I spent this afternoon experimenting with inks on Yupo paper with my friend and fellow artist Denise Kassis at her workshop/gallery. This paper only came to my attention recently. We found it was difficult to draw on top of any inks once they had dried but if we used Sharpie pens initially we had no problem and could then add the inks on top. These are some of our initial experiments but with the smoothness and bright white I’m sure we will be trying out more painting to see how far we can push the colors. Initially they were bright but it did become a bit messy when I tried to add too much color to improve the paintings. One good thing is that it’s earth friendly as it’s a paper that’s not made from trees but from 100 percent recyclable synthetic paper made from polypropylene pellets. Finger prints can easily be wiped away with Windex using a tissue or for finer parts use a cotton bud. Also if you would like to frame your finished masterpiece, it can be sealed off with krylon matt varnish.
The next experiment will be using watercolors instead of ink. As at this stage I’m sure a pencil won’t be able to be used due to the plastic surface I suggest if you would like to paint a watercolour but need some guidelines for your painting, if you can access a lightbox, place a photo or drawing or you want to paint onto the lightbox and place the yupo paper over it and use the image as a guide to paint a beautiful watercolour.
Otherwise have a play with the colors and create some contemporary designs using your imagination and enjoy the full range of colors that are available in the various brands of watercolors. Remember if you’re not happy about any aspect, wipe that bit off and reapply your colors. Happy painting and I’ll post and share my next efforts in watercolour for you.
