LESSON #17 - How to Stretch Watercolour Paper

[ImBatman]

Thanks Dennis,

But at the end, you distinctly cut straight into the board to remove the picture, then you say to sponge the tape to remove it from the board.

Are you saying it is okay to sponge the tape off the board to remove the picture, then trim the edges?

I am really thinking of getting another board to lay on top of the existing one. I gave it the surface I did to stay as pristine as possible. Don't like the idea of knives on it.

Batman.

[dennis]

I cut the gummed paper but NOT into the board itself. See the sketch

By regulating the cutting depth as shown in the photo I can easily make the cut

If you watch the video again you will see me feeling for the ridge at the paper's edge so that I know exactly where to make the cut. I've been doing this for years without damaging my boards.

I NEVER sponge the gummed paper off the finished painting - that is a recipe for disaster. Leaving it on will will not affect your framing unless it is too close to the edge of the painting itself.

[ImBatman]

Okay Dennis,

If you say so, I will give it a go. I imagine an extremely sharp craft knife is pretty important though.

Batman.

[dennis]

Try it on test pieces until you get the "feel" of it.

[GailBrown]

Tried stretching the paper, didn't work so well on first attempt, came unstuck on two sides-tried to apply new tape to rescue, but paper buckled when I painted.  Haven't tried painting on attempt # 2, will let you know.  For some reason nobody posted an attempt at this one, so here is my attempt.  Not totally happy, skies are still trying for me but learned a bit about painting water over sand and that info will come in handy for future paintings.

[Harald]

Nice picture with nice colors and good depth. Gorgeous.

[dennis]

Thanks, Gail. Also wondered why nobody has painted this at all - strange 

Very nice painting. All will eventually click and come right with practice. 

As I mentioned in the class - stretching paper can be very tricky at times and mishaps can happen even with professionals. Sometimes even I have to re-soak the paper and try again 

[Harald]

Sometimes the drying process starts before the tape is fixed. It can help adding over an aluminium foil that is slightly smaler than the paper. This will slow the drying process and the tape have more time to attach. Harald

[dennis]

Very good idea indeed. What I have done in the past is to keep the center of the paper slightly damp with a sponge until I feel that the tape has started to dry out and by the time the paper dries out the tape has taken fast.

[Rkymtnmary]

Hi, Dennis -

I absolutely love what you did with this scene and was just amazed watching you bring it all together.  The reason I haven't painted it yet is that when I went to watch the reply, I had a great deal of difficulty of seeing what you'd put down on the w/c paper to frame the scene.  The image on my screen was very faint and when I made my first attempt at it, my perspectives were all wrong because I had to guess at the lines and I am nowhere near a place where I can just ad lib so to speak...lol.  So I put it on my back burner hoping that there might be a time I can!  Sometimes when I can't see something on the paper because of glare or lighting, I'm able to do something basic like extend out a line but in this case, I just couldn't establish what was happening above the horizon line so I put it aside for another day when my mind can fill it in because this was one of my all time favorites.  (You should know I say that about all of your paintings - LOL!)

[anita]

Lovely Gail, well done    I think your sky looks fine - I have trouble with them too

Here's another attempt for you Dennis, although I haven't got a board yet so haven't had a go at stretching:)

Details

Anita

[Lillian]

Gail and Anita, I really like both of your paintings.

I think they are very well done! 

The business of life is getting in the way right now.  I'm behind in the watercolour lessons.   

[Bhavna]

Lovely Painting Anita and Gail 

[eftpower1]

Gail, I really like the water!!!
 the variations are beautiful.  Pardon the pun, but it FLOWS

Anita

I am impressed with the SKY.. the most challenging thing for me has been to get skies to come out looking like skies instead of mud puddles  ( Via the art critic, my wife)

Brian

[NHC50]

Dennis I have a question.
When you were cutting your watercolor paper from the gum tape. I noticed you left it on the watercolor paper. Do you leave it on even when you put it in a frame? What about if you sell your work. Do you leave it on?
You said the worse thing to see is a watercolor in a frame that is not smooth. So how do you get away from that without stretching? I don't I would like doing the gum tape. What kind of wood do I need to just staple it?
I was at Hobby Lobby and I came across a watercolor board call aquabord. Just for watercolor. Have you seen it, or tried it yet? Also another was called Master Touch canvas for watercolor.
oops I guess I had more than one question.
Nina