I recently blogged about my watercolor paints and brushes in two parts — ONE / TWO

However, what good are those wonderful paints and brushes for without beautiful, high-quality paper? For daily practice work, inexpensive student quality pads like the Canson papers with the hot air balloon drawing on the cover that you can find at NBS and a Monologue Sketchbook (which I’ve also been abusing using) are great to have around but for commission work, it’s more appropriate to use paper that will allow illustrations to shine and last for a long time.

Here are some of my staples (so far) along with close-ups of samples of my illustrations using the different papers so that you can see their textures up close as well as how colors respond to them

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L-R and in no order of preference, these are the paper brands I keep going back to: Arches, Hahnemuhle, Khadi, and Canson. I’ve been hearing good things about Fabriano and Strathmore too but I have to wait for my shipment to arrive so I can try them out. The red, yellow, and blue paint I used for the comparison shot above are Shinhan PWC Permanent Red, Cadmium Yellow Deep, and Peacock Blue (from ArtWhale).

All of the above are acid-free and, save for Canson Montval Torchon which uses 100% cellulose, are fine artist quality papers made of natural fibers like cotton rag and bamboo in Hahnemuhle Bamboo Mixed Media Board’s case. Below are some notes:

Arches Cold-Pressed Cotton Watercolor Paper, 300 gsm (available at NBS and some Fully Booked branches though I got mine from Amazon.com)

I prefer cold-pressed to hot-pressed watercolor papers because I love the rough texture which IMHO lends an organic feel. Arches 100% cotton paper has a nicely coarse “tooth” that seems to absorb pigments easily which allows colors to remain vibrant and intense. I’m also able to paint big juicy washes and draw fine details with minimal buckling, even when I don’t stretch the paper (which I really usually don’t, being lazy). At 300 gsm, it’s also thick enough to handle re-wetting with no visible damage when I make mistakes. 😛

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Hahnemuhle Mould-Made Watercolor Paper (Matte), 200 gsm (available at Deovir Arts)

Arnold introduced me to this paper so it was the first “fine art” paper I ever used. (I’m a bit embarrassed to admit that all of my watercolor work from years ago were done on yellow-backed illustration boards and sketch pads). Because of that, this has become my “benchmark” paper. It’s awesome for wet-on-wet painting (the paper drinks up the water & pigments without diminishing color vibrancy) and as you can see above, I can also do crisp-edged drawings on it with no problems. At 200 gsm, I avoid painting large washes though it may be possible if stretched beforehand. Mistakes are also easy to re-wet and “erase,” making it an ideal choice for beginners. It’s very economical to buy big sheets of these and tear them down to a more manageable size. The deckle edge is a nice touch and it’s inspired me to keep the torn edges when I tear it up into smaller pieces for a raw handmade look. 🙂

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Hahnemuhle Mould-Made Watercolor Paper (Rough), 300 gsm (available at Deovir Arts)

This one comes in block form and has a rougher, slightly raised and woven texture compared to the matt variant. A block is very convenient since you can immediately apply large washes with no need for stretching. I found the weave-like texture off-putting at first since I was already used to the fine-grained fibrous texture of Hahnemuhle’s matt paper but after using this for a while. I learned to like it as well. It appears that the pigments sink and “sit” in the grooves and so deep, rich colors are preserved.

Khadi Handmade Paper 320 gsm, circle (above) and A5 (below) — (available at ArtWhale)

At 329 gsm, this paper handmade in India is thicker than all the other natural-fiber papers I’ve tried and because it’s made of long-fiber cotton rag (upcycled t-shirt cuttings, anyone?), it seems to be more absorbent than the other papers. The painting above was done on the circle variant (which reminds me of pita bread 😉 ) months ago using ShinHan Korean Colors but because the pigments were fully absorbed by the paper, it looks as if it was painted just yesterday. Also, as you can see almost the entire surface is covered in watercolor but at 320 gsm, the paper didn’t buckle much and actually stiffened a bit once the paint dried — possibly because the rag combined with the pigments.

The A5 variant (below) has a slightly finer grain. Since my first artwork is almost opaque, I tried to see how the paper react to a transparent wet-on-wet technique and it performed beyond my expectations. 🙂 The paper was able to soak in a lot of water and it never once buckled. Also, just look at how rich the colors stayed even after the paint dried (I used ShinHan PWC paints for the test below). The A5 size is perfect for portraits too and the deckle edges add a beautiful handmade touch.

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Hahnemuhle Bamboo Mixed Media Board 265 gsm (available at Deovir Arts)

This is an all-in-one artist-grade paper made from 90% bamboo fibers and 10% rag which can be used with watercolour, gouache, acrylics, colored pencils, chalk and oil pastel, stamp pad inks, etc. It comes in sheets at Deovir (for around P118 per 19″ x 25″ sheet) which is great value since you can cut it up into smaller pieces and it can handle almost any media. The surface is smooth and watercolor glides on it with ease. I like using this paper with the wet-on-dry watercolor technique since colors seems to maintain brilliancy that way.

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Canson Montval Torchon Watercolor Paper, 270 gsm (available at NBS and Fully Booked)

Among relatively inexpensive student-grade papers, this is the closest I’ve found that can mimic the behavior of premium watercolor paper. Made from archival cellulose, the texture is similar to that of Hahnemuhle Bamboo’s — smooth but grainy enough to absorb paint and give paintings a “watercolory” look, meaning it won’t look like the paint is just sitting on top of the paper. At 270 gsm it’s not prone to much buckling unless you’re doing heavy-duty washes. Remember though that this isn’t fine art paper and drawings might eventually fade so make sure to use this only when you will scan and digitize your work.

I would love to know what brands and kinds of paper you like using. Please do share in the comments section. 🙂

See also:

• My watercolors, brushes, and other painting tools
• My watercolors, brushes, and painting tools (Part 2)

After a year of practicing watercolors almost non-stop, I’ve decided that I’m now ready to hold my own watercolor workshop. I’ve thought about it for months — some generous people have already offered their establishments as venues — but I didn’t want to commit until I was 100% ready. But then I got such a high from teaching the shrink art workshop and from giving a talk to young creative ICA girls last year that something inside me clicked and said “ok, now na.”

Since Mansy of Hey Kessy has been very supportive of me & my art journey, I wanted to hold my first watercolor workshop with them. 🙂

You can sign up for a slot here.

In this class I’ll be teaching you how to paint simple and loosely expressive watercolor portraits from live or photo references. Don’t worry, even if you have never drawn a face you will learn the basics. We also won’t make anything too involved or “overworked” since I want to highlight the spontaneous quality of the medium. (And to be honest, I can appreciate them but I’m not a big fan of hyper-realistic paintings because if I wanted “realistic” I’ll just use a camera. ;))

The fee is inclusive of snacks & a workshop kit consisting of a zine, a 12-tube watercolor set, a 3-pc round brush set, watercolor paper sheets, a mixing plate, a pencil and an eraser.

Here are some of my sample practive work. Can you tell that I’m both nervous and excited?

Spent the last few hours getting acquainted with Lefranc & Bourgeois Louvre watercolors, a French-made student-grade paint just a bit over the price range of Prang (the 12-tube set is P290) but obviously more intensely pigmented. I think it’s a great starter choice for portrait practice. ? Incidentally, my workshop details are now up over at @heykessy website ? http://workshops.heykessy.com/watercolor-portrait-painting

A photo posted by Cynthia Bauzon-Arre (@arncyn) on Jan 17, 2016 at 6:25am PST

Hope to see you then though if you can’t make it on Feb. 20, I promise there’ll be more soon. I’ll announce when the dates are final.

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Update on our coloring books: they are now available at select Powerbooks and NBS branches in Metro Manila, Hey Kessy in Katipunan (Flutterby only), and Laruan Atbp, in Maginhawa St. QC along with Arnold’s graphic novels and Nautilus Comics / Chamber Shell Publishing books.

Some local award winning comics brought to us by Arnold Arre and Nautilus Comics. #laruanatbp #laruanph

A photo posted by Laruan Atbp. Cafe (@laruanph) on Dec 9, 2015 at 4:21am PST

You can also buy them directly from our publisher at Chamber Shell, via orders@nautiluscomics.net, or by clicking the button on the sidebar — >

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Happy 2016! Sorry, I’ve been a little remiss in updating these past few weeks… BUT! If you’d like some bite-size news, I recently reactivated my Twitter so you can peek in there every now and then if you like. 🙂

Today I finally got around to populating my online store with my latest art prints (yay!)

A photo posted by Cynthia Bauzon-Arre (@arncyn) on Nov 27, 2015 at 12:37am PST

(Some of the items in the photo above like the bookmarks and Pampanga parol gift tags will only be available for now at the BGC Art Mart on my second weekend this Sunday, December 6. And as always you can avail of them at special bazaar rates at the event. 😉 )

This new set of watercolor artworks are quite significant to me because through them, I got to relive and pay tribute to some of my favorite works of art (and people). The first two are homages to Philippine indie films “Ang Nawawala” by Marie Jamora and “Rakenrol” by Quark Henares. I’ve been a big sis to filmmakers Marie and Quark for about 18 years now (I met them when they were still in school!) and it makes me proud to witness all that they’ve achieved. Of course it was a no-brainer for me to select scenes from their films to draw for my first couple of tribute paintings.

“Ang Nawawala”

“Rakenrol”

The next set are tributes to some of my favorite music by the Eraserheads, namely “Ligaya” and “Ang Huling El Bimbo.” I just had to set “Ligaya” in the UP Sunken Garden since that was a big part of my U.P. life. And incidentally, it was in UP Diliman where I first met the band members before they were even known as the Eheads.

“Ligaya”

“Ang Huling El Bimbo”

Making the last painting in this series was perhaps the most nostalgic for me because it was a re-imagination of “Lightyears” (from the album and storybook “Fruitcake”) which I illustrated in 1996. It was like seeing the same scene, now in color, through older, more experienced eyes. 😀

A photo posted by Cynthia Bauzon-Arre (@arncyn) on Nov 24, 2015 at 6:09am PST

“Lightyears 2015”
In the new version, I imagined an older Frannie Wei back in the real world. She could be married and has kids by now but every Christmas eve she would still climb up on the rooftop and reminisce about her childhood adventures in the land of Fruitcake . Also, that may or may not be Shadow behind her anymore… but who knows?

All prints are available at my online store and directly through me at my pop-ups. 🙂

Endless thanks to Marie Jamora, Quark Henares, Ely Buendia, Raymund Marasigan. Buddy Zabala, and Marcus Adoro for allowing me to create tribute art and sell them as limited edition pieces.. <3

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Also! If you’ve been following on Instagram (or if we’re Facebook pals) you probably remember my “Literary Creatures Quotes” series. All of them are now available as postcards prints and on iPhone and Samsung phone cases courtesy of The Diff. 🙂

The phone cases feature hip animals reading books accompanied by quotes from Leo Tolstoy, Dr. Seuss, and L. Frank Baum. They’d be perfect Christmas gifts for your book-loving loved ones, yes? There;s also a bonus sleeping orange kitty doodle design on one of the phones. Shop my collection right here and also check out the awesome designs by other local artists!