Watercolor Gift

ISBN 8170207195 - Tom Lynch’s Secrets of Watercolor Painting on Watercolor Canvas DVD
ISBN 8170203485 - Fredrix Acid Free Watercolor Canvas (sheets)
ISBN 8170205532 - Fredrix Archival Watercolor Canvas (stretched)

I have not painted on watercolor canvas at all yet - I bought a tablet of watercolor canvas sheets as well as one stretched watercolor canvas - I didn’t happen to see any of the watercolor panels or I would have bought one of those to try also. I bought the video because I wanted to have an idea of what another artist had to say and how they were using it. I watched the video this morning on my computer. The video on my computer was rather jerky, tended to blur a bit sometimes and was a bit distracting from the material covered. I then played it on my Playstation 3 which is also a DVD player hooked up to the TV - same issue - this is a technical filming issue!

I was impressed so far with how Tom Lynch is using the watercolor canvas and the tips and techniques he shared. One of the most important to me was that you use a juicier beginning and a softer second layer. The reason to lay down more color in the beginning is that it is not paper - paper pulls the color off the brush and the canvas does not and there may well be more beading depending on how you paint. The lifting techniques are incredible, very exciting and you can almost, if not entirely, get back to the white of the canvas.

Since I started out as an oil painter working with stretched canvas painting wet-on-wet, I am expecting to like it after watching the video. The colors are supposed to be brighter and you do not have to frame them but you do have to use an acrylic sealer on them (3 coats). I didn’t know that so I have not bought any yet - the sealer does not have to be applied the minute you finish a painting though - he said he generally waits a week or so in case he may want to make changes to a finished painting (it is always a good idea to let a painting sit and not even look at it for awhile so that you come back to it with a fresh eye - you can then see things that maybe are not quite right that you couldn’t see during the initial painting stage). There is a Tom Lynch Tips & Techniques brochure packaged with my canvas sheets and the stretched canvas.

I opened the pad package and felt the sheets - they are thin and lightweight as I expected - they WILL buckle when painting so the brochure recommends stapling to Gatorboard® or taping to a solid surface - I am used to painting on paper that buckles since I do not stretch my paper so my plan is to use them as is on a flat surface (my drawing table - it can be raised but I generally use it flat for watercolor painting.) I plan to start my first painting on the watercolor canvas sheets using watercolor pencils.

Do I plan to give up painting on watercolor paper to paint only on watercolor canvas? NO - I have plans for different projects I want to do on the watercolor canvas sheets than what I want to paint on the watercolor stretched watercolor canvas and I like how many things turn out on watercolor paper - there is room in my art for both surfaces. I think the watercolor canvas rolls may be just what I was wanting though for a large wall mural project.

Fredrix has a 10 minute YouTube video online you can see at http://www.fredrixartistcanvas.com/ - it is also on the DVD. They also have a Tips & Techniques PDF brochure - it is not the same one that is packaged with the products I bought. There is also an audio visual Flash presentation that is different from the Tom Lynch video. Good information.

On a scale of 1-10 - I rate the DVD content by Tom Lynch as a 10.

Technical issues - from a filming point of view - I give the videographer/editor or whoever was responsible for the final DVD movie a 5 … they did not do a good job in my opinion but Tom Lynch did a good job of helping me be ready for painting on watercolor canvas.

Last fall I bought two Winsor & Newton Bristol Water Colour Sketching Easels on clearance from the local Hobby Lobby for a really good price - 2 for half the full price of 1. I hadn’t used either much until today. It is light & portable and would be easy to carry around in the case for plein air painting.

My drawing board (large - 22″ by something - bigger than my 18″ x 24″ watercolor paper) does not fit into it stably - perhaps it is me - it does not seem overly stable to me so I will have to hold onto it and hope it does not fly out since it is just sitting in there and not held in there. I probably will use both more for display of finished artwork when I start going to arts & crafts fairs or shows, hopefully next year. It may be a nice idea though for taking my sketching into the living room while watching painting DVD’s though - my drawing table is not portable for doing that at all and I do not want to paint on the wood dining room table - I could ruin it quite easily quite fast. After moving, I no longer have the plastic patio table for artwork close to the TV.

Light Bulb Moment!

I can use the computer here in the office to watch those How To Dvd’s while painting - I hadn’t thought about that until just now - I am not used to having a DVD Player in the computer - the old one only had a CD Player. The laptop has one too so I could watch them at work during lunch too if I wanted to do so.

Studio Easel Usage?

I do not think these will be good studio easels though at all - they do not hold the watercolor blocks or the drawing board in a stable position for actual watercolor painting - I can probably use them for sketching while holding onto it at a guess. I will try painting in watercolor using it later today - after my grandson arrives and is settled in front of the TV with his video games.