A couple of days ago I browsed through some old sketches, especially from period when I used to use just the J HERBIN GRIS NUAGE fountain pen ink for a wash. Like – for example – GRIS.
I felt nostalgic and somewhat longed for the simplicity of that approach. So I filled an aqua-brush with GRIS NUAGE and grabbed a sketchbook my friend Philippe from France gave me some years ago. On the back of it it says it was made by Canson, a well known French art brand, but no specifics of the exact paper are listed. It’s not a proper watercolor paper, but has some weight and a sweet mild texture.
![](https://pictogramax.rs/wp-content/uploads/2023/04/PICTOGRAMAX-2023-USK-BELUGA-GEAR.jpg)
Everything seemed well prepared for the adventure – I even managed to find my subject relatively fast.
![](https://pictogramax.rs/wp-content/uploads/2023/04/PICTOGRAMAX-2023-USK-BELUGA-IN-SITU-02.jpg)
And it went fine, except for two niggles. While the paper of this sketchbook is nice for drawing with a fountain pen, not too glossy and with some pleasant tooth to it, the PLATINUM CARBON BLACK INK sadly tends to feather on it.
![](https://pictogramax.rs/wp-content/uploads/2023/04/PICTOGRAMAX-2023-USK-BELUGA-DETAILS.jpg)
And that feeling of paper not behaving “properly” continued and augmented when I started washing the drawing. GRIS NUAGE spread unevenly, somewhere being soaked too fast, somewhere pooling in drops. Yes, these water brushes tend to have a-way-too-generous-a-flow but still, on some other papers, Fabriano Accademia for example, the layering and glazing is better controlled and far less mushy.
![](https://pictogramax.rs/wp-content/uploads/2023/04/PICTOGRAMAX-2023-04-22-USK-BELUGA.jpg)
In the end, after drying, the result seems closer to something done with COPIC markers than watercolor.
![](https://pictogramax.rs/wp-content/uploads/2023/04/PICTOGRAMAX-2023-USK-BELUGA-IN-SITU-01.jpg)
On top of that, the pages do not want to lie flat and tend to return to closed state, so I had to fight them a bit while drawing. Not as neat as my trusty PERFECT SKETCHBOOK used to behave.
![](https://pictogramax.rs/wp-content/uploads/2023/04/PICTOGRAMAX-2023-USK-BELUGA-IN-SITU-03.jpg)
While I may have left the impression of disappointment, it wasn’t really the case 🙂 It felt good to sketch again after such a looong pause, spending about forty minutes in lovely spring outdoors. Looking forward to the next session!