Paper, Canvas, and Artist Boards – Which is best to paint on?

Paper, Canvas, and Artist Boards – Which is best to paint on?

As some of you may know I like to use watercolors, and being this media is wetter than markers and also requires lots of layering and repetitive moistening it's a legitimate question to ask what's the best media to paint on? Well I'm going to tell you a few options you have to pick from and you can decide for yourself what you want to try.


Note: I don't have a brand preference for any of the about to be spoken of “medias”, mainly because I haven't bought any of the things only 1 pad of watercolor paper, everything else was given to me so I never experimented with brands so this is just going to be a generalization of overall experience with different things and also none-experiential knowledge.

Paper:

Paper is going to be the most picky thing out of the 3 subjects I'm going to cover, mainly because unlike canvas it's not fabric and unlike illustration boards it's not as thick; So not being fabric or necessarily thick it tends to bubble up or if too wet flake apart a bit.


There are 3 different papers I'm going to talk about, two I've used, one I have not, but I still think it's worth looking in to.

1; Printer Paper:

Printer paper is the most common paper in households so it's no wonder our first experimentations would be on it, it's already there and we don't want to “waste” the “good stuff” on inexperience.

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I'll say this, it's okay but not really that good, what I mean by that is, it bubbles up very very quick and I wouldn't use it for a serious art work, maybe for testing stuff out and things like that but nothing that's meant to be “good”. If you still want to try it out, use less water...A Lot Less Water.

2; Watercolor Paper:

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Watercolor paper is made for watercolor but still you need to decide how much you want to spend, there is 80 lbs press that's very weak but it's cheaper, 140 which is stronger but still bubbles up a bit (that's what I use) it's reasonably priced and it's not just limited to art stores I have an 11X15 pad from Big Lots ( Department Store in the United States), then there is 300 which is much stronger (I've seen this one recommended for it's endurance to water and wet on wet technique) but might cost a bit more.

Mixed Media Painting By Me on Watercolor-Paper

Watercolor paper is generally textured but for watercolor that's good, it adds character to the image and the little dents hold small pockets of paint. Watercolor Paper also, if you buy in pads doesn't have very many pages per pad, so although a pad might be say five dollars it only will have about 12-15 sheets, as opposed to a sketch book having 75 sheets of paper for the same amount of money. This is not to say buy a sketch book for painting, I don't think that's a good idea since sketch paper is normally like printer paper in strength for paint.
Sizes Vary with Watercolor Paper, it can go from small to very large.


If you like to sketch before painting remember that the texture of the paper will make a sketch darker on it's own, so either sketch very very lightly or use a harder pencil which isn't as dark when you press.

So overall I love Watercolor-Paper and I highly recommend it!

3; Bristol Board:

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This is a paper I have never knowingly used, but all the illustrations of Mark Crilley (and his pages for his comic books) are all drawn on Bristol board. According to him and others, it's stronger than normal paper, and it's also smooth (kind of like Illustration board only thinner) but can warp a bit once it gets too wet.


Mark Crilley's Art Works here and here.

Illustration Boards:

Mixed Media Painting Done By Me On An Illustration Board

There are different kinds, some with more texture some with less, the kind I use is smooth and slick, great for sliding paint across the image you are painting, for me it's a bit different because I normally (although not always) start with colored pencil then paint over it and then use marker and paint for details and shading so it's a bit different than straight paint. But I have done certain parts straight paint and it's good but can be a little tough because it dries pretty fast (assuming you didn't sop it in paint and water) and can be hard to get an even color.




Strength wise, it can handle the paint pretty well although even will bubble after a while but once you're finished and it's fully dried you can put a towel over it and some books to flatten it back out.


I've read and people say use is only if you want to do “washes” because it's so smooth, but I think that it's not so limited. Also people say that it's not “Archival” which means it won't last forever, but if you get a sealant spray I'd think it would be alright.

Canvas:

Mixed Media Paiting Done By Me On A Watercolor Canvas

Canvas, what can I say? I suppose I can say that when you get a canvas, you feel like you finally made it in life as an artist for a moment, like you're becoming something, but then you get scared, scared what if you're not good enough for such a product? What if!? Well Canvas does not bite and it's wonderful so read on!

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 Canvas is a treated fabric stretched over a wooden frame, it's very thick, durable, and it dries pretty fast for constant work although you will have to leave it for a bit to be fully dried just like anything else.
You can layer on canvas and fix mistakes much easier with it, if you put a wrong color you can apply more water with a brush and use a cloth or tissue to take most of the color off without worrying the surface will start to flake and colors are much more brilliant on canvas.


On thing with canvas is it's like watercolor paper that if you sketch do it very lightly! It's rater textured. Also, when you go to buy canvas make sure it's for watercolor and not for acrylic and oil, the latter is treated different than watercolor canvas, I know because I was given the wrong one, I did paint on it with watercolor but it smudged a bit and it didn't absorb as well.

Canvas Sizes vary as well.


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I hope this was helpful!
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