🥹👋

this world isn’t big enough for two gall-focused artists, but we’re glad to have you regardless

the whole show is so beautiful vanessa!

haha sure would

thank you, yes i assumed that was the case, but it’s strange that they suddenly started embossing it backwards on the back instead of onto the front (though i prefer it, it means less wasted paper). what paper do you use now?

thanks, i’ll look into trying sennelier too! i’m not seeing it in 300lb online, do you know if they make weights over 150? also realizing paper size is going to be an issue because i’m planning work larger than 22x30, i don’t think anyone but fabriano makes a hot press roll or oversized sheet 😔

compared to now, when my washes look very uniform, paint feels like it sits on the surface, and also absorbs almost on contact so i get more of a drybrush feeling. i’ve also had issues with paper pilling in spite of not being overworked, which never used to happen

i’m not sure how to describe what i liked about the old paper, but there was a way that the paint seemed to be suspended for longer while i worked, and so that pigment spread itself out very organically and then settled deeply into the paper, which made it look very glowy and lush?

oh no you must’ve gotten a defective one, it usually has that woven look on one side (that i don’t use), and the texture on the other side is softer and more random

thanks nicole, i might have to give it a try! i wouldn’t worry too much, the issues with fabriano production are very well known dating back to 2016, a lot of botanical artists switched to other papers. i still miss the old stuff every day, you couldn’t make a bad mark on it, some kind of witchcraft

for context i use traditional white 300lb hot press fabriano artistico. i buy in large batches so it’s been a couple years since i ordered, but i haven’t had a good batch since ~2019 (i know they changed it). considering trying out arches…

soooo so sweet 🥹 thank you for sharing!

unfortunately that uncertainty is what i’m going for 😣 sorry!

they would sometimes fly off and get caught on the walls or my clothes, nothing quite like looking down at a lil swift face and gently prying their toes off your shirt 🥲

but i’m very fond of them because when i volunteered in an avian nursery years ago, i got to teach fledgling swifts that had been hand-fed how to catch their prey midair so they could be released, and it was such an amazing experience!

thank you! i can understand why, they’re such little gremlins and not photographed much, finding good reference was difficult

tiny against pastel clouds, at once like gnats and bats, but then unmistakably butterflies as they merge into a single organism, a dark and endlessly swirling cylinder that descends into the brick pillar and disappears with the sun.