Home | Hobbies | Arts And Crafts

Learn To Paint - Stretching Your Watercolor Paper Easily

By: John Higgins

Read More About Arts and Crafts

Learn to paint the right way by reading this article. It is very tempting to get right on with the process of creating your next masterpiece but the truth is that it is well worth spending some time stretching your watercolor paper. The problem is that paper of less than 260 lb (356 gsm) needs to be stretched before you use it otherwise it will simply warp if you do not do so. The good news is that it is a pretty straightforward process and one you can do yourself. Read the rest of this article to learn how to do it properly.

You will need only a few things to get started. They are:

* A couple of sponges
* Some watercolor paper
* A drawing board
* Gummed brown paper tape

Remember, if you want to learn to paint you need to know how to do this procedure. Here are the steps to stretching your paper:

Step 1. Take four strips of gummed brown tape, that is one for each edge of the paper, and cut them slightly longer than the sides to which they will be attached. Put them all to one side for the moment once you have cut them.

Step 2. Soak the sheet of paper in cold water. Do this for about two minutes and allow the fibers in the paper to expand. This prepares the paper for the stretch.

Step 3. Take the sheet of paper and lift it. Very gently shake off the excess water from it and then place it upon the drawing board. The board must be lying completely flat.

Step 4. Take a clean sponge and smooth out the paper. You can try using your fingers, if you wish, but make absolutely certain that they are clean and have no grease on them. You must get the paper perfectly flat and smoothed at this stage in order for it to be smooth once it is dry. Still want to learn to paint? Read the next tip for some more help.

Step 5. Take one of the strips of gummed paper tape and moisten it. Stick it along one edge of the paper. Make sure that it is firmly attached. You want to stick the tape so that two-thirds of the tape is on the board and that one third is on the paper. This technique ensures that the paper is fastened soundly to the board and that it will not be pulled off the board as it dries.

Step 6. Work your way around all of the other sides of the sheet of paper in the exactly same fashion. Get some more help from the next step as you learn to paint

Step 7. Now leave the paper alone to dry for several hours. It needs to be away from any direct heat source. The fibers in the paper contract as the water evaporates leaving the sheet of watercolor paper smooth and flat.

Step 8. Make sure that you keep the drawing board flat while the paper dries. The water will drain to one or other edge if you do not and the paper will drive unevenly. This will lead to an unsatisfactory result for you.

Step 9. The paper will stay flat when you use it. You might think that this is not the case because you are going to make moisten it again when you paint on to it. However, the paper will never again be as damp as it was in step 2 so it will actually stay nice and flat for you.

There are some more tips to bear in mind as you learn to paint:

Avoid using hot water to soak your watercolor paper. This is because it could remove the sizing from the paper. Do not soak it for too long, either, for the same reason. Sizing is always added to watercolor paper to reduce its absorbency so you want it to stay there.

Try to use a different color sponge for smoothing the piece of paper and moistening the gummed tape. That way you will not run the risk of getting gum on your sheet of watercolor paper.

An alternative method is to staple the paper down onto the board if you do not wish to use gummed brown tape. You should remember this as you learn to paint. It will serve you well.

Article Source: http://depositarticles.com/

Are you tired of trying to find a way to learn Watercolor Painting? Do you want to learn to paint without expensive coaching? Find out how you can learn to Watercolor Paint quickly and easily at Watercolor Techniques

Please Rate this Article

 

Not yet Rated

Click the XML Icon Above to Receive Arts and Crafts Articles Via RSS!
Additional Articles From - Home | Hobbies | Arts And Crafts
Sign Up for a free account.
Our other websites
All about SEO
Beauty Tips Forum
Submit Articles
Member Login
Link Us
Submission Guidelines
Ezine Notifications
Article RSS Feeds
Sitemap
New Stuff
About Us
Developer
Good shopping portal
Link to Us
Contact Us
Privacy Policy
Terms of Service

counter easy hit

Powered by Article Dashboard