paper). It’s very good for sketches or (in my case) a beginner. I actually have better experiences painting on it than with their thicker, dedicated watercolor paper. I don’t know if they have the same offer, but the Canson XL Mix Media 90lb/160gsm paper is really quite smooth and mottled not with the weird vertical lines.

Mixed media sketchbook