Thursday, July 09, 2015

Watercolor powders - paper choice

In addition to my info post on watercolor powders, I wanted to share a few samples that I made on different types of paper. Be sure to experiment with the papers you have at home - each one takes color a little bit differently!

Most of my card samples are done on watercolor paper, which just makes sense since the product is used with water... hot and cold press papers can be used. Cold press paper has a textured surface, while hot press papers are smooth.



Canva-Paper is a heavy card with a linen texture to it which kept some of the color blends separate - I love that.


Canvas acted similarly...


Coffee filters naturally wick color out, and soften the colors...


Glossy photo paper absorbs the color pretty quickly, so instead of a blend, the results are more spotty. This piece was monoprinted with a stenciled first and then layered with more color. You can also transfer color onto glossy photo from another colored piece - I sprinkled Color Burst onto a coffee filter and then laid that onto the photo paper to make a print.


Clay-coated cardstock tends to absorb color quickly too, in some areas more than others, depending on the amount of water used... this is great for sort of impressionistic garden scenes, like the one below. I use Mohawk Color Copy Ultra Gloss.



Cotton watercolor paper produces a very smooth blend, as it's highly textured and takes a lot of water. This is the Shizen 100% cotton paper.


Shipping tags are coated on one side and matte on the other - each side has its own unique results...


Hope those visual samples are helpful as you play!
Thanks for stopping by!

6 comments:

  1. Oh fun, ok you're inspiring to give this a try. I don't consider water color to be my strong suit, but maybe by practicing with different products, I may think differently!

    ReplyDelete
  2. Dina, thank you so much for the wonderful information you provide...I do not have any powder colors yet and this has certainly decided me to buy some...I LOVE THE LOOK!!

    ReplyDelete
  3. Thanks so much Dina...this will go in my How To folder to help know which kind of paper I want for the look I want to achieve!!! Appreciate your technical assistance!
    Paper Hugs,
    Jan

    ReplyDelete
  4. As a wildly happy fan of these wonderful dried ink powders, I have so enjoyed your reviews of yesterday and today. Having used them quite a bit, I was able to relate to absolutely everything you said about these powders and I give you a 100% thumbs up for accuracy, attention to detail, and meticulous coverage of all that these glorious powders have to offer. My deep hope is that you copied in every one of the companies you reviewed . . . they really could benefit by having this excellent review at hand. Thanks again, Dina!

    ReplyDelete
  5. WOW! Thank you for all of this very informative testing. I do have several of these papers to try. Also a wonderful idea to use up the 'waste' which I hate to throw out. Basically, it seems to be worth experimenting with these paints on any paper/card! Nothing to lose, but plenty of creative gain.

    ReplyDelete
  6. very informational and helpful in determining what to use, and also learning about papers we had not thought of using with the powdered watercolors. thanks so much for your time and effort putting all of this together. Great samples!

    ReplyDelete