Today let’s take a look at…our paper media we are using. There are several types of media available today. My two favorites happen to be mixed media paper and watercolor paper. Mixed media is so versatile and watercolor is great if you are using,… well, watercolors! It’s less likely to bubble and curl up on you than traditional media.

With mixed media paper, you can use markers, crayons, colored pencils, acrylics and yes watercolors too but the paper will warp with watercolors. Watercolor paper is great and very forgiving even when you load a bit of water on it to smoothe and thin out a guoache paint. I use watercolor paper for most of my projects due to its thickness, it can hold up to almost anything I throw at it. In fact, I have not ran across anything that has weakened that paper yet.

There are other options like using an old book or even a newspaper. When you start to play, you will notice how each holds up to the task you are asking it to perform. There is a way to make any media act as though it is a watercolor paper. You get it this way by attaching many layers atop one another then applying a few layers of an absorbent ground such as that found at Amazon.

Heck, I have even used cereal boxes as a canvas. All you do is save your favorite cereal box and cut off the large front and back. You can save the sides if you like and make bookmarks out of them. Once you have the front and back cut out, you now have two new canvases! Cover both sides of each new canvas with the absorbent ground found here. Once you have done that, you can use acrylic paint (a personal favorite) to put on a good background color. Wait for that to dry then you can apply stamps or more acrylic paint for visual interest.

If you are feeling super inspired to paint and just can’t shake the “vision” you have, you can always find real deal pre-stretched cloth canvas at Michaels. They quite often have them on sale for a good price. Not to mention, that they have been running 50-60% off coupons at least once a month which can used as well. Always remember that when you have a cloth canvas, you have to apply a good base to it in order for your paint to stick to it. What I use in these cases is gesso. Gesso is a primer and can be used with acrylic and oil paint.

If it is a flexible surface you are working with, you still want to prime your area and for these I use gel medium. This stuff gives you the coverage you need plus the flexibility of movement without cracking. I like to use gel medium when I am going to be putting my piece into my art journal. I do this because when I close my book, I put a rubber band around it to keep it closed. In doing this, it puts pressure on the pages and the last thing I want to happen is for my pages to start cracking and falling apart.

If you are not worried about using watercolors and just feel the need to get creative without pulling out a lot of stuff, you can always grab some lined paper and some regular pencils or colored pencils and just sit down and doodle, color, shape and play. Maybe use the lines to your advantage and have a character walking down the lines like stairs. Or maybe draw figures that look like they are squished between two lines.

Another option is to use blank index cards. Say you are really short on time, index cards are great because they are so small that you won’t have a lot of room to do an entire spread therefore giving you a quick, easy and fun option. Tons of possibilities and you are only limited by your imagination. I can’t wait to see what you all come up with!