Home Forums Explore Media Watercolor The Learning Zone Please rate my Original Workflow Idea for Watercolor and Stretching Routine

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  • #484854
    jin098
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        Hello all!

        So Im thinking stretching my watercolor paper but I also want to transfer an underdrawing to it, via light under a glass table

        I’ve come up with a workflow and would like your input on it.

        ——————————————————————–

        The current dilemna is that I’m afraid the stretching of the paper will alter the underdrawing, if I do the underdrawing pre-stretched

        (And if I wait to do underdrawing after stretching….well once Im on the stretching board, its not see through so I cant transfer the underdrawing with light under glass table)

        So I’m thinking of doing the workflow below, please let me know if the stretching still works

        —————————————————————
        Workflow….
        *
        Stretch it using this method
        https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9c6OWKyYNKI
        *
        Leave to dry
        *
        Remove the gum tape from the sides
        *
        Then do underdrawing with light under a glass table
        *
        And then retape it onto a foam board and start watercolor painting

        Will this make a difference to the stretch achieved once I start painting?

        I’m assuming that the stretched paper can continue to remain stretched when dry and only shrinks when wet = safe to remove and do underdrawing
        So if I only apply the watercolor when I retape it onto the board, then the stretch should be unaffected correct?

        ———————————————————————————

        #956231
        lorianikins
        Default

            Unless you’re using a water-soluble pencil, I don’t think the drawing would be affected by stretching, so I don’t think the pre-stretching is necessary. But if you do follow the process you’ve proposed, it might be best to stretch the paper again when attaching it to the foam board.

            #956233
            virgil carter
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                Why do you want to stretch the paper? If it’s 140 pound or heavier it doesn’t need to be stretched.

                Sling paint,
                Virgil

                Sling paint,
                Virgil Carter
                http://www.virgilcarterfineart.com/

                #956232
                mgarcia51
                Default

                    I also stretch my paper and I also own a lightbox. And have had the same workflow issues.

                    If you are absolutely certain of your graphite drawing, do it first on the lightbox. However, when you soak the paper for stretching, the water will set the graphite lines. The lines will be unalterable if you change your mind about your drawing. Which may or not may not matter depending on how dark your pigments are.

                    If you stretch it first, then release the paper for the lightbox drawing, it’s as if you never stretched in the first place. That is, very wet washes will still buckle the paper. But if you are painting fairly dry, the paper will not buckle. But then why stretch it in the first place.

                    I used to have the same impression: that once stretched, the paper would remain flat. But to remain flat, it has to remain secured while painting.

                    This is heavily dependent on the weight of the paper, how wet you apply your initial washes, and whether you’re letting it dry inbetween stages for glazing.

                    Some people never stretch. There are many (searchable) threads here on whether to stretch or not.

                    Since I almost always stretch my paper (up to 300#, but usually 200#), and I often start with a sketch or simply an idea, my lightbox has not seen a lot of use.

                    Hope this helps.

                    Maria

                    #956236
                    oldey
                    Default

                        I use a water soluble pencil to draw and do not stretch. I do tape or clip to gatorboard when painting. The tape is only to make a clean edge.

                        #956234
                        star fisher
                        Default

                            My experience is that paper expands when wet and then contracts as it dries, even if stapled to a board. I have had drying paper pull the staples out and once the paper tore itself as it shrunk.
                            Because of that, stretching the paper then removing the paper from the board would likely not do what you want.

                            I have wet paper that has a drawing on it. By using a soft brush to wet the paper, the graphite of the pencil lines has not been dislodged – except for a little. You could draw your sketch then wet and stretch the paper. Or you could choose another method of stretching. I new use big bulldog clips to hold the paper to the board. As the paper expands while I paint, I release and reattach the clips to tighten the paper. It is not the perfect way to prevent warping of the wet paper, but it works well enough.

                            #956235

                            For me, stretching paper is one more task that I’m happy to get out of having to do. In some instances perhaps it’s useful, and I certainly do sympathize with people who wish to engage in the practice. I also understand why people used to engage in it. In fact, for a long time prior to when I began to get involved in watercolor painting on paper, it could really have been considered “required” or “necessary” to stretch the paper carefully, pre-wetting it, mounting it in some manner with tape or staples or both or neither, etc. etc.. Paper manufacture dictated that it be done, as I understand the history of watercolor papers to have developed.

                            But I don’t get why people continue to do it. I now view that particular era of pre-mounting and stretching as a fumbling and clumsy period when many practical considerations could effectively hinder a beginner artist from ever really engaging in the experimentation and low-stakes inconsequential play required to get the learning process under way. I’m glad that heavier papers exist which don’t (generally) require wetting, and I’m doing what I can to simply get around the process rather than to master it or even to replace it with alternative procedures. What are the current advantages to pre-wetting and / or stretching? I ask genuinely because I want to know, given the above context I’ve written here, and not because I’m being obstreperous or resistant (at least, not deliberately).

                            For me, there’s one rather clear piece of evidence indicating that passable and “real” watercolor paintings on paper can be made without any gesture at all toward the old practice of stretching. That evidence is the fact that watercolor paper JOURNALS exist, and are used extensively and quite successfully by highly talented artists. As long as you leave the pages of paper bound into the journal, then, by definition as based on the plain old logistics of the physical object, you simply cannot stretch the page before painting on it. Thus, if stretching were indeed required for that kind of paper, then the entire journal could not be used for its intended purpose, and no manufacturer with any degree of ethics would make and sell watercolor paper journals as they are currently made and sold. Nobody could use them, they would be obvious cheats which had to be either discarded or torn apart merely for basic levels of use, and only the real underhanded rip-off products would exist on the market. Instead, though, such reputable manufacturers as Bee, Arches, Strathmore, Canson, Fluid, Hannemuhle, Moleskine, Rhodia, and plenty of others, create bound booklets consisting of multiple pages of watercolor paper, designed to be used without removing the pages from the binding. James Gurney, an excellent water-media artist, is one who makes great use of these things. He assumes their utility and normalcy so greatly, that in his instructional videos he seldom even identifies which brand he’s using. He just refers to this or that one as “a watercolor journal” and blithely paints away all over it, as though the notion weren’t particularly novel in the least. Thus, because of the existence of journals like these, and because of their mainstream and almost entirely unremarkable usage among such talented artists, I conclude from such evidence, the paper is surviving quite fine under such usage. Hence, I’m quite convinced that, for watercolor purposes, we do indeed have paper which does not need stretching. At all. Ever. Even if my paper isn’t bound in a journal when I use it, it is of the same manufacture as that which could have been so bound. So, I don’t stretch.

                            I’m glad not to. So, when I ask, why do people do it, I’m genuinely trying to understand, not denigrate. I don’t want to engage in a debate about whether they OUGHT to or not (although, I suppose I must concede, I have already presented my side of that debate in this post, so, I will demur and listen if someone wishes to present his or her alternate view). I would recommend you need not stretch, that much is clear. Can you explain to me why I might need to? Certain circumstances, various good reasons, particular materials that require it?

                            -----
                            Certified Closet Management Engineer, Slung Watercolor Society of America

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