The Artist - UK (2021-02)

http://www.painters-online.co.uk artistFebruary 2021 47

PRACTICAL

the perfect texture for additional media,
too.
I prefer to work on larger sheets

• smaller than A3 and I find myself
  frustrated by the size and I start to
  fiddle about. I’ll stick two, even three
  sheets together to get the size I want. If I
  need to create smaller, quick sketches I
  do two or three on the same page of my
  A3 watercolour pads and sketchbooks.

Canvas

Choosing the right surface for my studio
paintings is essential. I need something
robust and, if it’s canvas, as tight as
a drum, as I hammer my work with
vigorous brushstrokes and any give
is frustrating and very disappointing.
These cost me more in the long run but
who will buy a sagging painting?
I buy ready-made top-quality
stretched canvases as my studio time is

too limited for stretching and frame-

making; hand-made canvases from

Jackson’s Art Supplies are fantastic

because of their thick and responsive

workable surfaces. Loxley make the

most amazing top-quality cotton

canvases at an affordable price that

are as tight as a drum. You pay for what

you get with any paper or canvas you

choose to work on and, for a few extra

pounds, the differences in your work are

marked – the quality shines through.

However, stretched canvases can be

somewhat restrictive as you are bound

by the size, whereas canvas boards and

paper can be altered and cut down to

make a stronger composition. Stretched

canvases need to

be worked at a lot

more (especially on

a large scale ) when

things are not going

your way. Discarding a ‘difficult’ or

unworkable section with a cut-down or

add-on isn’t cheating – it adds flexibility

to your creative process.

Bespoke textured surface

It is not uncommon for me to tear up a

drawing I’m unhappy with and assemble

the disparate parts into something new

and exciting, collaging them into a fresh

painting or drawing surface. Paper is a

really malleable material – you can tear

and cut it into any shape you want and

extend a drawing or painting surface

time and again, right until the last brush

mark has been applied.

I use PVA glue, acrylic paint or acrylic

q The Beginning of Winter – Great Gable, The Lake District, mixed

media on Canson Moulin du Roy 140lb (300gsm) Rough 100-per-

cent rag content watercolour paper, 20 3 22in (51 3 56cm).

The complex multi–layering of different media would not have

worked so effectively on wood pulp or a thinner, far less textured

paper as the paper would have sloughed, cockled and most

probably holed with all the vigorous mark making I applied. The

information for this dramatic composition was gathered on site

by drawing with graphite media

p Detail

The unique surface of the

rough, heavy-duty Canson

Moulin du Roy 100-per-cent rag

content paper can clearly be

seen in this close-up

p Detail (mountain slope)

The robust and responsive

textured watercolour paper

gave me the confidence to

apply my chosen drawing

media – black and white acrylic

and soft charcoal – in layers to

express my ideas