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Friday, March 30, 2012

Aquabord

Watercolor on Aquabord

Watercolor on Aquabord
After a trip to the arts supply store last week, I have a whole array of new goodies to try out. One of them was Aquaboard by Ampersand. A flat panel made of wood fibers with an absorbent  surface, appropriate for watercolors. I bought a pack of three post-card size panels, just to try the surface. Surprisingly, it handles water very well. You can paint wet-in-wet, wet in dry and dry-brush. It seems to dry slower than watercolor paper, so you have more time before hard edges form. Of course the price is way higher than the best paper, but they say that you can seal the painting and hang it without framing, which could be a great advantage in some cases. I am not sure what can be used for sealing, though, so if you know, please let me know.

The forecast is for a very cold and rainy weekend, but who cares, I still have water-soluble charcoal, graphite and crayons to try out, as well as hot pressed and rough paper. I'm sure you know that feeling...

11 comments:

Jude said...

Both are so nicely done and I love the mood the top one presents. Lucky you to be stuck in the house this weekend with new supplies. Have fun.

Jane said...

I don't know Aquabord, never heard about it before,but these two look very good to me...I specially love the flowers. I have a fixative that can be used to spray onto the finished watercolor, I admit I never tried it yet, but they say it works so the watercolor won't fade in time.Sounds like you are going to have a wonderful weekend...enjoy!!

renate said...

Hello Blaga:) They both came out very nice! Is the hardboard to compare with aquarelcanvas? I think so. I've used that many times and it is so easy to use because it is not drying that fast!
I'm sure you'll make beautifull things with your new supplies:) We are waiting for the results! Have a nice weekend!

Rita Vaselli said...

Hello.Blaga!Great moment for watercolorist to try something new!
I love both ,landscape and flowers!have nice week end!

Judy said...

Hi Blaga! I have never used aquaboard, interesting! I love both paintings, esp. the moody landscape. I bought some watersoluble crayons recently, they are great for experimenting! So I wish you a very enjoyable weekend, have fun!

Tito said...

Hi Blaga, interesting news on this post. Both your works on Aquaboard look very nice, my preference is for the red flowers. Have a good week end! Ciao!

Lydie said...

Beautiful attempt !
See on the forum "Wet canvas" may be they could answer to you question.

Blaga said...

Thank you all for your comments!
It seems that Aquabord used to be called Claybord, but that name is now used for the product with a non-absorbent surface. And the absorbent one, which is good for watercolor, is now called aquabord. I don't think I'll use it much, but it is good to know that there is such option.

Unknown said...

Hi Blaga, New to your blog and happy to hear about your find in Aquabord. Very cool that you've found it to your liking. :) I haven't tried it yet, myself, but I use their gessobord and love it. And I do some blogging for them, mind if I share your post with our watercolor fans?

You can use a spray fixative like Krylon UV Resistant Clear Coating to seal. http://ampersandart.com/aquabord.html

Blaga said...

Hi, Karyn, thank you for visiting, and for your advice on the sealer. As it turns out, my art supplies store does carry it. Sure, I don't mind sharing my findings, isn't that one of the reasons for blogging :)

Unknown said...

Oh great! I'll tweet about it to our fans! Thank you!