Review-Hahnemühle Watercolour Postcards in Jubilee Tin #Hahnemühle #WatercolorPostcards #WorldWatercolorGroup @ZebraPenUS
Recently Hahnemühle sent me an amazing number of fine art papers for reviews and giveaways.
This is the third of eight giveaways planned. (now closed) Today's subject is their tin of Watercolour Postcards with the Jubilee lid. The giveaway is international. Entry information is waaay down the page after the review. Please consider visiting Hahnemühle's Facebook page or website to learn more about their wonderful line of products.
Specs
Size: A6/ 10,5 x 14,8 cm/ 6.5 x 4.5 x 1.1 in
Weight: 230gsm/85 lb
No. of Cards: 30 postcards per tin
Address panel printed on the reverse
Rounded corners on both tin and postcards
Look & Feel
The Tin
Hahnemühle Watercolour Postcards come in a metal box with a reproduced painting on the lid. While the postcards and the construction of the tin are always the same, 10 editions exist with different paintings. The tin I'm reviewing is the Jubilee Edition: Watercolour Postcard Box with Venice Motif. The tin I'm giving away is the Limited Artist Edition. The only difference between the two tins is the painting on the tin's lid.
The jubilee tin is the 10th edition and the painting is by Alexa Dilla. You can find out more about her painting in the Hahnemühle blog entry -Jubilee Edition: Watercolour Postcard Box with Venice Motif.
The tins are rectangular, with rounded corners. The metal is light and at 6.5 x 4.5 x 1.1 inches, it is good for carry. The top and bottom have some flex, while the sides are stiffer. It will be possible to dent the tins, but even though I tried, I couldn't scratch off any of the painting. I haven't had mine long enough to give it much rough wear, but I think the painting will hold up well.
Here is a size comparison showing the postcard tin next to a YouTangle.Art tin and an Altoids tin.
0
The postcard tin is deeper than both. Besides the 30 postcards, there is a Styrofoam insert so, if you remove that, you have a little room to carry a small watercolor brush or something similar.
If there are others like me out there (and I know there are!) who are likely to turn their tin into a watercolor palette once they've used the postcards, you can fit 26 full pans into one. I don't have enough half-pans to know for sure, but it will probably fit around 40 or so.
The Postcards
Like the tin, the postcards have rounded corners. They are natural white, 4 x 6 inches, 85 lb paper. The back side is divided into writing and address areas, with lines for the address.
The surface has a rough linen-like texture that shows up clearly in your paintings or drawings. The texture will be pleasing to some, but others might find it difficult to work on. I discovered that some of the tins have the texture running the length of the postcard, while others have it running the width. The tin I'm using has texture running the width. I'm not sure what the giveaway tin has, since I haven't opened it. I haven't noticed much difference in how the paint handles, but others may disagree.
I've used colored pencil, Fude-style brush pen, technical drawing pen, fineliner marker pens, and watercolor on mine. The rough surface gives a broken line effect, but will fill in. It creates an interesting blended effect when you layer your colors. The roughness means that small details may be lost.
Performance
I didn't test these cards in my usual manner. Every week day, I do a simple drawing or painting of an animal with a fact or two about it, to put in my husband's lunch bag (yes. He's a child at heart, and I love him for it!). I was getting behind, both with these and with my reviews, so I decided I'd use his dailies for review purposes.
The texture of these postcards is more like a series of closely placed speed-bumps than the sharp, toothy surface that many watercolor papers have. I wanted to test a fiber-tipped pen, but decided to start with the largest, most sturdy type I know of. So, for my first effort, I used a Sharpie pen to draw my subject. I could see no damage to pen or paper. It isn't the paper I would choose as first choice for pen drawing. You feel the rough surface as you are drawing, bump, bump bumpity-bump. I like the effect if gives, but probably many wouldn't.
I used colored pencils to color in the drawing. The broken line effect occurs with pencil as it did with pen, and had the side effect of wearing the colored pencil down. I could have continued to fill in color and make it all darker, but ran out of time. Still, I like the result.
For my second effort, I decided to use a Fude-style pen. The flexible plastic nib on this kind of pen won't fray as easily as the nylon-fiber tips, but can be bent or torn. I used it on the postcard with no sign of damage to pen or paper. (I forgot to erase the pencil lines before scanning, but as you can see a 2B pencil lead works fine on the paper.)
Afterward, I added watercolor. The paper curled when first wet. I just carefully curled it in the opposite direction. It stayed flat enough for painting after that. Watercolor moves well on these cards. The paint reactivates easily, which means glazing over dry paint may result in lifting color rather than adding more color. This has pros and cons - you can more easily remove a mistake or add muted highlights, but you might accidentally remove something you want to keep or get a blend of colors rather than a gentle change of tint. But the best results will come from quick single layers of color.
I decided to take a chance with a smaller more delicate fiber-type pen, so I used fineliner marker pens with a small tip. I used a very light touch, allowing the broken line effect to give me a range of light values. I added several layers of color, using a visual blending effect and was very pleased with the result. I had no sign of damage to either the pens or paper. I do suspect this paper would shorten the life of a fiber-tipped pen, so I'd use them sparingly or use pens cheap enough to be replaced more often.
For the last example, I decided to try a fully worked out painting, lifting color for effect. I did have a little problem building up values but it was doable. I was quite happy with my finished painting. Doing this kind of painting on these postcards would be for someone who wanted a challenge or was familiar with this kind of surface. If you've ever painted on Yupo, it is similar. Yupo is far worse, though.
GIVEAWAY INFORMATION
Who Can Enter?This giveaway is international. closed
What Is the Prize? One winner will receive a tin of Hahnemühle Watercolour Postcards with a Limited Edition lid cover (pictured below).
How to Enter? Cut and paste these words: 'I want to win a tin of Hahnemühle Postcards' into the subject line of an email, and send it to me at LifeImitatesDoodles [at] Gmail [dot] com. (replace the words enclosed in [ ] with an @ and a . and make sure there are no spaces).
When does the giveaway start and end? The giveaway starts on Sunday 10/22/17 at 05:00 AM PDT and ends Sunday 10/29/17 at 11:59 PDT. I'll notify the winners on 10/30/17, by responding to the email sent as an entry.
Who is Giving Away the Prizes? Hahnemühle sent me this Limited Edition tin of Watercolor Postcard for the purposes of a giveaway. All thanks go to Hahnemühle for their generosity.
Disclaimer: I earned a Hahnemühle Watercolor block at Doodlewash using DO points. The rest of the items,including this Limited Edition Watercolor tin, were graciously offered by Hahnemühle when I mentioned holding a giveaway for the block.
Fun & Easy Landscapes step-outs, step-wiselys or step-by-steps are posted every Friday.
For a full list and links to Fun & Easy Landscape Step-outs, Step-by-steps, Step-wiselys and guide rules go here.
Want to share your Fun & Landscapes or find prompts and challenges? Join the Fun & Easy Landscape Facebook Group here!
This is the third of eight giveaways planned. (now closed) Today's subject is their tin of Watercolour Postcards with the Jubilee lid. The giveaway is international. Entry information is waaay down the page after the review. Please consider visiting Hahnemühle's Facebook page or website to learn more about their wonderful line of products.
Specs
- Paper: Akademie Watercolour Paper
- Natural White
- Rough texture
- Archival
- Acid free
- Age resistant
- Unbleached
Size: A6/ 10,5 x 14,8 cm/ 6.5 x 4.5 x 1.1 in
Weight: 230gsm/85 lb
No. of Cards: 30 postcards per tin
Address panel printed on the reverse
Rounded corners on both tin and postcards
Look & Feel
The Tin
Hahnemühle Watercolour Postcards come in a metal box with a reproduced painting on the lid. While the postcards and the construction of the tin are always the same, 10 editions exist with different paintings. The tin I'm reviewing is the Jubilee Edition: Watercolour Postcard Box with Venice Motif. The tin I'm giving away is the Limited Artist Edition. The only difference between the two tins is the painting on the tin's lid.
The jubilee tin is the 10th edition and the painting is by Alexa Dilla. You can find out more about her painting in the Hahnemühle blog entry -Jubilee Edition: Watercolour Postcard Box with Venice Motif.
The tins are rectangular, with rounded corners. The metal is light and at 6.5 x 4.5 x 1.1 inches, it is good for carry. The top and bottom have some flex, while the sides are stiffer. It will be possible to dent the tins, but even though I tried, I couldn't scratch off any of the painting. I haven't had mine long enough to give it much rough wear, but I think the painting will hold up well.
Here is a size comparison showing the postcard tin next to a YouTangle.Art tin and an Altoids tin.
0The postcard tin is deeper than both. Besides the 30 postcards, there is a Styrofoam insert so, if you remove that, you have a little room to carry a small watercolor brush or something similar.
If there are others like me out there (and I know there are!) who are likely to turn their tin into a watercolor palette once they've used the postcards, you can fit 26 full pans into one. I don't have enough half-pans to know for sure, but it will probably fit around 40 or so.
The Postcards
Like the tin, the postcards have rounded corners. They are natural white, 4 x 6 inches, 85 lb paper. The back side is divided into writing and address areas, with lines for the address.
I've used colored pencil, Fude-style brush pen, technical drawing pen, fineliner marker pens, and watercolor on mine. The rough surface gives a broken line effect, but will fill in. It creates an interesting blended effect when you layer your colors. The roughness means that small details may be lost.
Performance
I didn't test these cards in my usual manner. Every week day, I do a simple drawing or painting of an animal with a fact or two about it, to put in my husband's lunch bag (yes. He's a child at heart, and I love him for it!). I was getting behind, both with these and with my reviews, so I decided I'd use his dailies for review purposes.
The texture of these postcards is more like a series of closely placed speed-bumps than the sharp, toothy surface that many watercolor papers have. I wanted to test a fiber-tipped pen, but decided to start with the largest, most sturdy type I know of. So, for my first effort, I used a Sharpie pen to draw my subject. I could see no damage to pen or paper. It isn't the paper I would choose as first choice for pen drawing. You feel the rough surface as you are drawing, bump, bump bumpity-bump. I like the effect if gives, but probably many wouldn't.
I used colored pencils to color in the drawing. The broken line effect occurs with pencil as it did with pen, and had the side effect of wearing the colored pencil down. I could have continued to fill in color and make it all darker, but ran out of time. Still, I like the result.
For my second effort, I decided to use a Fude-style pen. The flexible plastic nib on this kind of pen won't fray as easily as the nylon-fiber tips, but can be bent or torn. I used it on the postcard with no sign of damage to pen or paper. (I forgot to erase the pencil lines before scanning, but as you can see a 2B pencil lead works fine on the paper.)
Afterward, I added watercolor. The paper curled when first wet. I just carefully curled it in the opposite direction. It stayed flat enough for painting after that. Watercolor moves well on these cards. The paint reactivates easily, which means glazing over dry paint may result in lifting color rather than adding more color. This has pros and cons - you can more easily remove a mistake or add muted highlights, but you might accidentally remove something you want to keep or get a blend of colors rather than a gentle change of tint. But the best results will come from quick single layers of color.
I decided to take a chance with a smaller more delicate fiber-type pen, so I used fineliner marker pens with a small tip. I used a very light touch, allowing the broken line effect to give me a range of light values. I added several layers of color, using a visual blending effect and was very pleased with the result. I had no sign of damage to either the pens or paper. I do suspect this paper would shorten the life of a fiber-tipped pen, so I'd use them sparingly or use pens cheap enough to be replaced more often.
For the last example, I decided to try a fully worked out painting, lifting color for effect. I did have a little problem building up values but it was doable. I was quite happy with my finished painting. Doing this kind of painting on these postcards would be for someone who wanted a challenge or was familiar with this kind of surface. If you've ever painted on Yupo, it is similar. Yupo is far worse, though.
Overall
Hahnemühle Watercolor Postcards come in a metal tin. There are 10 versions of this tin, with a different painting for each edition. The tin has rounded corners and has room to add drawing or painting materials and to be used for many different storage purposes once you've finished with your postcards.
The postcards also have rounded corners and have lines printed on one side for writing. The surface texture is a linen-like rough. Some cards have the texture running the length and some the width of the card. Pen, Pencil, Colored Pencil and Watercolor all work well on the cards. I didn't try acrylic paint, but I don't see why it wouldn't work as well.
The rough texture gives your work an interesting textured effect. Some people will love working on these cards, and some won't. I wouldn't use fiber-tipped pens unless I didn't mind shortening their usuable life (though I do love the effect I get with them).
Other Reviews
Who Can Enter?
What Is the Prize? One winner will receive a tin of Hahnemühle Watercolour Postcards with a Limited Edition lid cover (pictured below).
How to Enter? Cut and paste these words: 'I want to win a tin of Hahnemühle Postcards' into the subject line of an email, and send it to me at LifeImitatesDoodles [at] Gmail [dot] com. (replace the words enclosed in [ ] with an @ and a . and make sure there are no spaces).
When does the giveaway start and end? The giveaway starts on Sunday 10/22/17 at 05:00 AM PDT and ends Sunday 10/29/17 at 11:59 PDT. I'll notify the winners on 10/30/17, by responding to the email sent as an entry.
Who is Giving Away the Prizes? Hahnemühle sent me this Limited Edition tin of Watercolor Postcard for the purposes of a giveaway. All thanks go to Hahnemühle for their generosity.
You can find Hahnemuhle products at the following stores. Not all products can be found at all stores, and some carry the line, but may not have them listed.
DAVINCI ARTIST SUPPLY
STORE 20
132 WEST 21ST STREET
NEW YORK, NY 10011
212-871-0220
WET PAINT INC
1684 GRAND AVENUE
ST. PAUL, MN 55105
651-698-6431
Hyatt’s Graphic Supply
910 Main St.
Buffalo, NY 14022
800-234-9288
Rochester Art Supply Inc.
150 W. Main St.
Rochester, NY 14614
585-546-6509
Blicks
Cheap Joe's (online only)
FLAX ART & DESIGN -
3600 S EL CAMINO REAL
SAN MATEO, CA 94403
650-350-1990
About Hahnemühle
Hahnemühle is the oldest German papermaker, manufacturing papers for traditional and digital artists as well as industrial papers. Their distinguishing feature is the ability to combine tradition with modern technologies. They developed the first acid free and archivable machine made paper and the first Fine Art Inkjet papers.
They have produced their paper at the same place for more than 430 years.
Papers characterized by the Hahnemühle ‘Rooster’ are produced with focus on quality instead of quantity.
You can read more about Hahnemühle's history here.
DAVINCI ARTIST SUPPLY
STORE 20
132 WEST 21ST STREET
NEW YORK, NY 10011
212-871-0220
WET PAINT INC
1684 GRAND AVENUE
ST. PAUL, MN 55105
651-698-6431
Hyatt’s Graphic Supply
910 Main St.
Buffalo, NY 14022
800-234-9288
Rochester Art Supply Inc.
150 W. Main St.
Rochester, NY 14614
585-546-6509
Blicks
Cheap Joe's (online only)
FLAX ART & DESIGN -
3600 S EL CAMINO REAL
SAN MATEO, CA 94403
650-350-1990
About Hahnemühle
Hahnemühle is the oldest German papermaker, manufacturing papers for traditional and digital artists as well as industrial papers. Their distinguishing feature is the ability to combine tradition with modern technologies. They developed the first acid free and archivable machine made paper and the first Fine Art Inkjet papers.
They have produced their paper at the same place for more than 430 years.
Papers characterized by the Hahnemühle ‘Rooster’ are produced with focus on quality instead of quantity.
You can read more about Hahnemühle's history here.
******
Links to Tangles, Tutorials and Giveaways are posted every Monday, Wednesday and Saturday.Fun & Easy Landscapes step-outs, step-wiselys or step-by-steps are posted every Friday.
For a full list and links to Fun & Easy Landscape Step-outs, Step-by-steps, Step-wiselys and guide rules go here.
Want to share your Fun & Landscapes or find prompts and challenges? Join the Fun & Easy Landscape Facebook Group here!
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