Hot-pressed paper: Tips for painting on hot-pressed paper

Our Previous blog taught us about the cold-pressed paper. Let’s learn about painting on hot-pressed paper today!

Hot-pressed paper

The process of making hot-pressed is a continuous heat and pressure process which binds the fibers densely. Usually, the texture is fine or slightly grained as it passes through rollers that create as per the required specification. Hot-pressed paper often turns yellow, which fades the colors used and could become brittle over time.

Altho, depending on the brand you use. Fabriano is one of those brands whos paper will not turn yellow and would be a fantastic pick if you have any commissioned order to deliver or for professional art.

Tips for painting on hot pressed paper:

1) As hot-pressed paper is less absorbent, use less water with your colors.

2) Using acid-free papers will increase the life of your paintings, as they will turn yellow but after a long time as compared to papers that have acid as a part of their manufacturing process.

3) Your final layer should be with non-staining and opaque paints.

4) You could use lots of water to soak the paper before you start painting (depending on the paper thickness). This technique lets paint pigments to seep into paper fibers. This method can is good for the first coat of paint, but it reduces the drying speed of the 2nd layer.

5) To control water, you could paint with two brushes. One for putting the color down and the second one for pulling up excess water.

Benefits of hot-pressed paper:

1) Smooth texture makes it easy to blend colors.

2) Less color absorption of paint in the hot-pressed paper keeps the scope of correction and lifting of excess paint.

3) Colors look very vibrant.

4) It’s easy to use pens on these papers as the paper is smooth.

5) You could paint multiple coats once the previous paint dries. Altho the paper should be thick else the paper will buckle.

6) H.P paper allows you to glaze colors very well.

7) The pigment goes just where you sent it with your brush.

8) If you like showing or doing detailed work, this is an ideal paper type.

9) The hot-pressed paper gives you more precise lines and outlines to work with using fewer efforts.

Limitations of hot-pressed paper:

1) The smooth texture also decreases the level of absorption in the paper due to which the pigment of the paint looks very bright and dense, less transparent.

2) Paint dries quickly on this paper.

3) To control the color on hot-pressed paper is slightly tricky as compared to cold-pressed paper.

4) As there is less or no tooth on the paper, it increases drying speed.

Meaningful learning about the paper: Different grammage of paper absorb water differently.

We have shared some of our client experiences through this blog.

Please comment below and share your knowledge about the paper. We’d love to know how and what your learnings are about this paper.