Stretching out the Fun

It had to happen some time. March Break has come to an end. This past week's adventures included going golfing. In case you don't know what Ontario weather is like in mid-March, it's not conducive to golfing. But that's no reason not to go golfing! You just have to use a brightly coloured ball so that you can still see the ball when it lands on an unmelted swath of snow. Lest I misrepresent myself, I'm by no means an 'avid golfer.' It was my husband's idea and any excuse to walk around out of doors is good with me. Highlights of the game included seeing a turkey vulture eating a piece of carrion on the green (tone is sometimes tough to convey in writing so let me reassure you that I'm not being sarcastic--turkey vultures are really a sight to behold). We had a lot of fun, even though one of my errant shots did eventually scare away the vulture .

Anyways, this is all to say that the return of school has put me in the mind to follow up on the suggestion to explain how I stretch my watercolour paper. Thank you, Meghan, for that idea. For anyone not familiar with the process of watercolour painting, it's a good idea to stretch your paper before applying a wet medium because the stretching is what prevents the paper from buckling. I use a lot of water when I paint so that means I have to really stretch my paper if I want it to lay flat when the painting is finished.

To start out with my list of tools is:
1. spray bottle
2. staple gun
3. Arches watercolour paper (I like to use cold press 140lb.)
4. 32 x 42 inch plywood board.
5. Exacto knife
6. drawing board

I take a sheet of 22 x 30 inch watercolour paper, lay it flat on the plywood board and then mist it heavily on both sides with water from the spray bottle. It's good to use the spray bottle's mist setting because you want to wet the paper evenly without any puddles of water forming on the paper's surface. I make the paper very wet but I don't totally saturate it.

Immediately after I've soaked the paper using the spray bottle, I staple the paper to my plywood board using the staple gun. I use 1/4 inch staples so that they're easier to remove from the board once I'm all done. I staple around the very edge of the paper and place the staples roughly an inch apart. At this point the paper will look buckled and unpromising, but once it's dry in a couple hours it should be totally flat. If the paper is  still buckled after it's dried, try placing your staples closer together or not making the paper as wet.

Once the large sheet of watercolour paper is dry, I use an exacto knife to cut out a piece of paper that's the size I want to work with. Then I take that smaller piece of paper and staple it to my drawing board, placing the staples about an inch apart. Presto, I'm ready to start a final painting that will come out flat even after I've drenched it with water.

At this point, I'm hoping nobody reading this is either bored or confused. I've included pictures to help with any confusion. If your problem is boredom, then yes, you're right, stretching paper isn't as fun as golfing in the snow. Please feel free to ask me any questions about this-- I'm not sure how clear my description of the process is.

What I'm currently working on.

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