geology and art
May 31, 2015
ACCORDING TO GEOLOGIC FINDINGS, Kamloops, B. C., has limestone which dates back 270 million years. The earth itself is estimated to be some 4.5 billion years old. So the rock and sediment of Kamloops is relatively young in comparison, which is due to it having once been part of the ancient Pacific Ocean floor. Fossils in the area show ancient ocean plankton.
THE DOMINANT AND STRIKING, ANCIENT, WORN-DOWN MOUNTAINS within City Limits are the remains of ancient volcanic activity, and are remarkably bare of trees, gaining beauty from sunrises and sunsets, moonlight, and an annual ‘greening’, when the rains of Spring bring out the new leaves of Sagebrush and native grasses.
‘Signature Mountains of Kamloops, B. C.’, watercolour on Arches Hot Press Paper 140 lb., R. Foster Collection
finch miniature
May 28, 2015
THE HOUSE FINCH IS A RECENT INTRODUCTION from Western into Eastern North America (and Hawaii), but it has received a warmer reception than other arrivals like the European Starling and House Sparrow. That’s partly due to the cheerful red head and breast of males, and to the bird’s long, twittering song, which can now be heard in most of the neighborhoods of the continent. If you haven’t seen one recently, chances are you can find one at the next bird feeder you come across. (source: Cornell Ornithology)
‘House Finch’ 7.6cm x 11.4cm, (3″x 4.5″), watercolour on Arches Hot Press 140 lb. Paper
WHEN WE LIVED IN QUEBEC it was easy to tell the difference between a House Finch and a Purple Finch, simply because one was red and the other was the shade of pickled beets. Truly, to me at least, the Purple Finch was the more impressive, whereas a House Finch sort of came across as a Sparrow who’d fallen into some cherry koolaid.
IN WESTERN CANADA we do not have Purple Finches. The House Finch has become a delight in its own right, particularly because it is indeed attractive, and has truly a most melodious and lovely song. They are not overly aggressive and take turns at the feeders with their usual companions, the Goldfinches.
wee glimpses
May 26, 2015
PAINTING OUTDOORS has a way of getting a person to make judgment calls quickly, and in our area it is quite simply the heat of the day.
KAMLOOPS, B.C., IS UNIQUE IN THAT its mountainous hillsides are grass-covered with considerable sagebrush but little tree growth to the 900m level, creating what is known as an inverted tree line.
IN MOST PLACES TREES WON’T GROW above a certain level due to the lack of precipitation, but in Kamloops, they won’t grow below a certain level due to the lack of precipitation. We are known as The Sunshine Capitol of Canada, receiving over 2,000 hours of sun annually.
IOW, IT IS HOT. And since sun and heat are our landscape’s signature features, painting a local watercolour outdoors demands sitting right the heck out there.
THAT IS WHY IT MAKES GREAT SENSE to me to choose to do this by way of painting miniatures.
‘A Kamloops August’, watercolour, 6.35cm x 8.90cm (2.5″ x 3.5″), Arches Hot Press 140 lb. paper
MINIATURES demand quick thinking and choosing the elemental–the scene’s compositional essences–getting them down efficiently and thoughtfully, though, at the same time, quickly.
A GOOD MINIATURE can serve as the template for a much larger, studio piece. And good miniatures stand up very well all by themselves. This particular one has been accepted into two different juried Federation of Canadian Artists Shows, including the annual ‘Small, Smaller, Smallest’. It was, in that show, the very smallest of the lot. And that made me very happy!
mountain storm
May 24, 2015
MOUNTAIN STORMS ALWAYS COME WITH high winds and occasionally with hail, and here in Kamloops, British Columbia, are often felt in one part of the city and not in others. Being a city of roughly 90,000, built around, about, and on top of mountainous terrain, the overall elevation is about 350 meters (1,125 ft). There can be terrible flashes and crashes and gusts–much huffing and puffing–with the promised deluge itself being delivered everywhere else but on our crispy, thirsty yard and gardens.
‘Summer Storm’
watercolour, 30cm x 23cm, (12″ x 9″), Arches Cold Press 140 lb. paper,
G.W. Weisser Collection
showstoppers
May 22, 2015
SOME BIRDS ARE JUST LOOKERS. Here in the Southern Interior of British Columbia we have a few worthy of stopping traffic.
NOT BEING MUCH OF A PHOTOGRAPHER–a person who snaps pictures, really–I can only share my photos of some of our local showstoppers, the first being a …..
Western Tanager in the front garden
Tanagers come here to nest, as do many songbirds
Spring, 2011
ANOTHER LOOKER OF A BIRD is the …..
Pileated Woodpecker, January, 2011
AND A GREAT FAVOURITE OF MINE IS a. . . .
Mountain Bluebird, Summer, 2012
THE MOUNTAIN BLUEBIRD is found here in our abundant grasslands, and are encouraged to remain by our local people building and mounting birdhouses meant especially for them. And truly there are no blues quite as brilliantly displayed as on a male Mountain Bluebird, who, while I was snapping away and adjusting my lense, remained surprisingly still and unperturbed, as though enjoying (and deserving) the attention.
Male Mountain Bluebird, Kamloops, B. C., 2012
RECENTLY I WAS ASKED TO PROVIDE A MINIATURE of a Male Northern Cardinal, a bird not found in Western Canada. Having to rely on images not my own, and hoping the result would do justice to the actual bird itself . . . .
‘Northern Cardinal’ watercolour, arches hot press paper 9cm x 6cm (2.5″ x 3.5″)
IT IS BEING SENT OFF TO a patron in New York City, where I believe a Northern Cardinal might be seen gracing the beautiful environs of New York’s Central Park.
raven moon
May 20, 2015
PAINTING NIGHT has become something of a preoccupation. On a very bald and pedestrian level, one could simply say that ‘night sells’. However, it is the ‘why’ which is intriguing–why do scenes of watercolour-rendered night have an appeal.
‘Raven Moon’, watercolour, 35cm x 25cm (14″x10″), Art Board, (sold)
THERE IS A FASCINATION over what goes on in nature while we are sleeping. When walking the dog at 4 a.m., there are owls hooting, deer eating in people’s yards, the occasional cries of coyotes, and the enduring scent of lilac.
HEARING, TOUCHING, SMELLING all come alive, while seeing is at the pleasure of the muted moon–at once reassuring and mysterious.
painting night
May 18, 2015
THERE IS A FASCINATION surrounding night, when all is cloaked in darkness and the earth dons a mysterious manteau.
WE SEE, and yet we don’t. Depicting night is a painting fascination because I personally do not have a firm visual anamnesis of what exactly night ‘looks like’.
FOR EXAMPLE, is the moon really white–or silvery? Or is it, rather, lemony–or perhaps, blue?
A NUMBER OF RENOWNED NORTH AMERICAN PAINTERS made the depiction of night their signature subject. Some, like the famous Western painter, Remington, chose to depict moonlight as a bit of each, including even at times, degrees of green….
IT IS SOMEWHAT OF A MYSTERY as to what our eyes truly see, in terms of chromaticity, when looking at night, and particularly, moonlight. Painting night offers an enjoyable challenge: convincing viewers that what has been painted corresponds to their personal, nightly experience.
‘Up Late’, watercolour, Arches Hot Press Paper, “14×18”, (sold)
THIS IS ANOTHER heritage home in Kamloops, known locally as Fort House, because it was built on land originally used as a Fort by The Hudson Bay Company when Kamloops was established in 1812. At present, this early 20th century farmhouse is a rather rundown rooming house.
the tranquille creek gorge
May 16, 2015
THE SOUTHERN INTERIOR of British Columbia is a desert-like landscape, plunging steeply into geologically-unique valleys that include rattlesnakes, a ground-creeping variety of prickly pear cactus, sagebrush, and tumbleweed.
I ACCIDENTALLY DISCOVERED the local cacti by casually placing my hand on top of one in our backyard shortly after we’d moved to our current home.
local prickly-pear cactus
OUR BACKYARD as such, is mostly mountain ridge, covered in these low-lying cacti, sagebrush, and outcropping of rock.
Local terrain
RUNNING UP AND DOWN OUR RIDGE are flocks of Chukar Partridges–a bird which belongs in ‘Roadrunner’ cartoons. Their name is derived from their ‘chuk-chuk-chuk-CHUK-CHUK-CHUKCHUKCHUKCHUK!!!’ call (who needs an alarm clock?). Below is a not-very-good photo of one (they are always on the run, making my camera skills not up to the task)….
local Chukar Partridge
NEARBY US is a very geologically-dramatic area called The Tranquille Creek Gorge.
PAINTING THIS TERRAIN ON LOCATION has to be done rather quickly (depending on the time of day), as temperatures can go up to 40C and the sun is relentless due to the lack of trees, and thus, shade….
watercolour sketch, tranquille creek
COMING HERE FROM THE WET AND RAINY B. C. COAST, it has taken me years to come to fully appreciate the beauty of an arid area such as ours. But now that my eyes are open to the subtlety, I wouldn’t return to all that green for anything in the world. I’m happy in the depth of our browns (smile).
conveying mood
May 14, 2015
THE HERITAGE HOMES in our city of Kamloops were built at the turn of the 20th Century and are really rather distinctive, reflecting a very decided Victorian panache. Here are a couple which have been perfectly maintained….
PAINTING-WISE, the more interesting homes are, for me, the ones which have been given up for rooming houses, and therefore rather neglected….
‘Columbia Street Noel’, 7″x12″, watercolour, (sold)
THE OBJECTIVE is to successfully convey a particular mood to the viewer–in this case, a certain melancholy–a fragile attempt at dressing-up a once-proud home in the midst of frigid temperatures and icy snow.
The buyer of this painting saw it in the Gallery and exclaimed that her parents had had this house built, and immediately claimed it for her own. It suddenly made me wish I hadn’t been quite so accurate about painting in the worn and shabby details.
tortured brushes
May 12, 2015
THE BEST BRUSHES–in my wacked estimation–is a dollar store packet in the crafts section, next to those garish tubes of glitter and such. The second those poor things get home, they undergo an Edward Scissorhands attack that is not pretty.
SECOND-HAND STORES also usually have some wonderful, pathetic-looking excuses for brushes, pretty much being handed out for free.
VERY FEW BRUSHES I own get to keep their original shape except ones sized 0, 00, 000, and 0000. For some additional fine work, a nib pen loaded with watercolour does well also. But for large areas, chopped-up, hippie-freak brushes are like, tubular, man.
FORGET SABLE–even squirrel is too refined–woodchuck, maybe–and those synthetic sponges on handles used to paint walls with are good, too.
‘Mountain Mists’, 20cm x 28cm, Arches hot press 140 lb paper
THE TRUE ENJOYMENT OF PAINTING comes when viewing how another painter’s personal and unique need for self-expression realises itself in ways personal and unique. Interaction with the subject demands an approach which only the painter her/himself knows is right.
painting pickles
May 7, 2015
CAMPING ALONE along the Oregon Coast–that fantastically alive strip of ocean wonders–provided many outdoor painting pickles. . . .
PICKLE #1–mosquitoes and bugs. Surely some art restoration expert somewhere has discovered kamikaze mosquitoes embedded in the impasto of Impressionist art. French curses likely filled the air, Claude spending as much time squashing bugs as trying to capture the light. Imagine the fog of mosquitoes waiting for him up beside those water lilies;
PICKLE #2–the wind. Big, dramatic, vividly-alive ocean waves are that size because of the wind. The wind along the Oregon Coast is permanent and robust. It carries away notebooks, sketch pads, laptop easels, flimsy plastic pallets, kolinsky brushes, art pencils, and tissues. And, as one panics, dashing after them, fresh water rinse containers are spilled (of course, the nearest fresh water source is at the damn parking lot bathroom), and then (naturally) there goes the lawn chair, too–end over end, heading towards the box kite-flying couple smirking at the Mr. Bean imitation. Everything rescued, finally sitting, easel anchored with one determined hand, brush swishing about in the water jar, a sudden gust throws sand over everything, and the stupid tilley hat Christmas present (guaranteed to age a person 20 yrs, whether 25 or 55) is seen sailing out towards the surf, the wind carrying away the muttered sounds of ‘good riddance’ along with it.
PICKLE #3…..time and tides. Outdoor painting (forget this en plein air crap–it’s called painting outdoors) isn’t done in studio time. It’s done in real live time. The tides never stay put. So the grand, thundering waves are either constantly retreating as the scene is being depicted, or–this is nabob of stubbornness–they are approaching at an erratic, yet ever-constant rate, until the-I’m-staying-put painter sees his supplies (pallet, paint box, little stool, brushes, tubes, you name it) suddenly sucked out into the collapsing surf of an unannounced, really big wave–a REALLY BIG WAVE–which is about to be followed by another.
PICKLE #4…..no supplies left…..
cliffs near Newport Beach, Oregon
….. and sketching is suddenly the preferred medium….*sigh*… and geriatric Charlie Brown decides to go find some fish and chips–and a local art supply store.
…..and maybe a therapist. or a bar.
eggs as canvas ….
May 5, 2015
DUCK EGGS ARE THE BEST for receiving watercolour pigment. They have a satiny shell surface. Chicken eggs are better if one is using the ancient Ukrainian Orthodox, bees wax, kitska stylus, and dye method.
Chicken eggs have a kind of chalky, calcium-like surface which, yes, can be painted, but feels like the cheaper version of a duck egg. [Oh my, that probably tops your abstruse observation quota for today] Ahem….plowing-on into the arcane . . . a duck egg is more forgiving a surface because removing mistakes is easily accomplished using a Q-tip.
(above) Chicken Egg Christmas ornament using bees wax, Ukrainian kistka stylus and traditional dyes
Watercolour Painted Eggs, (four duck eggs, one goose egg)
Hand-painted Christmas Egg Ornaments, watercolour, with multiple, clear fixative layers applied for protection.
The impetus for exploring eggs as a painting surface came from my having seen, as a child, hand-painted blown eggs with Spring flowers on them, gathered and hung by streams of ribbon for an Easter breakfast within our German church. Their beauty gave me new eyes and I viewed my grade school wax crayon attempts with a certain childish contempt. And it perplexes me still, that such a long ago vision remained an artistic impulse to do for myself what I saw modelled back then.
What has put my egg art enjoyment on (permanent?) hold is my having received two Peacock eggs that I delayed blowing-out….only to have them explode all over the walls and ceiling just as I was finally drifting off to sleep one night, months after they were given to me.
You seriously do not want to know the level of grossness — the vile, rank, and utter foulness — of having to clean up an entire living room punctuated, peppered, with rotten Peacock egg at one o’clock in the morning.
My childhood vision of hand-painted Easter eggs has been forever cataracted by the Peacock eggs from hell.
composition woes….
May 3, 2015
MY GREATEST CHALLENGE when painting anything is composition. For years I felt I was being a ‘purist’, insisting that I always paint on location, never in a studio setting. And once at the location, I convinced myself that if a tree was in that spot, then that was how it needed to be depicted.
IT WAS ALL DUE TO my tendency to early-on stop referring to the subject in front of me and become more and more involved in what was happening on paper, to the point where I may as well have not been on location at all. So in an effort at self-discipline, I decided that not only should I paint what things actually look like, I shouldn’t muck around with how and where ‘mother nature’ placed them.
THE SILLY THING WAS, I ended up choosing a composition by default because of course, I couldn’t paint everything my eyes saw in front of me. And more often than not, it was not a good composition. So now, not only do I go to some lengths to study the skill of creating an interesting arrangement, I realise it is the painter’s task to take what ‘mother nature’ provides and make art out of that. Fences do need to be repositioned, as do trees and hills and clouds.
SO NOW I MAKE thumbnail studies first on matt board before beginning anything . . .
THE OBJECTIVE is to provide a focal point, a visual way in towards it, then additional visual interest so the eye has more to discover by wandering beyond the subject itself. These thumbnails are exploring the use of a compositional figure ‘Z’ shape to lead the eye of the viewer.
The Gleaners
April 30, 2015
THE GLEANERS is a renowned painting by Jean-Francois Millet, finished in 1857.
It was controversial in France for its depiction of the lowest classes of society, picking from the fields what little was left after harvest. Prior to this, paintings of people were usually paintings of people who were rich enough to have their portraits done.
THERE WILL ALWAYS BE GLEANERS, as we know. And each of us, in our own way, were often taught by our parents to make good use of every last bit of something, including the meal(s) in front of us.
IN THE ANIMAL WORLD, Ravens are gleaners supreme, going after what little remains of just about anything left behind, tossed aside, or just there for the taking. Yesterday I encountered one in the parking lot of our local Mall, hopping about a garbage can with a broken wing, waiting for someone to provide some slim pickings. Its noble bearing and size–the gloss of its plumage, the inherent dignity–only added to the poignancy of its situation. And yet, it wasn’t exhibiting signs of pain or discomfort, just a keen willingness to take what it could get and survive. And glean.
commissioned work . . .
April 28, 2015
I HAVE NEVER TRAVELED to Europe, except through the amazing blogs of those I follow. The countries I have had the privilege of visiting have been confined to Canada (10 of the 11 Provinces); The United States (45 of the 50 states); Israel (1989); Taiwan (2002); and The Philippines (2003,04,05).
OUR FINANCIAL ADVISOR’S FAMILY comes from Italy and she went to visit the cities and places which mean the most to her, and asked me to paint a watercolour based on the photos she provided me with upon her return . . .
Campanile de San Marco
33cm x 50cm (13″ x 20″) watercolour on 140 lb. Arches Hot Press Paper
‘Award of Excellence’, Federation of Canadian Artists, 2013
IT WAS A PRIVILEGE being able to work on this scene for it allowed me to be there, even though I wasn’t (smile).
Silt Bluffs
April 26, 2015
THE KAMLOOPS REGION is a geological wonder. 50 million years ago, volcanoes erupted and volcanic ash and lava covered the land, and their record is preserved in fossil beds throughout the area. Ancient rivers carved the landscape, forming the modern valleys of the Thompson Rivers and, during the Ice Ages, ice sheets carved the valleys and rounded the plateaus and mountains in the Kamloops area. (sourced from ‘Tourism Kamloops’ website)
THIS PAINTING is of a local geological formation called The Silt Bluffs. In the height of summer they are baked by a 40C sun, and are the home of rattlesnakes and cacti . . . and Ravens.
“The Silt Bluffs”
23cm x 30.5cm (9″ x 12″), watercolour, 140 lb. Arches Hot Press Paper, sold
name that bird . . .
April 25, 2015
SOME LONG WHILE AGO now (years)–through this blog–I received a request by email from a blogger to complete a miniature of a bird, which I did, and sent off to his/her satisfaction, receiving back in the mail remuneration.
THE DIFFICULTY FOR ME in this moment is that I still have the image of that little bird painting the way it looked when I was working on it . . . here it is . . . not a very sharp photo. .
. . . BUT MY PROBLEM in displaying it here, is that I no longer have a clue what kind of bird it is. All I can recall is that it is a species from a tropical region, and probably in the Central Americas. It is not a bird I have myself ever seen with my own eyes, so it lacks my personal experience, and therefore lacks a place in my memory bank . . . so . . . I’m asking . . .
DO YOU KNOW THE NAME of this bird?
the stuff of watercolour
April 22, 2015
WATERCOLOUR is simply a mixture of pigment (ground-up minerals: organic and synthetic) held in a semi-solid form by a binder (usually gum arabic). In days of yore (not that long ago)–this was sold in little square cubes, called pans or cakes. The pans are ‘activated’ by adding a drop of water to them, causing the gum arabic to dissolve enough for the pigment to loosen and adhere to the brush tip.
TODAY IT IS DIFFICULT (for me) to find the pans, which have only pigment and a touch of gum arabic in them. Today everything is sold in tubes. This isn’t because tubes are so superior. No. It is because the painter gets stuff like water, glycerin, corn syrup, and who-knows-what-else, and only then, some pigment. . .
I HAVE PANS (winsor newton) which are 40 years old and just as good and useable as ever.
DO YOU THINK my pallets are messy? Have a gander at the pallet of one of the most renowned watercolourists, ever–Winslow Homer . . .
FROM THIS MESS he painted this . . .
“Boys In A Dory”, Prouts Neck, Maine, Metropolitan Museum of Art, Winslow Homer, 1873, 25cm x 35cm, watercolour on paper
The only comparison which has any remote bearing is the messiness of our pallets. Other than that, watercolour painters of my calibre only stand in awe of his eternal greatness.
BEFORE YOU GO, do have a look at another of Winslow Homer’s delicious watercolours . . .
“Shore and Surf, Nassau”, Winslow Homer, 38cm x 54cm, 1899, Metropolitan Museum of Art
WOW. This man did not paint over top of washes (except to strengthen the intent of the line) allowing the whiteness of the paper to pass through, dazzling the eye. And adding even more punch, Winslow Homer did not shrink from placing great and deep darks right beside the lightest lights, thus heightening the power of the contrast. What a master. Wow.
The Common Raven (corvus corax)
April 21, 2015
THE COMMON RAVEN is amply represented in British Columbia and enjoys the distinction of co-existing with people for thousands of years, to the point where–in Haida Nation tradition–the Raven has god-like qualities. It was the Raven which released the Sun from its little box–made the stars and moon–and even brought people out of the earth in order to populate a party being thrown. But in traditional stories Raven doesn’t actually create (make things out of nothing), so much as steal, exchange, rearrange and redistribute and generally push things around into new combinations. If that isn’t humanlike, I don’t know what is, lol.
“Spring Thaw”
watercolour on art board, 20 cm x 28 cm (8″ x 11″), sold
In Kamloops it is against the law to feed them, as well as crows. A buyer of my work named Joan pours bags of cat kibble into her elaborate and large cement bird baths in the Winter and revels in their continuous, noisy presence. The neighbours? not so much. When they report her, she just pays the fine and keeps at it.
ACEOs (Art Card Editions and Originals)
April 20, 2015
ARTIST TRADING CARDS aka ART CARD EDITIONS AND ORIGINALS are popularly known as ACEOs. ACEOs are the size of baseball cards–65mm x 89mm (2.5″ x 3.5″) and are purchased and then traded and sold the way sports cards are. The ACEO movement originated in Switzerland in the 90s but grew in popularity through eBay, where art cards are now sold and bought on a 24hr basis.
They require precision and are very enjoyable to do. But then, who wouldn’t be fascinated by the challenge of painting tiny things (smile). The subject matter can be chosen by the purchaser, and the painting done accordingly.
Spring means….bunnies
April 17, 2015
Finished work….”Logged-In”
April 16, 2015
“Logged-In”, 25.5 cm x 35.5 cm (10″ x 14″), Watercolour on Arches 140 lb Hot Press paper, (donated to Kamloops Art Gallery Annual Art Auction)
painting progression 4 . . . “Cows”
April 15, 2015
THESE ARE BEEF COWS, Herefords, the breed most favoured by ranchers in our region. Their origins descend from small red cattle introduced by The Romans in ancient Britain, along with breeds from old Wales, their subsequent nurtured evolution taking place in Herefordshire where the Hereford is king. Today more than five million pedigree Hereford cattle exist in over 50 countries.
BECAUSE THE LARGE FALLEN CEDAR is indicated with only a minimum of brushwork it is necessary to help give it size, weight and substance through the simple use of shadow.
painting progression 3 . . . . “Cows”
April 14, 2015
THE SUBJECT MATTER comes from this photo, very quickly taken when we’d stopped the car on the dirt road running through The Dewdrop Valley (just outside the city limits of Kamloops) after I’d yelled, ‘Cows!’
This grouping was described to me by my friend Max as a perfect example of a bull and his harem–and the ‘harem’ got nervous and didn’t remain in place very long once I began snapping pictures. The bull couldn’t have cared less what I was up to, and just lay there chewing.
The very prominent tree in the painting is placed to provide focus. Rather than leave in the barbed wire fence (in front of them), a natural enclosure is placed behind to sneak a storyline into the scene (the best grass lies out of reach)—that, and taking out the wire fence gives a more natural feel to the setting.
IN THIS GRASS RICH region, cattle roam all over boulder-strewn and mountainous terrain throughout the Spring and Summer. They are finally rounded up on horseback in classic cowboy style in the Autumn. Because of this, the beef from Kamloops is renowned for its organic, grass fed superior flavour and quality.
painting progression . . . 2 “Cows”
April 13, 2015
THE PAPER IN USE HERE is a very smooth-surfaced one called Hot Press (140 lb.) by the French Company, Arches (a very old watercolour paper maker). Hot Press paper has virtually no surface texture at all and is slightly cream-toned. When papers are this smooth, the paint initially floats on top before being absorbed. This floating quality creates effects a rough surfaced paper can’t deliver.
So Hot Press paper looks and feels pretty much like dollar store poster paper–smooth, shiny, and about the same thickness. And because it is not a heavy paper, and because it is so smooth, Hot Press watercolour paper cannot take a lot of scrubbing out if mistakes are made. The painter needs to be rather confident about the strength and amount of pigment to use before putting brush to paper. So because I am always a bit tentative when beginning to paint something as challenging as an animal, I gain confidence by always having a scrap piece of watercolour paper handy to try things out on first. Once I see how to do it on a scrap piece of paper, then I have confidence to do the same thing on the painting itself.
It needs to be stressed that Arches paper is superb and bears absolutely no comparison to poster paper when paint is applied to it. The weight (140 lb) is how thick the paper is. 300 lb. paper is very thick and therefore can take a lot more scrubbing and multiple washes, without losing luminosity. The downside is that 300 lb. watercolour paper is quite a bit more expensive. And when I work on very expensive paper, I am too aware of its cost. That makes me somewhat nervous about possibly ruining the painting. So I usually choose 140 lb. paper because if it gets ruined, I am not that concerned, and so therefore approach the painting with more boldness which gives a better result.
weisserwatercolours 
