Painting on Vellum

Trying something new again! I really love the botanical watercolor paintings on animal vellum. They have such a soft look. 

This is one of my favorite botanical artists.

Dianne Sutherland  

Check out her website.

The goat skin vellum is expensive to me but I received some as a Mother's Day gift! Yay!

I tested a few things on a small piece. There is definitely a right side and wrong side. The side where the hair pores are is the right side to paint on. The paint lays on the surface so a very dry brush has to be used. It also has to be painted in layers. Here is my first attempt. 

I am happy with it. It is also fairly easy to lift up areas that you want to redo. 🤪 You also can't use too much water or it buckles. 

I have more vellum to play with! I love my kids! 

Comparing Paints!

Comparing paints. Dr. pH Martin Hydrus Watercolors and Derwent Inktense color blocks.

I  have been painting with Dr. Ph Martin Hydrous watercolors lately. I love that they are more permanent than the Daniel Smith tube watercolors that I have and do love. You can buy them on Amazon.

There are 3 color sets. The biggest difference in using them is that they are staining and you can't lift or rework like you can with the Daniel Smith tube paints. They also have a white that makes life easier. 

I wanted to compare them to the Derwent Inktense paints that I have used in the past. They are also more staining and colorfast compared to regular watercolors. I'm not worried about my paintings lasting for years! Hahaha! I do like that you can't change the first layer because of the "staining" or more permanent color and because I paint greeting cards which get handled and not always framed.

They are also available on Amazon.

So I painted two similar yellow poppies. The one on the left is painted with Derwent Inktense. The flower on the right with Dr. pH Martin hydrus watercolor paints.

They were similar to work with. The Derwent Inktense paints are more permanent with no time to rework.  The Dr.pH Martin paints are a bit more forgiving. I like them both. 

Derwent Inktense.        Dr.pH Martin.

Now I want to get my Derwent Inktense pencils out because I have a set of 72 colors in the pencils.  I do wish the Dr. pH Martins had more colors. They have 36 colors available.  I do mix colors but it's nice to have a "for sure" color match sometimes. 

These work for me because I do smaller work and greeting cards. A 5x7 card is the most common size for me.  And often I will do miniature work.  

I enjoy painting with all three watercolor mediums. Don't get discouraged if you purchased either the Derwent Inktense or Dr. pH Martin Hydrus Watercolors. Try smaller paintings and keep at it. You can also use all of them together.  The permanent paints are great for a soft background that won't lift when painted over with regular watercolors.  

Back to painting... after I find my Derwent Inktense pencils! Hmmm.