Home Forums Explore Media Drawing and Sketching Bristol Board – Help!!

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  • #983277
    sagar
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        I’ve seen quite a few artists’ work here in WC who uses Bristol Board and the rich shiny effect they’ve captured.

        I would appreciate if anyone could let me know the specs of a bristol that i could buy and try.

        Went to Curry’s store to check bristol, but with limited knowledge, i really couldn’t decide what to buy. And the bristol board they had available was 20×22″ size, 4ply. Does the bristol board comes as a individual sheet or like a notebook with 20 or 40 sheets? And what impact does the 2 or 4 ply have on a drawing?

        I want to get the effect as Eclipse and Imaginee gets on a portrait and i know they use bristol, or atleast i guess so. I have the patience to work but not the knowledge on the materials…..:(

        Thanks for all your help and advices.

        :)

        #1009304
        Imaginee
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            Hi sagar, I only recently found out about Bristol, I went to the only art/craft store i could fine and there it was ‘Bristol’, they had boards and they had pads with 20 sheets in different sizes. I decided to buy the Bienfang bristol smooth paper, 148 lb, 20 sheets 11″ x 14″. So far this is all I have been using and I love it! I do know there are many different kinds of Bristol. I hope some of our more experienced artists reply here to share in their knowledge of Bristol.
            BTW, thank you very much for placing me in the same category as Eclipse, you’re WAY to kind….I only hope to one day get half as good as the great master!

            ~Linda:)

            #1009296

            Hi Sagar. Sometimes I think Curry’s is my second home :o , And the bristol that I use is in the pads, Strathmore bristol “smooth”, 100lb. It comes in different sizes. I used this exclusively for quite a while, but recently I have been giving hot press watercolor paper a try (from Curry’s) and it works very well. I accidently bought the “vellum” bristol pad once, and didn’t like it very much, can’t get as smooth a finish. Hope some of this info is helpful. Also, Loomis and Toles would have this stuff as well. Good luck :)

            Shelly

            #1009299
            Jester7
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                Hey,

                I use bristol all the time… love it… usually strathmore 300 or 400 2 ply. I don’t know Curry’s but it sounds like a cool place… we have Pearl arts which is a great store. You can get 2,3, 4 ply… giant sheets or in pads. I use strathmore pads usually, but also use hot press watercolor paper (Arches blocks) like Shelly.

                Imaginee is very humble… but an awesome artist… also Cyrille may be helpful here if he’s around.? :)

                Like is a link to cheapjoes to get an idea of pricing, etc. …

                http://www.cheapjoescatalog.com/catalog/products.asp?id=1121&pid=37&ppid=4

                Cheers,
                J

                Most men pursue pleasure with such breathless haste that they hurry past it.
                Soren Kierkegaard

                #1009300
                sagar
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                    Thanks Linda, Erin and Jester7 for your advice.

                    Linda, you’re a great artist to me, without a doubt. I really admire the way you draw portraits particularly shiny hair…….:) I’m yet to try.

                    Erin, I too like Curry’s but, as a matter of fact, i haven’t been to any other art suppliers….:) I posted this thread and went to curry’s and bought strathmore bristol vellum, 20 sheets, 11×14 100lb, 300 series……:( Maybe i should’ve seen the reply to this thread and then gone shopping. I’ll probably try to exchance vellum and get ‘smooth’ if its available, as i dont remember seeing there.

                    Jester7, Thanks a lot for your link. BTW, I did see your WIP of Ciarrai. You’re doing great. Will check that thread soon.

                    Thanks and have a good day!

                    #1009298
                    Zarathustra
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                        I’ve only found one outlet in the UK so far. I bought an A3 pad of Bristol Graphic by Canson. 250g/m2. 20 sheets in a pad, from http://www.heatoncooper.co.uk

                        #1009297

                        I use Canson Bristol 2ply and it comes in 20 sheet tablets. Usually between 9 and 10 dollars. It works great for mechanical pencils. I use it SPECIFICALLY because I can use chamois on my skin tones and because there is no tooth, it gets as smooth and shiny as glass…

                        Ahhh… art is such a tactile “sport”. LOL!

                        Jodie

                        It is good to have an end to journey towards, but in the end all that matters is the journey

                        See more of my work at:
                        https://www.facebook.com/pages/Artis...1321393?ref=hl

                        #1009303
                        Petdevils
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                            i have a question… i have canson smooth and gonna get strathmore soon but wondering everyone says they want it for it’s shiny quality…. if i sprayed my finished drawing with workable mat fixative.. do u think that’d be ruining the effect…. eg shoudl i go get some gloss or something? thanks

                            #1009302
                            MonicaB
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                                PD, I think they probably mean more “smooth” or softly blended than shiny. Imaginee does great shiny hair but that’s probably more technique than paper. :D I like the matte fixative, personally.

                                #1009301

                                I have Canson Bristol that I picked up because I heard of others working on Bristol. It didn’t work well for me because I was primarily using colored pencil. I think I’ll give it a try with graphite.

                                I think I should move to England and ope a huge Art Supply store! Sounds like the supplies available over there are pretty limited! :p

                                Julie

                                http://julies_art0.tripod.com/juliesartwork

                                #1009309
                                JanetteBC
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                                    I’ve always preferred the vellium bristol board for the tooth. Was glad to hear how the smooth was used for the shiny fx like on the Halle Berry wearing the hat. Once again I am amazed by the photo realism that some of the artist here get, yes talking about imaginee!!!

                                    http://jalang.4t.com/[/URL]

                                    Life is not measured by the number of breaths we take
                                    but by
                                    the moments that take our breath away.
                                    #1009308
                                    Holly_Marie
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                                        I recently bought some Bristol & LOVE it! I got the 300 series, SMOOOOOTH! It was like 20 sheets in a pad for $13 I think.

                                        "Livin' life.. lovin' livin'!"

                                        #1009306
                                        Cassiepeia
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                                            I also just recently started using Bristol, mines Windsor & Newton 260gsm 2ply A4 size and it came in a 20 sheet pad for $14. It’s lovely and smooth, I love it, but it does get a bit frustrating because you have to be extra careful not to smudge anything… probably due to the little or no tooth.

                                            Julie… if you want to open up an art supply store, come to Australia! LOL It’s such a pain to find things down here (at least where I am).

                                            Cass. :cat:


                                            #1009305
                                            indiana_jim
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                                                i had the same problem as cassie with bristol smooth,mine was by strathmore,but..for scanning you cant beat bristol smooths brightness,..or its ability to clean up very nice.,i almost always use strathmore 400 series,but if you guys like bristol smooth
                                                and want something with just a tiny bit more tooth,..they make a bristol vellum paper wich is just as thick,…if it seems like too much tooth…the back side of it IMHO,..seems like an inbetween
                                                from bristol smooth and vellum…..can you believe a year and 1/2 ago i didnt even think the paper mattered :D

                                                #1009307
                                                Cassiepeia
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                                                    I know what you mean Jim, at the beginning of the year when I first started my art class, my teacher handed around these paper samples for us to look at and I was so bored with it.. think ‘geezuz it’s just paper’. I guess I thought it was talent on it’s own, that was needed to turn out a great picture. The kind of paper used never occured to me. Now I can’t wait to get my hands on any and every kind of paper I can to experiment with. I’m loving charcoal paper at the moment too.

                                                    Cass. :cat:


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