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So, can we see what you did? Can you use it as a scratchboard surface too? Can you scratch away to white and maybe play with texture too? Cheers, Patricia Savage 816 Valerie Dr. Raleigh, NC 27606 www.psavageartist.com [log in to unmask] 919-859-2789 Linda Feltner wrote: > Hi All: > I just completed a watercolor painting on the Ampersand Aquabord. A > half-sheet was given to me from a friend to try out. Apparently it has > a clay surface on a masonite base, and it's stamped Claybord Textured > on the back. Now after doing the painting, I'm reading more about the > marketing lingo. > > >From the first, I noted that it takes the pigment gently from the > brush, and it does allow a familiar wet and wet technique to mingle > colors. It's not quite like cold press, in that it will leave harder > edges. But it's not quite as hard as hot press. Any unwanted edges can > be very easily picked up, or blended away. It has a slight tendency to > pool up within a stroke. The pigment does have a remarkable ability to > be picked up. With cold press watercolor paper, it takes several > strokes with a thirsty brush to pick up granular pigment (vs. staining > pigment). With this product, it comes up in one stroke. The absorbency > isn't the same as cold press. It will not have those really subtle > bleeds that fade off to nothing. The technique of waiting till the > sheen drys off to apply more pigment to a washy wash didn't allow for > the same blending. However, it does stay moist a long time. It's just > a bit different. If I waited a bit to apply more pigment, the stroke > had to be light, so it wouldn't disturb the wet pigment beneath. > > The technique I found successful with this surface and absorbency, was > a "painterly" one. I left the early background strokes as is, leaving > them with various hard edges, and the distant hills had a rather > cloudy look, with the peaks of the texture showing through. Rather > than go back and try to overpaint the mountains, I found I liked the > fresh stroke, and it led me to choose this painterly stroke, that > stayed consistent throughout the picture. > I used an old round sable brush that has its point long eroded. It's a > favorite brush of mine to use on tree foliage, it's very blunt, but > has long hairs to hold a good amount of liquid. So, with daubing the > longer blunt brush, I achieved what I called this "painterly" > technique or more Impressionistic technique. > > It does take fine lines, too. The horns and eyes of the pronghorn, and > the insect in the grass, needed some fine strokes, and the surface > held this well, even though it has a texture. > > I'll use this surface again, even though I love cold press watercolor > paper. This has been fun, allowing me to try a technique I haven't > used in a long time, and stretching my imagination. > > Thought I'd share my thoughts. I hope someone else tries it and lets > us know what they think. > Happy Spring, Happy Painting, > Linda > > > > _______________________ > Linda M. Feltner Artist, LLC > P.O. Box 325 > Hereford, AZ 85615 > (520) 803-0538 > www.lindafeltner.com > > ________________________________________________ > > Need to leave or subscribe to the Sciart-L listserv? Follow the > instructions at > http://citnews.unl.edu/presentmethods_lana/listserv/index.html > Need to leave or subscribe to the Sciart-L listserv? Follow the instructions at http://citnews.unl.edu/presentmethods_lana/listserv/index.html