Saturday, July 22

[gottawonder]

Today I am grateful for:

Beautiful summer weather, though very hot again.

For some reason, I felt very compelled to go to a yard sale that was quite out of my way, because she was selling very large sheets of watercolor paper.

It was an odd thing for me to do, but it was almost too hot to do anything else today, so I figured "what the heck, it's not THAT far".

As it turns out, this is VERY nice watercolor paper, in HUGE sheets, and likely worth the drive. It wasn't dirt cheap, but a good deal.

I don't know if I will use them as whole sheets, or what. It's daunting.

This woman says she inherited 60 of these beautiful sheets of paper (I bought ten), and she still has (minus the ones I bought) forty of them.

FORTY SHEETS OF HUGE, PREMIUM WATERCOLOR PAPER.

SHE DOESN'T PAINT!!!!

I am tempted to talk to her about what she would sell them for if I bought all of them. It would definitely be a lifetime supply of giant sheets of watercolor paper.

I also got some picture frames thrown in, and when I got home one of them (with a nice mat and everything) was perfect for one of my finished paintings that I've always wanted to frame and display. It's up now.

I came home and loaded up the kayak into the back of the truck and went to the lake/park down the road. I wanted to go when it was a little cooler since today was such a scorcher, but you have to give yourself enough time before dark.

I had a VERY nice time. Beautiful sunset, and the water was very quiet and easy to paddle. Roxy likes to lean on one side and nap.

I got to see all kinds of birds. One is a fairly rare plover that is noted at our lake. I got to watch a chubby beaver sitting on the bank eating the bark off of a juicy poplar stick, who took affront to us and swam away, slapping his tail to warn others of our presence.

There were lots of dragonflies out, though no mosquitoes when you're on the lake (they stay over land, mostly).

I kind of pushed myself, but I really enjoyed it. I've been too wrapped up in yard stuff to go this year, and I said "ENOUGH, I MUST ENJOY MYSELF".









I'm glad I went.

I learned about about Puppy Pregnancy Syndrome, a cause of death for people infected by rabies in India; when bitten by rabid dogs, some superstitious people in India, both male and female, become convinced they are pregnant with puppies and seek faith healing instead of rabies treatments.

It's actually kind of a cultural phenomenon.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Puppy_pregnancy_syndrome

Comments

[ratunderpaper]

Then there are the people who believe they are impregnated by white dolphins... the world is full of - shall we say - interesting people.

Make sure you use the watercolour paper (Arches? Fabriano?) sooner rather than later, as the sizing becomes tricky to work with after awhile, and the sheets themselves can become brittle enough to snap.

Don't forget to block off the paper and remove the sizing with water before you start!

[gottawonder]

Thank you. I typically use the pads and never thought about sizing.

[ratunderpaper]

Are they hot or cold press papers? I've always liked the hot press boards, as they can take a lot of detail work without showing too much texture.

[gottawonder]

Cold pressed, lots of texture. The woman who sold them said she did mess around with one or two sheets, and they looked really good as mixed media with pastels.

[ratunderpaper]

That would be nice. Miniatures are not for cold press, but abstracts and larger paintings are.

[lantairvlea]

What a lovely find on the watercolor paper. You can definitely cut them down into more manageable sizes. Usually the big sheets have a watermark in one of the corners.

I love the texture of coldpress papers, enjoy!