This is my best painting so far on sandpaper. OK, it's also my only painting so far on sandpaper, but it's a promising medium. The idea came about when drawing-friend Sigrid starting drawing on wood veneer, which she got as an assorted box of scraps from Lee Valley. That reminded of the 10 pound box of random sandpaper bits that I got there 5 years ago, which I've been going through at the rate of about 0.01 pounds per year (it's high-quality industrial stuff, and doesn't wear out). After a bit of experiment, I found a technique: I put down areas of white gouache, rub Inktense blocks on the rough sandpaper, then mix the two with a damp brush. It feels a lot like oil paint, except that I can also remove colour easily. I haven't liked the Inktense sticks on paper, but they're great on the rough surface, bursting into colour when I add water. It's fun for capturing shorter poses like this when my charcoal isn't co-operating, and may be a nice change from pen-and-watercolour for sketching.
It's great, Dave! And it's much easier to see it here than on that tiny phone screen in bright sunlight. Nice texture, and the roughness makes one focus on gesture more than detail, I would think. And I want to try those Inktense sticks too.
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