Legion was based in New York in 1994 when two rival paper sellers collectively set about sourcing the very best high-quality artwork papers worldwide. The addition of Legion Aluminium Artist Panels expands upon that drive to satisfy the varied floor necessities of artists. These surfaces mix the properties of Stonehenge papers with some great benefits of a robust, archival panel. Every ready-to-use paper floor helps quite a lot of media. On this article, I’ll discover how they carry out – demonstrating the outcomes utilizing quite a lot of mediums.
The Bodily Traits of the Legion Paper-mounted Panels
These paper-mounted panels are neatly completed, with rounded corners and paper mounted flush to the perimeters. The paper is uniformly flat, securely glued with archival, acid-free, acrylic-based adhesive. At 1/8 in deep, they really feel sturdy, but light-weight and cozy to carry. The vary contains Stonehenge Watercolour Paper, Stonehenge Aqua Coldpress Watercolour Paper (in white and black), Stonehenge Oil Paper, and Yupo Medium Watercolour Paper. These are available 4 rectangular sizes, starting from 5 x 7 in to 16 x 20 in, and one 6 x 6 in sq..
Stonehenge Watercolour Artist Panel in 250 gsm
This can be a easy, white 100% cotton paper (250gsm), appropriate for drawing and water-based media. I’m testing on 8 x 10 in panels.
This floor feels excellent for detailed watercolour portray. I’d normally be cautious of utilizing an excessive amount of water on paper of this weight, however warping is not going to be a priority on this case because the paper is securely mounted to the sturdy aluminium panel. I examined a spread of drawing media alongside watercolour.
I used 4H and 4B Faber-Castell 9000 pencils, an 8B Faber-Castell Graphite Aquarelle Pencil, Coates Willow Charcoal, and Staedtler Pigment Liners in 0.1 and 0.7 thicknesses. The paper texture was excellent for easy strains. My 0.1 pen skipped barely however achieved high-quality element at a gradual tempo. Graphite blended evenly with a mixing stump, and light-weight functions had been simply erased, which is good for sketching out a composition. Darker graphite lifted to a smooth gray, leaving the ghosts of pencil marks. Ink didn’t budge.
Portray into watersoluble graphite, I discovered the paper moderately absorbent, with water wicking steadily underneath brush management. This allowed for high-quality element in addition to unfastened, washy strokes.
And the charcoal took impressively properly to the paper, with minimal mud. Fixative held every little thing in place with out disturbing the floor.
This Stonehenge paper is well-suited to color pencil utility. I attempted mixing strategies utilizing Caran d’Ache Luminance Pencils in Gentle Cobalt Blue, Spring Inexperienced, and Everlasting Crimson. Sharp hatched strains and flippantly overlaid colors utilized properly; every layer took to the paper evenly and with readability. Increase dense layers produced a easy mix. I repeated this with Unison Tender Pastels with comparable outcomes, and, as with the charcoal, it adhered properly.
I sampled Daler-Rowney FW Acrylic Ink in Burnt Umber utilizing a dip pen, ruling pen, and brush. The paper grain absorbed ink evenly at various saturations with out bleeding. There was one exception; having moved the panel quickly after including a giant drop of ink, I brought on a stain. I used to be unable to elevate it fully, however it’s value noting that, after repeated wetting, agitation with a brush, and mopping with a material, the floor appeared largely unscathed.
Lastly, I examined watercolour, utilizing Kuretake Gansai Tambi in Indigo, beginning with minimally thinned watercolour, utilized with a dip pen, then a brush. The paint fashioned dense, even marks; including a drop of paint or water to a moist mark created variation. Lifting was extra profitable right here; transforming dried paint created a cleaner impact than lifting whereas moist.
This panel is an all-rounder; one to have useful for regardless of the day requires. The panel’s rigidity permits for extra assured use of water than the paper’s weight alone may recommend. It’s well-suited to watercolour in addition to drawing media and makes a chic assist for each.
Stonehenge Aqua Coldpress Black Artist Panel
This textured, 100% cotton watercolour paper (300gsm) is offered in black or white. I used 5 x 7 in panels with black paper.
Whereas experimenting with generally used watercolour strategies, I thought of what may swimsuit the darkish background. Utilizing a Kuretake Gansai Tambi Watercolour Set, I swatched three shiny, opaque colors (Cadmium Crimson, Cadmium Orange, Sap Inexperienced Gentle) that confirmed properly on black, adopted by three darker colors needing enhancement. Working into moist edges, I added Gold and White, creating smooth outlines to outline Forest Inexperienced areas, together with shapes lifted from a wash. I layered Cerulean Blue with growing quantities of white to create opaque tints, and combined White Gold with Cobalt Purple to create a pearlescent paint. I different the extent of pearlescence by pre-mixing, wet-in-wet, and glazing.
Iridescent paints had been hanging on the black paper and brightened darker colors, whereas tints created a extra conventional impact. Lifting, layering, and high-quality element had been all achievable, and the feel assists visibility, with raised areas reflecting extra and recesses permitting pigment to pool.
Subsequent, I in contrast mild, medium, and heavy functions of Luminance Color Pencil Gentle Cobalt, Michael Harding Artists Watercolour in Vivid Blue, and Jackson’s Skilled Acrylic in Teal Inexperienced.
The resistance of the panel allowed me to work with very dilute media, rework the floor by layering, use agency stress for max pencil protection, and apply a thick daub of paint. There was no danger of uneven rigidity which will have distorted an unmounted paper.
Absorbent clay surfaces are a well-liked assist for watercolourists, however they behave in a different way to paper. Heavyweight watercolour papers permit for very moist or intensive work with out stretching, although typically in restricted sizes. Legion Aluminium Artist Panels mounted with Aqua Coldpress meet all of the expectations of a conventional watercolour paper with the added benefit of a injury and warp-resistant format.
Stonehenge Oil Artist Panel
This can be a white, 100% cotton paper (320gsm), pre-sized for oil paint. Additionally it is appropriate for oil pastel, acrylic, and gouache. The paper has a fine-grain texture, offering good grip for the paint. I labored on 5 x 7 in panels.
Utilizing Michael Harding Artists Oil Colors in Pale Violet, Terre Verte, and Perylene Violet, neat and with mediums, I examined a spread of consistencies. Unaltered paint adhered properly in a thick utility, whereas a lightweight skim confirmed the paper texture properly. The panel helps each easy utility and heavier, textured marks comparable to these made with Pumice Powder. A thick build-up of paint, viable on a panel, is liable to cracking on versatile surfaces.
The addition of Glazing Medium and Solvent revealed the paper’s excessive absorbency. Thinned paint levelled, sank in, and was proof against lifting. Colors maintained their readability and richness. On a much less absorbent floor, the background color could be extra seen by the clear Perylene Violet. This floor could be higher suited to a light-to-dark method, moderately than reductive.
With a dry, stiff, hog brush, I roughly blended colors on the floor – the form of dealing with a panel normally affords, whereas paper is normally handled extra delicately. Remodeling areas on this manner, I did discover the floor start to tablet. A foundational layer of paint to work into, a bit medium, or a gentler brush ought to mitigate that.
Over the dried oil paint, I added Sennelier Oil Pastel in Pale Blue, Pine Inexperienced, and Violet Gray. They utilized properly, selecting up among the paper texture. Although designed for the archival necessities of oil paint, this floor can be properly suited to acrylic, oil, and oil pastel combos.
On the second panel, I repeated that experiment with looser acrylic paint and a much less aggressive brush and the floor held up very properly. Utilizing Daler-Rowney FW Ink n Burnt Umber and heavy physique Jackson’s Skilled Acrylic in Phthalo Turquoise and Teal Inexperienced, increasing on the oil paint trials, I attempted glazing, mixing, and impasto functions. Working wet-in-wet produced a granulated ombre impact and, because the paint receded and dried, it left ‘tide-lines’ within the paper texture.
There are a lot of ready-to-use oil papers available on the market, however few with true paper qualities, texture and absorbency, moderately than a resistant, canvas-texture. Combining these qualities with the resilience of its aluminium mount makes this an fascinating, revolutionary choice for painters. For paints that harden to a everlasting end, these surfaces might be displayed unglazed in a tray body and even hung as they’re.
Yupo Medium Artist Panel
Yupo Medium is an especially easy, white, non-absorbent, polypropylene floor (200gsm). It may be used with all kinds of supplies and performs fairly in a different way from conventional paper. I sampled two 6 x 6 in panels utilizing Jackson’s Alcohol Inks, Jackson’s Skilled Acrylics and Gansai Tambi Watercolour alongside pencil, pen, and Acrylic Ink.
This floor lends itself to intuitive, exploratory work, with different interactions between media. Whereas testing combos of color and drawing supplies, exploratory tangents had been tempting. Pigment Liners dry extremely slowly on naked Yupo, however not when utilized over different media. Alcohol can elevate pen ink and even disrupt dry acrylic ink. Pencil marks work finest beneath paint or ink, although graphite alone has a particular shine on Yupo and appears lovely on the floor.
A key benefit of Yupo is the power to elevate and rework most marks. Though stain-resistant, some colors show extra cussed than others. Mounted on aluminium, it might probably face up to thorough cleansing and repeated use, all the higher, enhancing its suitability for experimentation.
Yupo is maybe finest referred to as an excellent floor for alcohol inks. These fluid inks unfold, repelling and interacting in unpredictable methods; their movement might be manipulated by dripping, blowing, pouring or with a mixing answer. A panel is simpler to deal with than a unfastened sheet of Yupo, which may bend, disrupting the movement. It may be held flat and rotated exactly. I attempted this with each alcohol ink and watercolour, permitting contemporary color to journey throughout moist areas. Beautiful moments are misplaced as rapidly as they seem; hold going, and a brand new scene will emerge. Nonetheless, if the floor turns into overloaded, each might be wiped again, reworked, or layered.
Repeating my acrylic experiments from the Stonehenge Oil Panel, I attempted wet-in-wet and glazing on this non-absorbent floor. Pooled color stays seen in the long run end result, and the white floor exhibits by translucent passages. Working flat, preliminary layers largely stayed the place positioned; solely with elevated water, texture, or mild manipulation did the paint start to maneuver extra freely.
Paint and inks turn out to be simpler to govern as they dry. Strains might be refined, extra color lifted or redistributed, and refined marks launched. There might be each unpredictable fluidity and managed mark-making.
The fabric weight and stability of the Yupo panels improve the floor’s adaptability, permitting assured dealing with or stability as wanted.
Paper might be fragile; which may be a part of its attract. Some are smooth, cushioning pencil strains, others drink color into their fibres, reflecting it again subtle; floor texture can turn out to be a personality in an art work. Combining these qualities with an extremely sturdy assist is impressed. Legion Aluminium Artist Panels not solely mitigate the danger of injury but additionally develop the flexibility of those surfaces. They supply a conveyable assist that may be dealt with, propped on an easel, and saved extra safely than paper alone. There isn’t a stretching or preparation required, and but they will take heavier functions of paint than most papers, whereas nonetheless behaving as true paper surfaces.
What units these panels aside is a stability between the acquainted working properties of fine high quality paper and the longevity and stability of a inflexible assist.
Additional Studying
Moist-on-wet Methods for Watercolour, Gouache, and Ink
A Evaluation of Yupo Paper: Lifting, Mixing and Portray With Watercolours
All the pieces You Have to Know About Oil Portray Paper
