Hot Press vs Cold Press
In my watercolor journey, I have tried out many different products, including paint, paper, and brushes, just to mention a few. I was not content with what I was using or how my art was turning out, so I took several weeks away from painting at all. I did not know what I wanted to paint and was not in the mood.
Your mind has to be in the right place. Creative thoughts come easily when your mind thinks smoothly. So, I went in search of different Artists and teachers and happened upon Kristine Rapohina's Art. Her technique is refreshing and new to me, and she uses Hot-Pressed paper.
For several weeks now, I have been watching her tutorials and lessons, searching for the reasons she has made the choices she has with her papers. I also decided to order some of her art products, her pallet of paints (like I needed more paints), sketchbook, water mixing notebook, paper, brushes, and the normal items again to see what the difference was between what I had been using and what she was using. What a world of difference. I could see the difference between cold press and hot press paper, I had just never really tried the hot press before. With her realistic technique, the result on both papers is astounding! I took a small flower and laid it out on a cold press and hot press. I wanted to do them both to compare and also used her paint on both, along with her brushes, size 4 find pointed round and size 7 synthetic round. I have not mastered her technique but have a good handle on it, so I started my journey. The difference between the papers is like night and day.
I had always heard that hot press was more difficult to paint on. I don’t see it as difficult, but it is different. Her technique in painting is to paint transparently, slowly, and with very light layers. She has said that she has added 20+ layers of one color to a flower when she is working. On cold press, this is hard to do because of the texture of the paper among other things. She also begins wet on wet, by smoothing a small amount of water inside her area that is being painted before putting paint down. Then the paint comes mostly at the darkest area first, and with just enough water there to move the paint around with the 4 fine-tip brushes, you get fantastic coverage while staying within your boundaries. Then add paint as you need to around the edges etc, allowing for drying time between layers.
I was amazed at the difference in the look and feel of the paper, the texture, and the intensity of the color. Yes, the paint looks brighter on hot press than it does on cold press! I would have never thought that it would be that way but it is! I took a small piece of HP paper and CP Paper and did squares, triangles, and circles and started with light loose layers so that I could see the difference between the brands with the layers. I worked on one sample with 10 layers of paint in a triangle. The HP was smooth, bright, and vibrant and I could have kept going with layers. The CP was not as smooth due to the texture of the paper, it was harder to blend on and take the sharp edges away, and it was not as bright and vibrant. I used Perm Rose watercolor and would have thought that both papers would look the same… but they didn’t.
I am still pretty new at blogging so I have not figured out how to get images in my posts to show you the difference. When I get that figured out I will.
But I can tell you that I am going to start using hot press paper now for my compositions, whether it be just a painting, a card, or whatever it might be. I have also been studying more botanical items vs animal fur and such. I am still interested in animals, birds, foxes, etc but I am drawn to realistic botanical items such as acorns, flowers, leaves, and mushrooms. These items are so unique and also such a challenge. It is all just part of the journey with watercolor and hopefully one day I will settle on something that I paint that I feel like delving into much deeper.
All artists want to make a mark in this world with their art. If you say no, you are not being honest, and it is very difficult to achieve when you are self-taught. I don’t go to any art school, I have just learned offline via social media, so mastering something takes a little longer, because you travel around the barn to get to the house and then around the house back to the barn so to speak. There is so much to learn that your mind is so busy thinking, and it is hard for me to calm my mind down.
That is why lately I have just been taking it really slow, and really watching videos and tutorials, trying to dig down to a technique that I feel I am good at. There are so many!
When I first started learning to use watercolor, I was following Louise DeMasi. I followed her about a year, also enjoying getting to know some of the other people that were taking her lessons via Discord. Things kinda went sideways as some things happened as they do when people interact on social media. Without going into any details, I don’t follow her any longer. Not my choice, The reason I bring this up is because she teaches quite a few of the same techniques, they just never dawned on me as strongly as they have now. Can’t tell you why, and it doesn’t really matter. What matters learning and mastering those techniques.
It just goes to show you that you can and will learn different things from different people, some will click and some will not, or you will look back and realize it was staring you in the face from the beginning, it just took till now to figure it out .. .. .. ..
