ED BRICKLER, FEB 6, 2012, ESTERO ART LEAGUE PRESENTATION - TOOLS AND TECHNIQUES
The following paper is taken from study notes from the presentation given by Ed Brickler. Mr. Brickler is the
education Director of the Canson Paper Company.
. Canson Paper Company established 1557
. Paper surface important: cotton paper the best, soft and resilient
. Paper was made from the materials available indigenous to the area at the time.
. Rice paper: made from Rasa – called rice because it was made in the orient
. Linen: made from flax seed, made throughout Europe.
. Today paper is made from Alfa cellulose, with the acid pulled out so it wouldn’t deteriorate
. Velum is paper with resin on it, made for pen and ink and graphite – today used for other mediums –
experiment.
. Old prints and photos - store in acid free environment.
. Paper – “alpha” no acid, “Beta” in-between, “Gamma” has acid in it
. Try the Canson web site for further info
Sizing:
. Makes paper absorb differently
. Helps paper absorb more layers of paint
. Sizing or starch is made from wheat
. In printing there is less sizing so the paint will go into the paper
. The more sizing the more the paint stays on the surface of the paper
. Manufacturers do not indicate how much sizing is used in making their paper
. Wet your brush and run over painted area, the more that comes off the more sizing is in the paper.
. When you wet your paper, prior to applying watercolor, wet no more than 5 minutes maximum as the sizing
will come out.
. Clear gesso will size paper without acid.
. Sizing affects tracing paper, the more opaque the paper the more sizing it has
Acrylic paint can fill in the cracks in old cracked paintings
Erasers:
. Can ruin paper – “pink pearl is nasty”
. Vinyl, if soft won’t ruin paper as easy as harder vinyl erasers
. The softer the eraser the more likely that the paper won’t be ruined
. Do an eraser test – put charcoal on paper and use different erasers to see which one takes off the charcoal
l without taking the sizing off and leaving a black residue
Encaustic:
. Try encaustic waxes on Arches paper, it will sink into the paper rather than ride on top as it does with the
smoother papers, try cold and hot pressed Arches
. You can put Canson addition paper right on your hot plate
. You can use old crayons on this paper on your hot plate
. Hot plate temperature should be in the range of 175 to 200 degrees
The weight of a paper (e.g. 140 lbs):is determined by the thickness and size of the paper. Five Hundred
sheets are used to determine this calculation. Therefore 140lb paper might not mean the same thing in
every piece you buy. A more accurate measurement is grams per square meter (gsm). Both measurements
are usually placed on paper packages when you purchase them
Texture:
. Is put on paper by using a textured felt cloth, it is pressed into the roll of paper in the manufacturing
process, then the water is wicked off through a machine that is 75 yards long.
. Texture is also made with screening pressed into papers.
. Charcoal and pastel work well on all textured papers.
. The terms Hot and Cold Pressed indicate the process the paper goes through:
. Hot pressed paper is a smooth surface and goes through hot water. With watercolor you will get “blooms”
. Cold pressed paper is made without heat treated water and is harder pressed
. Rough pressed paper – can’t lay down as many layers of paint as you can with cold pressed paper
. All papers today (except Newsprint) are acid free
. Try many different types of papers with many different applications i.e. charcoal, watercolor, acrylic,
encaustic, oil, pastel, inks etc. Keep a little library of your samples to see the type of application that you like
best.
. Arches paper is pronounced “r-ch”
. Some papers are made with rough and smooth on alternate sides
Paints:
. Lead used to be used in most paints – it is now being eliminated in the manufacturing of modern paints.
. Alizarin Crimson used to fade fast it is now being made as a permanent color. All the colors named “Quin”
are light fast. Quin-Magenta can replace Alizarin Crimson – base color is Red 122.
Alcohol:
. Is used to remove color
. Can also be used to seal pencil crayon
. Try a sample of each before using this method on your project
Fixatives:
. On pastels use “Blair Low Odor” or “Specter” fixative .
. When spraying your project lay it down flat, and spray horizontal over the project, not directly at the project.
. Fixatives make pastels a bit darker in color.
. You can put a layer of fixative on your pastel and then build up more layers of pastel.
. You can also put watercolor under fixative and then put pastel on top of your watercolor painting.
Watercolor paintings even if fixed need to be put behind glass when framing.
However oils on paper or canvas sheets do not need to be under glass.
If your watercolor painting becomes wrinkled put a water X on the back and it will straighten out.
Gesso:
. Gesso = chalk, if you add it to acrylic paint it won’t change the color but will add tooth.
. Lightly sand Gesso if using it for undercoat on canvas paintings. Sand between layers as you build them
on the canvas.
. Use clear Gesso to put on Burnt Sienna or Raw Sienna or whatever you use as a background color.
. Golden is a little heavier than most Gessoes.
. If you do not use a Gesso coating on your canvas, and then cut your acrylic with water it could dilute the
binders on the canvas.
.Gator Board is a great acid free board with a foam core, it is very light, and can be used for any purpose
with a light coat of Gesso
.Arches is coming out with an oilpaper that does not have to be gessoed.
. Clear gesso can be used under pastels
Watercolor:
. “Dry brush” watercolor means not wetting the whole paper, does not need to be taped on a board. Wetting
the whole paper prior to painting does need to be taped or used in a “block” (sold in blocks – gummed on
the edges).
. A pizza cutter makes handy lines with resist in watercolor
. New tapes in hardware – “Frag tape” is excellent for taping watercolor paper to a board.
. Don’t leave masking fluids (resists) on your paintings more than 24 hours.
. Some watercolors are not fade resistant. On your tube of paint the rating “I” or “+++” will not fade. If it
indicates “F” it means, fugitive, and will fade fast.
Colors:
. On the Internet you can get a PDF file from most color suppliers that will show color light fastness plus
other characteristics of the paint, i.e.. Transparent or opaque.
. All colors have numbers that are consistent throughout all the paint suppliers (by law), e.g. PG29 =
ultramarine blue, the PG part means pigment the # = the name of the paint = it could be ultramarine blue to
one or French blue to another supplier. If you know the PG # you won’t duplicate paints by thinking you
have 2 different colors if they are both labeled PG29.
. Purchasing single pigments are best as there are no other colors added.
. If you purchase something called “Hue” PY35 you are getting cad yellow with 3 pigments added to create
the Cad Yellow
. If you want Naples yellow (soft buttery yellow), it is sold in the tube labeled as Naples yellow. If you already
have Zinc white (transparent white), Cad Yellow Med (a touch), and Cad red light (a touch) you could mix
Naples yellow without purchasing the tube of Naples Yellow. Alizarin crimson permanent could also replace
the cad red light for a very pretty Naples Yellow
. Oxide on the label means the paint is from the earth
. Synthetics are chemical based and are mostly transparent
. Vegetable based paints tend to fade fast, indigo, crimson (cochineal bugs), and onionskins.
. Do not airbrush with the Cadmiums, they are too heavy to breathe in.
. Tap pastel boards – do not blow with your mouth, you do not want to inhale the pastel dust. Wear a mask
with pastels.
Brush cleaners:
. Dawn soap – really cuts grease rub into oil, acrylic and other brushes with water to get the oil out.
. Linseed oil and Turpenoid – also good as oil brush cleaners.
. “Brush Flush” from Wayne Chemical is biodegradable and will clean brushes or clothes where the paint is
even hardened – might take a few days.
During Mr. Brickler’s presentation he showed us many demonstration boards using many different papers
and boards, each with many different types of mediums being used to demonstrate what effect could be
created with each combination. He used inks, pastels, watercolors, acrylics, charcoals etc. Doing this as a
test for yourself will give you a lot of out-of-the-box ideas for your artwork.
Notes by Marg Miller
The following paper is taken from study notes from the presentation given by Ed Brickler. Mr. Brickler is the
education Director of the Canson Paper Company.
. Canson Paper Company established 1557
. Paper surface important: cotton paper the best, soft and resilient
. Paper was made from the materials available indigenous to the area at the time.
. Rice paper: made from Rasa – called rice because it was made in the orient
. Linen: made from flax seed, made throughout Europe.
. Today paper is made from Alfa cellulose, with the acid pulled out so it wouldn’t deteriorate
. Velum is paper with resin on it, made for pen and ink and graphite – today used for other mediums –
experiment.
. Old prints and photos - store in acid free environment.
. Paper – “alpha” no acid, “Beta” in-between, “Gamma” has acid in it
. Try the Canson web site for further info
Sizing:
. Makes paper absorb differently
. Helps paper absorb more layers of paint
. Sizing or starch is made from wheat
. In printing there is less sizing so the paint will go into the paper
. The more sizing the more the paint stays on the surface of the paper
. Manufacturers do not indicate how much sizing is used in making their paper
. Wet your brush and run over painted area, the more that comes off the more sizing is in the paper.
. When you wet your paper, prior to applying watercolor, wet no more than 5 minutes maximum as the sizing
will come out.
. Clear gesso will size paper without acid.
. Sizing affects tracing paper, the more opaque the paper the more sizing it has
Acrylic paint can fill in the cracks in old cracked paintings
Erasers:
. Can ruin paper – “pink pearl is nasty”
. Vinyl, if soft won’t ruin paper as easy as harder vinyl erasers
. The softer the eraser the more likely that the paper won’t be ruined
. Do an eraser test – put charcoal on paper and use different erasers to see which one takes off the charcoal
l without taking the sizing off and leaving a black residue
Encaustic:
. Try encaustic waxes on Arches paper, it will sink into the paper rather than ride on top as it does with the
smoother papers, try cold and hot pressed Arches
. You can put Canson addition paper right on your hot plate
. You can use old crayons on this paper on your hot plate
. Hot plate temperature should be in the range of 175 to 200 degrees
The weight of a paper (e.g. 140 lbs):is determined by the thickness and size of the paper. Five Hundred
sheets are used to determine this calculation. Therefore 140lb paper might not mean the same thing in
every piece you buy. A more accurate measurement is grams per square meter (gsm). Both measurements
are usually placed on paper packages when you purchase them
Texture:
. Is put on paper by using a textured felt cloth, it is pressed into the roll of paper in the manufacturing
process, then the water is wicked off through a machine that is 75 yards long.
. Texture is also made with screening pressed into papers.
. Charcoal and pastel work well on all textured papers.
. The terms Hot and Cold Pressed indicate the process the paper goes through:
. Hot pressed paper is a smooth surface and goes through hot water. With watercolor you will get “blooms”
. Cold pressed paper is made without heat treated water and is harder pressed
. Rough pressed paper – can’t lay down as many layers of paint as you can with cold pressed paper
. All papers today (except Newsprint) are acid free
. Try many different types of papers with many different applications i.e. charcoal, watercolor, acrylic,
encaustic, oil, pastel, inks etc. Keep a little library of your samples to see the type of application that you like
best.
. Arches paper is pronounced “r-ch”
. Some papers are made with rough and smooth on alternate sides
Paints:
. Lead used to be used in most paints – it is now being eliminated in the manufacturing of modern paints.
. Alizarin Crimson used to fade fast it is now being made as a permanent color. All the colors named “Quin”
are light fast. Quin-Magenta can replace Alizarin Crimson – base color is Red 122.
Alcohol:
. Is used to remove color
. Can also be used to seal pencil crayon
. Try a sample of each before using this method on your project
Fixatives:
. On pastels use “Blair Low Odor” or “Specter” fixative .
. When spraying your project lay it down flat, and spray horizontal over the project, not directly at the project.
. Fixatives make pastels a bit darker in color.
. You can put a layer of fixative on your pastel and then build up more layers of pastel.
. You can also put watercolor under fixative and then put pastel on top of your watercolor painting.
Watercolor paintings even if fixed need to be put behind glass when framing.
However oils on paper or canvas sheets do not need to be under glass.
If your watercolor painting becomes wrinkled put a water X on the back and it will straighten out.
Gesso:
. Gesso = chalk, if you add it to acrylic paint it won’t change the color but will add tooth.
. Lightly sand Gesso if using it for undercoat on canvas paintings. Sand between layers as you build them
on the canvas.
. Use clear Gesso to put on Burnt Sienna or Raw Sienna or whatever you use as a background color.
. Golden is a little heavier than most Gessoes.
. If you do not use a Gesso coating on your canvas, and then cut your acrylic with water it could dilute the
binders on the canvas.
.Gator Board is a great acid free board with a foam core, it is very light, and can be used for any purpose
with a light coat of Gesso
.Arches is coming out with an oilpaper that does not have to be gessoed.
. Clear gesso can be used under pastels
Watercolor:
. “Dry brush” watercolor means not wetting the whole paper, does not need to be taped on a board. Wetting
the whole paper prior to painting does need to be taped or used in a “block” (sold in blocks – gummed on
the edges).
. A pizza cutter makes handy lines with resist in watercolor
. New tapes in hardware – “Frag tape” is excellent for taping watercolor paper to a board.
. Don’t leave masking fluids (resists) on your paintings more than 24 hours.
. Some watercolors are not fade resistant. On your tube of paint the rating “I” or “+++” will not fade. If it
indicates “F” it means, fugitive, and will fade fast.
Colors:
. On the Internet you can get a PDF file from most color suppliers that will show color light fastness plus
other characteristics of the paint, i.e.. Transparent or opaque.
. All colors have numbers that are consistent throughout all the paint suppliers (by law), e.g. PG29 =
ultramarine blue, the PG part means pigment the # = the name of the paint = it could be ultramarine blue to
one or French blue to another supplier. If you know the PG # you won’t duplicate paints by thinking you
have 2 different colors if they are both labeled PG29.
. Purchasing single pigments are best as there are no other colors added.
. If you purchase something called “Hue” PY35 you are getting cad yellow with 3 pigments added to create
the Cad Yellow
. If you want Naples yellow (soft buttery yellow), it is sold in the tube labeled as Naples yellow. If you already
have Zinc white (transparent white), Cad Yellow Med (a touch), and Cad red light (a touch) you could mix
Naples yellow without purchasing the tube of Naples Yellow. Alizarin crimson permanent could also replace
the cad red light for a very pretty Naples Yellow
. Oxide on the label means the paint is from the earth
. Synthetics are chemical based and are mostly transparent
. Vegetable based paints tend to fade fast, indigo, crimson (cochineal bugs), and onionskins.
. Do not airbrush with the Cadmiums, they are too heavy to breathe in.
. Tap pastel boards – do not blow with your mouth, you do not want to inhale the pastel dust. Wear a mask
with pastels.
Brush cleaners:
. Dawn soap – really cuts grease rub into oil, acrylic and other brushes with water to get the oil out.
. Linseed oil and Turpenoid – also good as oil brush cleaners.
. “Brush Flush” from Wayne Chemical is biodegradable and will clean brushes or clothes where the paint is
even hardened – might take a few days.
During Mr. Brickler’s presentation he showed us many demonstration boards using many different papers
and boards, each with many different types of mediums being used to demonstrate what effect could be
created with each combination. He used inks, pastels, watercolors, acrylics, charcoals etc. Doing this as a
test for yourself will give you a lot of out-of-the-box ideas for your artwork.
Notes by Marg Miller
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