Gesso on illustration board question

[andymania]

I tried applying colored pencils and turpenoid on illustration board but it doesn't adhere too well. Would gessoing the board help? Any info on gessoing illustration boards in general?

-Andy

[Elwell]

Is the board hot pressed (plate) or cold pressed (vellum)? Hot pressed has very little tooth and works better for pen and ink than for pencil work, so that may be your problem. I wouldn't recommend gessoing for colored pencil work, unless you want to create some specific texture. If you do gesso the board, warping will be less of a problem if you do both sides.

[alesoun]

Both sides, Elwell? Thanks! I've had problems with my boards wanting to curl up like a hibernating hedgehog. I've dampened the back; but never thought of gessoing.....

[Elwell]

You could possibly try lightly sanding across the paper vertically and horizantally to create a slight tooth to snag the pigment? If that doesn't work, gesso, what have you lost?
I wouldn't sand it, but you can raise some grain on smooth papers by wetting them and letting them thoroughly dry.

[andymania]

i did it on cold press. It just feels slippery when applied to. I thought it was going to absorb more nicely like stonehenge.

[Elwell]

What brand of board?

[andymania]

Bainbridge.Number 80. I also tried the 2200 series. No difference.

[chaosrocks]

I use 6 ply rag matt all the time. I gesso it
if you want a better surface for pastells or chalk add some very fine sand to you r gesso it's too much grit for pencils though

I actually tape it down to a piece of plexi before I gesso, just like watercolor paper (which I also gesso and paint on)
heavy weight printmakeing papers like Murillo work well too ( just happen to have a lot of that lieing around)

[Elwell]

Bainbridge.Number 80. I also tried the 2200 series. No difference.

You might want to try a different brand. Check out Crescent, or Whatman. If you really wan to splurge, try Strathmore.

[andymania]

I tried Cresent before. Same thing. My teacher in school said that Cresent was the crappiest brand. Strathmore makes illustration board??

[andymania]

Also where can I purchase Whatman board?? I tried to search it on the web but no one carries it.

[Elwell]

Strathmore makes illustration board??

Do they ever. Unlike other brands, which are basically chipboard with a white paper facing, Strathmore illustration board is white paper through and through. It's basically the same as their bristol board, just a lot more plies.

[Ilaekae]

Just dampen it, so it won't curl too much. you just want to make the paper fibers pop up a bit the way wood roughens up if you wet it.

[andymania]

Yeah I would apply layers of colored pencil, then dip my blending stump into some turpenoid and blend it around. I wouldnt drench it with turp. Also speaking of this Whatman Board....where you can you get it???? I think they don't make this product anymore. I searched all over the web for it.

[Grendel Grack]

Another technique you might want to experiment with is combining watercolor and colored pencil. The moisture and watercolor pigments add texture to the paper and you get a nice color wash that serves as an under painting for the colored pencils. Just make sure to let the paper dry thoroughly before applying the pencils.

[Elwell]

Also where can I purchase Whatman board?? I tried to search it on the web but no one carries it.
Whatman seems to be out of the artists papers industry. Too bad, their watercolor board was nice, and really heavy (close to 1/8" thick).

[dbclemons]

What was left of the original Whatman paper mill closed up in the mid 70s, unfortunately. There are different grades of the Crescent boards, one called Hi-Line Premium that has a solid rag core like the Strathmore 500 series. They also make a H.P. watercolor board that has a solid rag core as well, but avoid the "standard" one that has a cheaper gray cardboard backing.

[Jason Ross]

Without actually knowing, I'd bet that you were fixing your pencils to the gesso right? About 8 years ago I wanted to transition from oils to acrylics...well no so much transition as much as learn acrylics. The technique that I found worked best for me was a Drew Struzan approach. An acrylic base with colored pencils and maybe oils to finish. The first frustrating part was figuring out why the hell are my prismacolors just sliding all over the place? I must've went thru 10 brands of fixative before I figured out the best way (btw lascaux was the best but not the best way). If you are working on gessoed illustration board and want to fix pencils under acrylics and then use colored pencils on top then either: A) use matte medium watered down some and apply with an airbrush or B) let the acrylic paint itself (again applied with an airbrush) "fix" the pencils and forget about fixative entirely. I only "fix" pencils to gesso if I'm going straight to oils. I would also advise against the blending stump with this technique as well, its almost impossible to layer prismacolors with gesso underneath. They'll just start to slide around. The other thing is dont expect too much from the colored pencils. Your paint still needs to do the majority of the work (80% -90%).

On a side note, I wouldn't worry too much about the brand of board you're using. I use Crescent. The way in which you apply the gesso becomes the surface you paint on. The board surface is really just covered up. If you are not using gesso then brand and type becomes more of a factor. Drew Struzan mainly uses gesso only so he can reintroduce new ground and painter over and edit his paintings when the client makes changes to it. That way he has control over the surface of his paintings.