Sometimes it isn't the glitzy, glamorous pigments or brilliant colours that deserve the most admiration.
Sometimes it's the quiet, foundational things.
You know...Like trees….Or paper.
Paper Holds the Idea
As artists, we often talk about paint, our favourite brushes, the newest pigment sticks, or that wonderful little doohickie that does exactly what we hoped it would. But behind every drawing, every watercolour, every print, and every sketch is something quietly doing its job.
Paper. I know you think I am losing it, right? But just ponder this for a moment
Paper asks for no attention. It simply supports the work, holds the idea, survives the process, and preserves the result.
Paper holds the idea.
Isn't that worth loving?
A State Secret?
Invented in China, the making of paper was a state secret and that secret was guarded for hundreds of years. Seriously... paper was classified technology. Eventually the secret escaped—whether through trade, captured papermakers, or a little of both—and the Islamic world ran with it, building paper mills and great centres of learning.
By the time paper became common in medieval Europe, it had already spent centuries helping scholars in China record history and preserve knowledge. In the Islamic world, it helped scholars translate, preserve, and build upon Greek, Persian, and Indian texts, allowing ideas to travel across cultures and generations. It's a wonderful reminder that the story of civilization doesn't belong to one culture. The greatest ideas have always travelled. And paper made it all possible.
Not bad for something we doodle on while we're talking on the phone.
Enough history.
Let's talk about the fun part.
Because somewhere along the way, artists looked at one of humanity's greatest inventions and said, "That's nice... but can we paint on it?"
The answer, of course, was yes.
Today there are papers made specifically for watercolour, printmaking, drawing, pastel, mixed media, acrylic, and just about every creative pursuit you can imagine. They may all look like "paper," but trust me—they are anything but the same.
So let's get to the tooth of the matter.
The quicker picker upper
Sketching papers are like good conversations. They're quick, spontaneous, and don't ask for a commitment. They're made for ideas, not masterpieces. They happily accept graphite, charcoal, and the occasional coloured pencil. They'll tolerate a bit of erasing, but if you're the type who erases every second line until the paper waves a white flag, you may want to move up to a true drawing paper.
The strong silent type
Drawing papers are a little more patient. They expect you'll be staying awhile. They're heavier, stronger, and better able to withstand repeated erasing, layering, blending, and careful rendering. If sketch paper is for capturing an idea, drawing paper is for developing it.
Once you've chosen between sketching and drawing papers, you'll start hearing terms like cotton, wood pulp, acid free, archival, and tooth. They sound technical—and they are—but they're also surprisingly easy to understand. More importantly, they help you choose a paper that fits both your artwork and how long you hope it will last. (also your friendly neigborhood Hues Staff person can advise you)
Next time we're going to talk about something artists have been doing for centuries.
We're going to get paper wet.
Stay tuned!
