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Beginner's Acrylic Painting - Paper Painting Surfaces - What You Need to Know

Have you ever gone in to buy some paperneed to be stretched before painting.
for painting and been overwhelmed by theIf you don't stretch the paper it will
choice? You would think it would be abuckle when wet making painting
simple thing to buy a sheet of paper,difficult and the paint will dry in the
wouldn't you? Well, it can be if youhollows giving a disappointing result.
know what the different choices mean andStretching paper needs to be done in
how it can affect your finishedadvance and the paper allowed to dry
painting.before you use it. You will need a
Manufacturers have created a whole rangeclean drawing board, some 1½ inch wide
of paper products for the artist. Sogum strip, and water to soak the paper
many choices that unless you know whatin (the bath is handy for this).
some of the terms mean it can be verySoak the paper in the water until it is
confusing.saturated, this will take less than a
When you want your painting to last forminute. Place the paper onto the board
a long time always go for acid-free.and smooth it out from the centre to the
This is the type of paper used inedges.
archives.Cut pieces of gum strip to fit the
The next thing is the surface texture oflength and the width of the paper, plus
the paper, whether you want a finea couple of inches. Dampen the gum
texture or rough. You may be askingstrip and use it to stick the longer
"How do I know? I just want somethingedges of the paper to the board, and
to paint on!"then do the shorter edges. Smooth out
The texture you choose will depend onthe paper and the gum strip and leave it
your style of painting. If you like toto dry naturally and on the horizontal.
have a lot of detail in your paintingsDo not place it near a heater!
you will need a smooth textured paper -If you just want to paint without
in which case you want one that is 'Hotneeding to prepare the paper, there are
Pressed'.pads of ready stretched paper that save
If you use a lot of watercolour (oryou having to do this yourself. These
watercolour style) washes then the paperpads have the paper glued around the
you should choose will be 'Not'. Thatedges and you paint on the top of the
means 'Not hot pressed'. It has a bitpad. Once you've finished the painting
more texture than Hot pressed papers.and it is completely dry, a knife is
If you paint a lot of landscapes and/orinserted at one of the edges and moved
like granulation (which happens when thearound the sides to cut through the glue
colours separate while they dry) youand free the top layer.
will probably like using Cold pressedIt is a good investment to buy good
papers. These have the roughestquality paper. It is much easier to
texture.use, and gives a better result.
Papers are sold in weights. ThisNext time you need to buy paper think
affects the thickness of the paper.about how you like to paint, and it will
Papers that are less than 300-lb orbe much easier to decide on the type of
640gsm (grams per square metre) willpaper to buy.



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