Two of my favorite plant words are “gorse” and “vetch.” This is lovely. The impasto lends great energy. Is your paper a heavy grade? I have an inherited stack of watercolor paper. I’d like to try using oils on it. I dabble in acrylics, haven’t the skill for any of it, but least of all for watercolor.
Out here in the wild north-west of Ireland they call gorse, ‘whin.’ I believe it has many other names too!
We have vetch here also.
The paper I use is, ‘Arches Oil, cold pressed 300 g/m2 – 140 lb, a pad of 12 sheets of 100% cotton, 12×16″, Moulin a Papier d’Arches,’ specifically for oil sketching. I don’t know what they treat it with so it can be used for oil studies….
I’m no technical expert, Jim, but I’d say you could give the H2O paper either a lick of glue size, or shellac… or else give it a coat of acrylic paint before painting on it in oils.
As for the corrugated cardboard you sometimes use, I believe it degrades fairly quickly. But maybe the Bowater Corporation, who manufacture the stuff, would know its lifetime… Perhaps if you coated it with an acrylic ground both sides before painting on it it’d preserve it.
Hope that helps!
peter robinson fine art 
Two of my favorite plant words are “gorse” and “vetch.” This is lovely. The impasto lends great energy. Is your paper a heavy grade? I have an inherited stack of watercolor paper. I’d like to try using oils on it. I dabble in acrylics, haven’t the skill for any of it, but least of all for watercolor.
Out here in the wild north-west of Ireland they call gorse, ‘whin.’ I believe it has many other names too!
We have vetch here also.
The paper I use is, ‘Arches Oil, cold pressed 300 g/m2 – 140 lb, a pad of 12 sheets of 100% cotton, 12×16″, Moulin a Papier d’Arches,’ specifically for oil sketching. I don’t know what they treat it with so it can be used for oil studies….
I’m no technical expert, Jim, but I’d say you could give the H2O paper either a lick of glue size, or shellac… or else give it a coat of acrylic paint before painting on it in oils.
As for the corrugated cardboard you sometimes use, I believe it degrades fairly quickly. But maybe the Bowater Corporation, who manufacture the stuff, would know its lifetime… Perhaps if you coated it with an acrylic ground both sides before painting on it it’d preserve it.
Hope that helps!
Excellent information, Peter. I’ve clipped this comment for my notes. Thanks and kind regards!
Cheers, Jim!