It’s Yupo! February 11, 2008
Posted by Mitchell in Art.trackback
Check out tonight’s watercolor painting:
Last Friday I went down to Blick’s art supplies and picked up a pad of 9 x 12 inch Yupo paper and this was my first effort with it. Yupo is actually a plastic paper that does not work like regular watercolor paper at all. Paint does stick to it, but does not absorb into it – it just sorta floats until it dries. Light, even washes are extremely difficult to do as it will sometimes refuse to cover an area – the watery color simply runs away from the surface in spots. This may be due to oils from my fingertips creating resistant areas where I touch the paper. I’ll experiment and find out.
Anyway, not bad for a first time with a new media. I really like the very vivid colors that I can get with the Yupo. They’re much more intense than what you can usually get with regular watercolor paper.
What do y’all think?
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The Center of the Anomaly 
I’m likin’ it. Although I’m distracted by the U-shaped mowing pattern as it comes around the tree in the middle. But you’re right – the colors are very vivid and arresting.
The mow pattern in the original photo is much more muted. Yupo makes doing subtle gradient blends difficult so this has a much more “Impressionistic” look than what I usually use. There are a few more things I want to do with this and I may take another stab at softening that part.
I really like the colors. The sunset/sunrise is lovely.
That’s cool Enas. I think the grass looks neat with the mowing patterns so prevalent. I like the band of flowers at the bottom too.
Is yupo somewhat translucent? Your painting would look even cooler with a soft light behind it.
Thanks y’all! Pupster, the Yupo pad that I bought isn’t translucent. However, there is a new version available. If I can figure out a way to get lighter washes on the stuff I could probably come up with some really neat looking pieces lit up like stained glass. Hmm.
Shit. Of course – gum arabic! It’s the perfect way to thin a color for this! Dammit, why didn’t I think of that last night? I have a whole bottle of the stuff sitting around.
Hey, that sky is really neat.
I’m jealous; I didn’t know Blick had actual brick and mortar stores. I use them via mail order.
Been meaning to mention…for some stupid reason, the filter at work will let me see your blog, but gives me the big red hand when I try to access comments. There’s nothing wrong with your blog, I’m sure. Our filter is just a real mess. But I wanted to ‘splain why I hadn’t commented in a long time.
Thanks! Yah the Blickster is virtually the only game in town. Aaron Brother’s carries art supplies too, but they’re mostly about frames.
There’s something about this wordpress template I think – I get an “Unsecure Site” warning when I open comments from work too.
Thanks for dropping by! It’s always a pleasure.