Sunday, August 23, 2009

Yupo cat



I found a half sheet of Yupo in my stash and another couple of sample pieces in a box and wanted to try it again. Yupo is a unique surface to work on and has benefits and frustrations, depending on what you’re trying to achieve.

Its not for the faint of heart who like precision, that’s for sure. Yupo is synthetic plastic so watercolour sits on the surface instead of soaking into the paper. Strong, impressionistic work seems to work well for this surface , as you have little control over the paint flow, except to try to concentrate it in areas.

There is no need to mask areas because you can go back into a piece and with a clean damp brush, take it back to the white surface in a second with no paper damage. Yupo is virtually indestructable unless you decide to poke holes in it or crease it.

Water reactivates the paint so you need to do a little planning before you put down colour or try to add layers of colours as they will shift before your eyes. I found on this piece of yupo that on area in particular was being very resistant to accepting colour. I persevered and won in the end. Perhaps a fingerprint or similar changed the surface texture a little, I don’t know. But this paper has its challenges.

Overall, I like it for strong impressionistic pieces, but don’t think it would ever become a constant in my stash of watercolour papers. Like drafting film, it is something different to try with a variety of mediums. Experimentation is always fun and you never know what you’ll learn along the way.

11 comments:

Billie Crain said...

Love your Yupo cat! Check out Sandy Maudlin's blog(I have her link on my blog). She does incredible work on Yupo. She also teaches Yupo classes.

Sandy Maudlin said...

YUMMY! I love how you've freshly handled the paint on YUPO! Fantastic work!

Jo Castillo said...

This is just great. Thanks for sharing with us. Watercolor is a mystery to me.

Jeanette Jobson said...

Thanks Billie, Yupo sure is an unique surface. The cat was cranky looking in my reference, even more so now! :) And thanks for the info about Sandy.

Sandy, thanks so much for your comments. You're the master at using yupo if your site is anything to go by. Its a fun support to use.

Its often a mystery to me too Jo! And that's part of the appeal. I like some elements of surprise - well most of the time. :)

sue said...

What great effects! I love this Yupo cat!

Jennifer Rose said...

I liked Yupo, I thought it worked really with Inktense pencils after the first layer was wetted and dry. After that I didn't have a problem getting colour to stick to the paper but before that it was a struggle to get colour on the paper. Its almost like you need to break the surface to get things to stay. Fingerprints did show up really well on it though :/

Chris Beck said...

Wonderful painting, Jeanette!! The eyes are fantastic!!

"JeanneG" said...

Very cute and colorful "measles" cat.

"JeanneG" said...

Oops, maybe I should have said "Dalmation" cat. I really like the way it turned out.

Rhonda Bartoe Tucker said...

Love this piece! Great technique on such a difficult paper!

Terry Banderas said...

Really like this. Great idea.