Spanners?

Hiya - put your brushes down and grab a cuppa.

As one of my dearest friends would say "hummm". The last couple of posts have been about my finding some sort of parity with my materials for these life drawing sessions. And, to be honest, I thought I had. However, just when I thought that all of my equipment was coming along all nice and organised like - I go and throw a potential spanner in the works.

There are no problems between my brushes and I - we get along just fine. The old saying that a tradesman never blames his tools stands, and my brushes are good ones. My paints and me are at one with each other. I respect their colouring potential, and they respect that they can stain my clothing.

Last piece in the partnership is my paper. For as long as I can remember, or more like since the last time I bought any, I have used Saunders Waterford 300lb rough. A truly grand paper - one I heartily recommend. Enjoyable though it is to use, I am not sure I have the experience to get the best out of it in the time allowed in these sessions, and have thought about using a smoother textured, lighter paper. Something that I can work with quickly, and gives me enough coverage with the amount of paint mixed to use for each pose.

So, last week, after taking things into consideration, I ordered some. Having previously used and enjoyed the Hahnemuhle bamboo paper primarily for gouache works, but also some acrylics, I decided to give their watercolour paper a try. Eventually I decided on some of their "Turner" 140lbs paper -10 sheets, roughly 9.4" x10.6" in size, in a glued pad.

How much excitement can you all stand I ask? A report from tomorrow nights session, plus some technical info on new papers too; will you or be able to sleep. Me? Oh yeah - definately!

Until Tuesday then, whatever your art - please enjoy it responsibly, and remember - a canvass is not just for Xmas - it's for painting on!

Paul