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Boards, Coloured paper

Boards

Coloured papers

Comments come from Lesley Crawford's survey of UKCPS members unless otherwise stated
They are personal opinions and should not be attributed to the UKCPS as a whole.

Bristol Board - one or two people liked this, but most found it far too smooth and slithery. Lesley adds: I find this great with graphite pencils or pen and ink Daler Rowney Line and Wash Board - smooth - very firm surface, will take watercolour washes and endless pencil abuse without breaking down. Not surface - good with watersoluble pencils, but will only take so much pressure before denting. Frisk CS10 Illustration Board - one artist used this almost exclusively - most others found that, like Bristol Board, it was too smooth with no tooth to grip the pencil.			Nik Curry uses CS10 Illustration board almost exclusively - see his work on his members page - and bear in mind they are up to 3 foot x 2 foot often!
Eleni McLoughlin writes: For my botanical illustrations I use Daler Rowney Water Colour board H.P.It is basically a board with watercolour paper stuck on one side of it. It is very light creamy white,very smooth,and above all very tough and can take up many more than twenty layers of pigment.To remove mistakes I use Blu Tack which I can manipulate with my fingers to the shape I need to get into awkward spots.Kneaded Putty Rubber is useful too.The pigment lifts off easily,nearly all colour will disappear except with purples and some reds that are more staining than others. The Wrong side of this board is also very smooth and very white and can be used to paint on.The work will look even smoother but it is not suitable for water.Perhaps a little water and can get away with it. The board is sold imperial size,and costs around £6.00. It may sound a lot but it is worth it.The Colour pencils simply glide over it .
Mountboard - I know that quite a few artists use this, but I wasn't sent any information about it.	Graham Brace has since added this:All this talk about papers. Has anybody thought about working on good old mount board? I use it all the time and find it perfect for CP, watercolour and pastel...I generally use all three in my pictures and so the surface gets a fair old battering and it hasn't let me down yet. The board I use is Daler Standard Studland (Neutral pH) Super White although my mount maker now also supplies me with a board which has the same surface as the Studland but it's half the thickness. This is pretty pliable and enables my pictures to be wrapped around and scanned on a drum scanner (for high resolution print reproduction purposes). What's more, generally mount board is cheaper than all those posh art papers! See Graham's work on his website or members page
	Coloured Papers: Canford Coloured and Canford Black - comes in pads and is lightfast, with a definite tooth, which some found too grainy Mi-Tientes 160gsm - good range of colours. This paper has a smoother side and highly textured reverse side, which many found too grainy. It throws up the colours well. Winsor and Newton Lana Tints - comes in a nice range of colours, again with one textured side and one smooth, although the texture is much less pronounced and intrusive than Mi-Tientes. Takes many layers of colour and is sturdy and robust.
	Daler Rowney Ingres Pastel Paper - this again comes in a range of colours, and has one smooth side and with linear texture. Limited in the layers it will take. Fabriano Ingres 160gms - Ideal for architectural, botanical or wildlife studies. Requires a strong white pencil for highlights. Clairefontaine Ingres/Pastel - a nice paper, with a good range of colours and less texture than other Ingres papers.