The finished Painting is available at alpayefe.com/store 🔥 When painting this It didn’t cross my mind that people might not know what I’m painting so I didn’t mention it, but I think 50% of the people watching have no idea what/who I painted here 😂🥲
I got my degree in illustration in the 1980s. The majority of our illustrations were on illustration board. During my time in college, I went to a seminar with Drew Struzan. He used illustration board as well, but he used other supports as well. He even painted on a hollow core door for Harry and the Hendersons!
I was not expecting to see a painting of Captain Hook in my feed today, who while I appreciate the information about the painting surface and it's versatility, that made my day. I grew up with that movie.
He added acrylic plaster, everything became canvas. You define the texture with the amount of acrylic plaster. What remains below only changes the flexibility and durability. I personally think that nautical canvas and acrylic plaster makes for an immortal canvas hahaha
I started painting in oil and acrylic on paper supports a little over five years ago, when I started teaching. Using paper started as a necessity to save on the weight and mass. I don't teach in one classroom, and I don't have an office, so I needed to carry my work supplies around. Boy, did I fall in love with it quickly! Even on cheap mix media paper with one slap of gesso, I love the feel of my brushes and knives going over the surface. I'll defiantly try your prep process!
Wow - You've just taken me back to being a 15 year old and stretching the heaviest paper I could buy over a large composite board. My mother would shout at me for making a mess as I commandeered the bathroom to prepare the paper. Good days and I still do this when I want to get back to having fun rather than trying to be 'serious' about what I doing.
Oil on watercolor paper is amazing! I use 140lb/300 GSM paper straight from a spiral bound pad, no prep and it doesn't warp or peel or shred. Though my first few layers are thin washes, more like watercolor and then gets thicker as the layers are added. I loved to draw on Bristol board
We can always count on you to bring back old gems of artisty that was used by the greats. The painting of hook looks immaculate! Just.. beautiful 🤌🏽. Loved every minute of this video.
I love painting on watercolour paper for acrylic, most of the time I treat it with gesso but sometimes I just paint right on the paper. It all depends on what I plan on doing with it afterwards. If it’s just an exercise or something in my sketchbook, no gesso, if I want to sit down and paint with intention, gesso. Seeing your painting of Hook was amazing!
I use two quick layers of satin spray-paint on mixed media paper (98 lbs) and it was a GAME CHANGER for this pro oil painter! If I love a painting, I use archival PVA glue to paste it onto a board to help it stay protected from the back from any water or oil paint. And the paper is cheap enough that it helps A LOT with my perfectionism - I just throw it away if I can't make it work and I'm not losing a lot of prep-time, money, etc.
The funny thing is, in every David Finch livestream where he and the guests are painting, the guests recommend watercolor paper, so, some masters are still using it XD
I prepare my paper in a similar manner, but I coat the front and back with a layer of PVA GLUE (Elmer's) before gessoing. I also do that to all my hardwood panels. The PVA creates a moisture barrier that not only keeps moisture out, but the oil from seeping into the surface and breaking it down. I also throw a little bit of pumice into my gesso to give it some tooth.
For 100% archival quality cotton paper is the way to go for oils, aquarelle cellulose paper ends up roting because of the polymerisation of the oils. That said if it's well prepared with multiple layers of PVA/gesso/acrylics any paper will do the job. I like big rolls as they are much cheaper per m² than big sheets.
After watching this, i just went and primed a page of my watercolor paper and am going to try it out and see how i like it! Thanks for the video as i always figured you had to oil paint on canvas or those boards which i absolutely hate!
this year i met a painter who paints on wallpapers. she buys a lightly textured roll and cuts the way she likes. wallpapers are coated with a protection layer so oil doesnt get absorbed that much. i believe sealed paper is a very good surface and resulting work is easy to archive.
Excellent, excellent, wonderful. I've only this week discovered your channel, and your advice, experience, insights are invaluable, my goodness, you have inspired me greatly, thankyou, thankyou.
You're 100% right about the 'tooth' of prepared paper being fantastic for color, blending, and being perfect for both details and more abstract brush strokes. I don't think I'll ever go back to boards (too heavy at large sizes) or canvases (too much texture for details on small paintings). And the other bonuses are starting with a great sketch on actual paper (transferring my sketch being so much easier on the light table instead of having to set up something more elaborate for either canvas or board like a projector or re-drawing the sketch entirely). And being able to include actual watercolor washes or ink splashes in the under-painting before it's been prepped with satin clear-coat spray :))
Ahhh yess, ive done priming my paper, but never got the audacity to paint on it 😢, sadly i still dont know where is life taking me, am i on journey toward something great? Or im a just looping on this infinity mess. Hope everyone get a great journey on their way ❤
I was at ComicCon in Montreal this weekend and I saw Blend Cota and immediately I tought of you! I also speak with him about you, I tell him that his work reminds me of yours. (Since I discovered you before him 😅) Everything you do is incredible, and I like to say with people who don't know your work : "he's like a new Bob Ross"
as an illustrator I am constantly experimenting with paper :D 350gsm is somewhere about a sweet spot - you just need to gesso both sides really. Tape down well. if you get buckle, spray the backside with water and leave under a heavy weight. and you're right of course... its about speed and cost. currently experimenting with watercolour inks down first, then pencil crayon. clear acrylic gesso then over the top with acrylics as a kind of paint over. much faster deeper intensity but still with watercolour glazes and drips and happy accidents. i was working with just watercolour but as its all transparent its not quite as flexible.
These days I’m very into pirates. I just finished watching Black Sails on Netflix (great show btw) and I find the Golden Age of Piracy so fascinating. Thanks for sharing this.
@3:54 And I thought it was, 100% pure cotton Arches form oil paper pads. They are quite good as well! Let me find out! Dropped a like for you! Love the info!
If the watercolour paper is such a heavy gsm, why not just use an illustration board? Smooth or toothed, it's going to give the same result, especially if it's got two or three layers of primer/gesso on it. One board I remember using was Crescent Watercolour board and Crescent cold and hot press boards. I can't remember the weights. I do remember they were very versatile, handling inks, markers and pastels as well as acrylics and gouache. Those segments with Drew Struzan were an added bonus. One of my favourite movie poster artists along with Frank McCarthy, Bob Peak and Richard Amsel (among MANY others!). And HOOK looks great! 👍
Be careful with the spray varnish! If you paint on top of a varnish layer that is soluble in some kind of solvent that you might use later, like the solvent in a final varnish layer, you risk removing your painting during the varnishing phase. This has happened to me before when I used "retouch varnish" to "oil out" dull areas. Consider that if you have something like damar resin as the varnish you put underneath your paint, since damar resin is soluble in turpentine, if you later brush on some more varnish ( often damar resin dissolved in turpentine) to protect the painting, there is a good chance that the turpentine in the final varnish layer will reach down to the damar resin layer beneath your paint and dissolve it, and you'll watch your painting be destroyed. Also, you should obviously only spray such products in a well-ventilated area and preferably with a good mask designed for organic solvent vapors. Over time, that stuff will increase your chances of cancer and also will harm your nervous system.
Have you tried a special paper for oil? It is surprisingly good and nice to paint on it. No primers and preparation are required. I tried this one: Canson Figueras Oil & Acrylic 290gsm paper pad
I use the Canson XL Oil painting paper for anything except a 'serious' painting project. No need to gesso, easy to store and great texture. And affordable. I really like it.
Arches oil paper is fantastic. The best painting surface I have ever used, it is all I use now. I get it imported directly from France in the giant rolls.
This was wonderful as always Alpay! Paint like that and you'll never go back lol! No other surface beats the gentle tug and velvety glide of gessoed paper. Oooooooh Hahnemuhle?! How does it compare to Arches Hot Press?
Frazetta painted on hardboard and Fedrix canvasboard. I don't think people should overthink it. Every surface comes with a downside, but its your job as an artists find conclusions. That is what art is. One bunch of problem solving. And thats how you learn.
The fella from the Painting Lab says to save money when using oils, watercolour paper primed with thinned white glue. Works great, cost of a 9”x11” works out to about $2 instead of $7-8
I’ve been using gesso on watercolor paper for years. Just get thick 100% cotton paper and it is perfect. If I don’t use the paper I am using copper/bronze/brass panels.
I have tons of 140lb watercolor paper as a watercolorist…. I wonder if that’s heavy enough? I personally love paper…. Can’t wait to try an oil painting on paper, I really haven’t tried it! Seeing how I just started oils ….. lol
I mean this with ultra respect but one of my heroes when growing up was Arnoldo Putzu who painted movie posters and Look-In magazine covers when I was growing up as a kid in the UK. I was just fascinated how from paint he created shines, shadows, textures, tones expressions and your paintings are just beautiful and remind me of his style. I just spent hours looking at his paintings. Thank you. Do you sell your paintings?
Beautiful, you make some valid points about painting surfaces. What exactly do you use to prepare the paper? I guess the same principles go for acrylics, too.
I just use Gamblin’s PVA size (like a clear glue) on any paper. Once it dries the oil doesn’t bleed thru. I don’t like gesso on paper, it felt so grainy painting on it.
eserleriniz cok güzel, sunumunuz da dozunda espirili: "Hello Cildriinnn"! Tebrikler ve basarilar dilerim. --Yagli boya icin Suluboya kagidini not ettim:)
I recently attempted a painting on one of those canvas boards (with acrylic) and though it's ok... I did wonder if the canvas was limiting my options a bit in terms of the texture being too prevalent. I will definitely have to try watercolour paper... I'm curious as to whether taking the big step to oils might also help as I suspect acrylic just doesn't give as much "play" with blending colours etc on the canvas? Dare I say Bangarang!
Thought I was a total newbie by using gessoed watercolor paper instead of canvas, primarily because of cost and expediency. Great video: informative and very helpful. But what spray sealer do you use please? Acrylic? Matte?
I love watercolor paper for Acrylic painting but only the cellulose stuff. I use the watercolor sketchbooks all the time. I also like Canson multimedia boards for acrylic paintings too. A little thicker so it feels more substantial. And oddly I hate using cellulose watercolor paper for watercolors. Cotton only for me now. But I don’t like cotton for acrylic. So weird. For small paintings, like 5x7, 6x6 or smaller, I like aqua boards. Just so nice. I hate canvas and canvas paper, etc. Not a fun choice for tiny paintings for me. I like my surfaces flat, a little toothsome and solid.
Fantastic beautiful Captain Hook, Keep drawing in Traditional Art, I want to tell you a joke about Captain Hook: "Do you know how Captain Hook died? He took a bidet with the wrong hand!" I hope you like it. Good Art
Cheap? *watercolorist raises an eye brow* ooooh not arches …. Ok yah you can get it cheaper if you not buying arches :) I like painting on bristle board with acrylics.
Will this work on a scale of 2x3 feet? I’ve been requested to do a Van Gogh replica of those dimensions and am worried it might start to buckle at that size.
