Charcoal Review Bristol Board from Scholar!
Sharing my review for the newly launched Bristol Ultra Smooth Board.
Pros
• Thickness– First, about the thickness of the paper, 300 GSM is ideal for working with my layer technique. I work from hard grade charcoal pencils and drift to a softer grade.
• Texture– Next about the texture, this is a smooth surface with very little tooth. Hence, working on fine details is a breeze. More suited for artists who work on human portraits, pen and ink illustrations, gouache illustrations, etc…
• Highlights– Making highlights, this is one quality i always wish to test on a paper. Even after making three layers of charcoal, I could make white highlights on wings. Both the kneaded eraser and tombow mono eraser work like knife on butter.
• Mediums– Tried my hand with various charcoal mediums on this board, woodless, charcoal pencils, vine charcoal, compressed charcoal, charcoal sticks. They can take in two to three layers easily.
• Blending Tools– Paper stumps, brushes, cotton swabs, silk cloth, burnishing stone all fair well with the board.
Cons
• Texture- If you are looking for some paper texture while working with dry mediums, this paper might not be the right choice for you. It is ultra smooth and you will have to create your know textures with various techniques.
• Technique– I like to work with as many layers as possible. However, after about 3-4 layers, knots of paper fibre appearing on the surface of the board. So paper will work well for artists working with fewer layers.
• Blending Tools– Most blending tools work well. However, while using the burnishing stone you will have to pay close attention not to smoothen the charcoal too much. Which results in a shining surface. That area can no longer take any further charcoal. A small word of caution!
Indian spotted creeper (Salpornis spilonota)
Title: Indian spotted creeper study!
Medium: Charcoal on paper
Size:11.8 x 8 inches (29.97x 20.32 cms) size;300 GSM Scholar Bristol Board
Duration: 12 hours
Februray 13th 2022
Location: Tal Chhapar, Churu,Rajasthan,India
Reference: Own Image!
Use code “NATARAJAN10” for 10% off for all your purchase from https://scholarstore.in
I hope to test other mediums in-depth on this Bristol board and share a similar review. Hope you found my views useful to make your decision to go to this art board for your dry mediums!
If you would like to join me for such one-to-one sessions check out my website, use the contact page to get in-touch with me! https://prasadnatarajan.com/contact
