Tuesday's Tangles - White Watercolor Paper for Tangling

I finally found some heavy white paper that is pleasant to draw on, shading looks nice on it and it costs a fraction of the price of real Zentangle tiles. Mind you, this paper is very different than the kind they use to make Zentangle tiles but it works for me and for my budget. The brand is Canson and I found it at Michaels craft store. I bought the Canson Watercolor pad that is 11 x 15" and 140lb. There are 30 sheets per pad. This paper comes in several sheet sizes but the 11 x 15" works out to be the most economical per 3.5 x 3.5" tile and also has the least waste when cutting it into tiles. The regular price for the paper is $14.99 but I used a 50% off coupon so it only cost me $8.11 with tax. I will get 360 tiles out of the pad and the price per tile is only 2-cents because of the discounted price.

The paper has a slight texture but it didn't take me long to get used to drawing on it. The back side is slightly smoother than the front so I have the option of using that side when I need a smoother surface. Although this paper is considered "white", it's really a sort of off-white. In the two example tiles below, I used my graphics editor to simulate the actual paper color on the tile on the right compared to a pure white tile like the one on the left. My scanner sees the paper as white so it was necessary to add the ivory tint digitally. I left my tile images white because it's too much work to adjust them all digitally.

As soon as I got the paper home, I tried quite a few different things with it to see how well it would work for my tangling. Here are some of my observations:

1. Unlike card stock, cheap fineliners don't bleed on it. I have some Le Pen and Stabilo fineliners that bleed horribly on card stock unless I use a very light touch. They draw very nicely on this paper.

2. Some metallic Gelly Roll colors seem to soak into this paper and loose their metallic shine.

3. Glitter Gelly Roll pens look very intense on this paper.

4. Colored pencils seem to color more nicely on the smoother back side than on the more textured front side.

5. Some ballpoint and gel pens tend to skip because of the texture and hard surface of this paper. Fineliner type pens draw beautifully on this paper and the texture almost makes me use a lighter touch which produces a less bold, more hand-drawn look to my lines that I really like.

6. Blending color pencil with odorless mineral spirits seems to look better on the back side of the paper. When I tried this on the front it looked kind of splotchy.

7. This paper is much thicker than card stock and at least twice as thick as Zentangle tiles. So, they are very sturdy but they also take up more storage space.

8. I get better results with blending stumps on this paper than I do on card stock. I think that's because of the texture versus the smooth finish of card stock. Tortillons work well on this paper and on card stock as long as it doesn't have too smooth of a surface. Unfortunately, most white card stock that's for sale has a very smooth, slick surface that isn't shading-friendly.

9. I find that I get the best-looking shading with lighter colored graphite pencils versus really soft dark ones. The dark graphite looks rather harsh on this paper.

10. Shading with graphite seems to look a little nicer on the front of the paper than on the back.

Despite a few drawbacks, I really like drawing on this paper, especially when I want to use just black ink for tangling and graphite for shading. The problem that I was having with white card stock is that the surface is so smooth that my shading would come out all smudgy.

The tangle at the top of my post is called "Apcorg" and is by Cyndee Pelley and her step-out is posted HERE on her blog. Cyndee has a video tutorial HERE and Mimi Xy has a video HERE.

Below are a few more examples that I drew on tiles cut from this watercolor paper:

 
"Zinger Hats" is by Shazia and the pattern is HERE at Pattern-Collections.com. Dawn Collins has a video HERE.

UPDATE: The Pattern-Collections website has shut down. Click HERE to view this pattern.

This funny tangle called "Mr. E" is by Shawn Hayden CZT. His step-out is posted HERE at TangelPatterns.com.

"Kisses" is by Adele Bruno CZT and the pattern is HERE on her blog.

"Starfish-Flowerbarrel" is by Nicole Dreyer and her step-out is found HERE at Pattern-Collections.com. Melinda Barlow CZT has a video HERE.

UPDATE: The Pattern-Collections website has shut down. Click HERE to view this pattern.

"Middleton" is by YuRu Chen and her pattern is posted HERE at Pattern-Collections.com and also HERE on her blog. Dawn Collins has a video for this pattern HERE.

UPDATE: The Pattern-Collections website has shut down. Click HERE to view this pattern.