Memory Lane & Fabriano Soft Press Paper

Pick Me, watercolor, 8” x 8,” on Fabriano 140 lb soft press paper

Working on this painting was a walk down memory lane.  When I was a kid we had a huge vegetable garden in our back yard.  We planted it mostly by seed every year on Memorial Day weekend listening to the Indianapolis 500 on a transistor radio.  Living in Indiana, the race was blocked out on television.  If you didn’t go in person, radio was your only option.  We always planted 2 or 3 rows of green beans, the bush variety.  I enjoyed planting the garden, but my least favorite tasks were weeding and picking the green beans. They were hard to find camouflaged amongst the leaves.  Hunched over rifling through rows of beans for an hour in the blazing sun, I couldn’t wait for it be over.  Then, of course, I had to clean the things to be ready for dinner! Ironically, as much as hated doing these chores, they are still one of my favorite vegetables.

Maine Yellows, watercolor, 6” x 6,” on Fabriano soft press paper

Though, my childhood summers weren’t just spent working of course, they also mostly consisted of exploring outside, going on endless bike rides, and reading.  With all the fun I had, of course I dreaded the inventible orders from my mom to do those gardening chores.  However, now I’m grateful for the experience and love doing them now.  My mom instilled a love of plants and gardening in me at an early age, something I treasure to this day.   Working on this painting flooded me with memories, and time spent with my mom in and out of the garden. 

Foraging Day, watercolor, 6” x 6,” on Fabriano soft press paper

I experimented again with another Fabriano paper, 140 lb soft press.  I had previously completed three paintings from my mushroom series on this paper and really liked the results. (Foraging for mushrooms was also a part of my childhood.)  If I were to describe this paper, I feel it is a cross between hot press and cold press paper, which is why I felt it would be good for my smaller works with a lot of details. This painting is 8” x 8” and my mushroom series are all 6” x 6.”  The advantage of if it being like hot press paper is that it is smoother and it seems easier to draw and paint details. However the paint still soaks into the paper, not sitting on top like it would on a hot pressed surface.  Thus, it behaves  more like a cold press paper, which I prefer.  Watercolors are vibrant when dry, and they were easy to mix on the paper, I was getting nice results in wet into wet areas.  The paper has great lifting capabilities and edges were easy to soften with a synthetic brush. Staining colors do not lift out as easy as non staining colors.  Because I used  yellow in my mix of greens for the green beans, lifting out highlights in those areas was a bit more difficult because the yellow I use is a staining color.  

Red Jewel, watercolor, 6” x 6,” on Fabriano soft press paper

This is not a paper to use, if you are used to scrubbing out passages or softening areas with a scrubber brush.  I did try that in an area and the fibers lifted up pretty easily.  It will not take much abuse in that respect.  I did not try masking tape on this paper but I did use a little bit of masking fluid and didn’t have any fibers lift off the paper when removing the masking.  After having used this paper on a few paintings. I am definitely adding this paper to my repertoire and would like to try the 300 lb soft press for larger works.  That will be an experiment down the road. 

Visit my You Tube Channel to see a time lapse video of this complete painting.

This painting was done as part of the Florida Watercolor Society’s “Creative Confinement Challenge.”  Open to all of the nine hundred or so members, the submission fees will go toward The Healing Arts Award in the 2020 Annual Exhibition.  Every year the Florida Watercolor Society donates a painting to a health or medical facility in the area where that year’s president resides.  The president chooses which facility they would like to donate the painting to and invites a representative from there to choose the painting from the Annual Exhibition.  I love this program.  I feel art promotes healing whether you are creating it or looking at it. 

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Change is Good: Arches vs. Fabriano Paper

A Calming Influence, 24” x 19,” Watercolor on Fabriano 300 lb. Cold Press

It has been a while since I have written an article on my blog!  Who knew how much the world would change between then and now, and I feel there are more changes to come.  My hope is that the world will be a kinder and more peaceful place.   While I do not like the circumstances and the hardships that many are facing in this wild time, I do believe that sometimes there are good things that come from the bad, and I try to remind myself this to be more at peace.  I’m trying to take more time to do things I enjoy, gardening, cooking, and enjoying nature. This time I’ve had at home during the COVID-19 quarantine  has made me reflect how I may go forward in the future, and I am more grateful for each day I am alive and well.

In My Solitude, 20” x 20,” Watercolor on Arches 300 lb. Cold Press

One positive change is having so much dedicated time in the studio!  I have been wanting to do a water lily series on a larger scale. Previously I have only painted them 12” x 12.”   I felt it would be the perfect subject matter to paint during this quarantine time. I find them to be a calming influence. I finally started on them and I am currently working on the fourth in the series.   I have at least five planned. Their titles reflect how I have been feeling during the lock down and how I felt painting them. 

A Moment of Pause, 22” x 12,” Watercolor on Arches 300 lb. Cold Press

As I mentioned before, painting this subject matter larger is a change.   I spend a  lot of time designing each of my paintings, and love doing it. I make a lot of changes from my original photo references, mixing more than one photo together for the right composition. I  re-work the positions of elements within the photo. I add elements that are needed for the composition, even if they didn’t exist in real life. I also change colors from my photo references, and recently I have enjoyed designing and incorporating borders as part of my body of work.

For this series, I ventured out into new paper territory.  Most of my work is on Arches or Twin Rocker paper. ( Never heard of Twinrocker?  You can read it about it here on a previous post. ) The first two in the series were painted on Arches 300 lb. cold press.  On the third painting I decided to try Fabriano 300 lb. cold press.

Nocturne, 12” x 12,” Watercolor Mounted on Cradled Archival Board and Sealed

When you have a lot of time invested in designing and drawing it can be a  risk to try something out of the norm.  But if we don’t, how will we learn and grow?  I bit the bullet and committed to completing the painting on the Fabriano paper.  With my particular painting style it took me a while to get used to it until I realized what I normally do had to be done somewhat differently.  As I got into the rhythm of it, I really enjoyed it.  It was like going on a little vacation, which is as good as it’s going to get right now! 

Interlude, 12” x 12,” Watercolor Mounted on Archival Cradled Board and Sealed

What was different, you might ask?  First the paper is softer,  you can tell just by how it feels.  I was worried if I had to scrub out an area or lift, would it mutilate the paper too much, but I didn’t find it to be an issue.  All paper companies have their “secret sauce” for sizing their paper. For example, some use animal byproducts in their sizing, I do know that Fabriano does not.  That is why Arches can sometimes have that wet dog smell.  (No, Arches does not use dog in their sizing, but I think there might be something from an animal in there.)   I feel Fabriano might have less sizing then Arches.  It could have been the weather that day, but I did feel washes tend to dry a bit quicker.  However, working wet into wet, it was fine. Everything stayed wet long enough for me to get done what I needed to in a wash.  I also use masking tape to mask areas I want to preserve the white of the paper and paint later. I was concerned with a softer paper the top surface of the paper would lift off with the tape, but it didn’t, and masking fluid came right off too. 

Trio, 12” x 12,” Watercolor Mounted on Cradled Archival Board and Sealed

I also felt the color seemed to be more vivid on the Fabriano paper.  The paper could be whiter or the sizing may have an effect on the appearance of the paint on top.  Another factor could be how much paint soaks into the paper versus sitting on top of it.  Whatever it is, I like the results. However, one thing that did take some getting used to was if I  painted over an area twice after the first wash had dried, the paint underneath seemed to lift easier than on Arches.  It took a natural hair brush and a light touch for the first wash not to mix with the second.  That was probably my biggest work around for the way I paint. 

If I were to say anything negative about Fabriano vs. Arches, it would be that their water mark goes all they way across the top of the short side of the paper.  That doesn’t bother some people but if I were to do a painting on a full sheet you would see it as part of my painting.  I’m not so keen on that. One work around is to use the opposite side.  However, there is a different texture on each side of the paper.  If you liked the texture on the water marked side and you wanted to do a painting on a full sheet, you are stuck with it.  Arches’ watermark is more subtle.  It is small and in a corner. 

Meditation II, 12” x 12,” Watercolor Mounted on Archival Cradled Board and Sealed

Overall, I felt like the change was good! Would I use Fabriano again?  Absolutely!  Would I stop using Arches, not necessarily.  I tend to use the paper I need for what I want to achieve in the painting because they all behave differently, just like our dear children or pets.  That is why I also use Twinrocker paper and occasionally, when I have the opportunity, I buy other brands I would like to try too.  I have tried some that will never make it into my repertoire, and like Fabriano some brands will have a place in my studio and potentially be used en plein air paintings as well!  

Don’t be afraid of change.  We certainly can’t have that attitude in this unprecedented time in human history.  Take a risk, what are you going to do different today?  Feel free to leave a comment.  If you subscribe to my blog and are getting this via email, click on it to go to my web site and leave your comment there.  :-)

Wishing you continued safety and good health!

Kim

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