I’m a colored pencil artist just returning to my art after 7 years away. I’ve used Stonehenge drawing paper for a good 20 years but it seems now that I’ve come back to it I’m having a lot of issues with the paper breaking away and piling under my pencils and I can’t figure out if it’s the paper or me. I used to be able to do numerous layers with a heavy hand before I stopped and rarely had this problem but now it’s almost every page that I try. Am I pressing down too hard? Am I trying too many layers? Did something change with the paper? Please help!
Aleks, thank you for taking our call this morning and explaining your current method.
Stonehenge is ideal for colored pencil and is durable enough to handle heavy pressure and multiple layers. During your process, solvent was added to the surface. Once solvent is added the surface, fibers soften and are prone to pilling, especially with heavy pressure. Because Stonehenge is not sized externally like a watercolor paper, it is unable to handle the combination of solvent and pressure.
We recommend to use Stonehenge without solvent for colored pencil and hot press watercolor paper like Lanaquarelle or Saunders Waterford for solvent and heavy pressure.
Stonehenge is ideal for colored pencil and is durable enough to handle heavy pressure and multiple layers. During your process, solvent was added to the surface. Once solvent is added the surface, fibers soften and are prone to pilling, especially with heavy pressure. Because Stonehenge is not sized externally like a watercolor paper, it is unable to handle the combination of solvent and pressure.
We recommend to use Stonehenge without solvent for colored pencil and hot press watercolor paper like Lanaquarelle or Saunders Waterford for solvent and heavy pressure.