Yupo paper is a wonderful surface to work on with many media, including watercolor. The most interesting properties of yupo paper to me are the fact that when the paint dries, a lot of textures are appearing and also the fact that if you make a mistake, you can just take a wet cloth or tissue paper and wipe off the paint. If you don’t have access to Yupo paper, you have some ways to emulate what it feels like to paint on yupo paper by using a yupo paper alternative. For this you have to make your paper water resistant.
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Yupo is a compelling and unique alternative to traditional art papers. It’s a synthetic paper, machine-made in the USA of 100% polypropylene. It is waterproof, stain resistant, and extremely strong and durable. PH neutral.
To make a yupo paper alternative you will need:
Regular drawing paper
Gel medium
Paint- I used watercolor
All you have to do is paint a layer of gel medium on top of regular or watercolor paper. The gel medium, once dried will make the paper water-resistant.
To make an alternative to yupo paper, paint a layer of gel medium, using a soft brush so you don’t risk damaging the paper.
I am a Blick Art Materials affiliate and I receive a small compensation for sales. That does not effect in any way the cost of the purchaser’s order but it helps me keeping the content of this blog free.
Gel mediums are ideal for extending a heavy body paint, to create impasto, relief, or sculptural effects. – Gel Medium, Gloss
You can then paint with watercolors on top of the gel medium. You might see the brushstrokes that left an imprint on the gel medium because the watercolor will accumulate in these ridges, I like that effect.
This surface works well for painting wet on wet, colors will mix and dry with lots of textures.
If you paint the medium on top of a graphite drawing, you can still see your drawing when painting but it won’t be erasable. I don’t mind that as I like when the drawing is visible and part of the painting.
As with yupo paper you cannot really layer colors as they will lift when brushed over on alternative to yupo paper.
I am a Blick Art Materials affiliate and I receive a small compensation for sales. That does not effect in any way the cost of the purchaser’s order but it helps me keeping the content of this blog free.
Same palette of traditional colors the great masters used a century ago. Liquid-poured means semi-moist pans respond instantly to a wet brush. 24 pans in plastic case. Also individual pans. – Master Set
but you can try painting colors on top of each over and let the mix on the paper until you are happy with the results.
You can’t layer colors but you can paint wet on wet or wet on dry. Here the skin is painted wet on wet and the features are painted wet on dry.
You can easily lift off color with a wet tissue paper.
Originally from France, I have been living in North Vancouver, Canada for the past 20 years.
My work has been collected and exhibited extensively in Canada and internationally. I am also part of the Art Rentals and sales program of the Vancouver Art Gallery.
Many of my paintings have been published in Art books and magazines (Artist Magazine, Watercolor Artist Magazine, Acrylic Magazine, International Artist Magazine). I wrote 2 art instruction books with North Light/F+W Books.
I have been writing for the last 5 years for my blog: paintingdemos.com, that has a mailing list of about 10 000 subscribers and about 20 000 visitors per month.
I am an active member in the community, as a co-founder of the North Shore Art crawl, a co-founder of a weekly life drawing group, a board member of the North Vancouver Arts Council, and have been invited as a juror for public art, art grants and juried exhibitions. You can read more about my collaborations here.
Absolutely beautiful work. I have Yupo pads and have done some acrylic inks etc.
Love how u put the white around and on the paper. When I can afford it I will buy your book. Great work.!
[…] An alternative to Yupo paper: Gel medium on regular paper. […]
Wendi
Hi Sandrine! I tried the gel medium but my paints went right through it. I am using a Liquitex Mat Gel Medium. Should I use glossy instead? How many coats? I tried one light but full coverage, and one thicker with full coverage. Thanks!
Hi Wendy,
I am surprised as this never happened to me. Did you dilute the medium in water?
Did you leave enough time for the medium to dry ? I left my papers dry overnight.
It should work with mat or gloss medium, I experimented with both. My medium was by Opus and is quite thick but any medium should give you at least a fair degree of waterproof-ness.
Wendi
I let it dry 24 hours. Maybe I didn’t put enough on. I’ll keep trying! Thanks!
Wendi
[…] You might also be interested in: An alternative to Yupo paper: Gel medium on regular paper. […]
Gary
Thank you! I was about to invest in painting on Yupo and you just saved me a TON of money! Not only that, but I had read some nightmare stories of how difficult it is to mount artwork done on Yupo (it resists all adhesives, except those made for polypropylene), as well as its high susceptibility to UV degradation. No such problems with good ol’ paper!
Hello Kristina,
I haven’t experimented with enamel paint but that sounds like a good idea. Let me know how it works out if you try it 🙂
Aino
This is a super idea! Why didn’t I think of this? 🙂 Can’t wait to try.
Caroline
If you can’t get Yupo, stone paper makes a very interesting alternative. I found it in Office Supplies stores. Its also waterproof, shiny, and watercolours do weird and wonderful things on it, but it holds graphite and biro. There are so many new synthetic papers coming out now to experiment with, and so little time to play with them all, lol!
*after a quick google* It seems stone paper isn’t very long-lived – a UK website for Parax Paper (stone paper) says: when exposed to direct UV light for over a year, Parax Paper will begin to crack, like an egg shell and gradually return back to nature as calcium carbonate, once again becoming stone. This might be great for the environment, but not for longevity of your artwork!! Have you had any issues? I try to work with archival properties in mind on the off chance I produce something worth keeping!!
Very interesting and yes you want your paper to be archival. This is what I found on the Opus website:
Mitz Terraskin Stone Paper is a biodegradable paper constructed from rock powder and non-toxic resin. This paper harvests no trees and uses no water, strong acids or bases in its production, making it environmentally friendly and naturally degradable in a timeframe of 3-9 months. It will not degrade if properly framed indoors. Its stone construction makes it a completely unique water and tear-resistant surface.
Thanks Sandrine – I guess if you used a UV protective fixative/varnish before framing it might give extra protection, but might not be one for the museum!
Have used Yupo and it is really interesting to work on. Gel medium is a great idea as Yupo is tricky to get in the UK. Do you seal it with spray matt varnish afterwards?
Thanks Liz.
Yes I do spray with fixative as a preventive measure, but because the paintings are on paper, they would need to be framed under glass anyways.
I did nt varnish those ones, but I would have if they were to be mounted on board instead of being framed.
Comments (24)
Jayne Hurford
Absolutely beautiful work. I have Yupo pads and have done some acrylic inks etc.
Love how u put the white around and on the paper. When I can afford it I will buy your book. Great work.!
Sandrine Pelissier
Thanks Jayne 🙂
bloom
Can you substitute Tyvek for Yupo?
Sandrine Pelissier
Yes, I think they might be of similar composition.
Figures in watercolor and pen
[…] An alternative to Yupo paper: Gel medium on regular paper. […]
Wendi
Hi Sandrine! I tried the gel medium but my paints went right through it. I am using a Liquitex Mat Gel Medium. Should I use glossy instead? How many coats? I tried one light but full coverage, and one thicker with full coverage. Thanks!
Sandrine Pelissier
Hi Wendy,
I am surprised as this never happened to me. Did you dilute the medium in water?
Did you leave enough time for the medium to dry ? I left my papers dry overnight.
It should work with mat or gloss medium, I experimented with both. My medium was by Opus and is quite thick but any medium should give you at least a fair degree of waterproof-ness.
Wendi
I let it dry 24 hours. Maybe I didn’t put enough on. I’ll keep trying! Thanks!
Wendi
Sandrine Pelissier
Thanks Wendy, let me know how it goes 🙂
An alternative to yupo paper – part 2: Painting a still life
[…] You might also be interested in : An alternative to Yupo paper: Gel medium on regular paper. […]
prepping paper with gesso or gel medium, a comparison on ARTiful, painting demos
[…] You might also be interested in: An alternative to Yupo paper: Gel medium on regular paper. […]
Gary
Thank you! I was about to invest in painting on Yupo and you just saved me a TON of money! Not only that, but I had read some nightmare stories of how difficult it is to mount artwork done on Yupo (it resists all adhesives, except those made for polypropylene), as well as its high susceptibility to UV degradation. No such problems with good ol’ paper!
kristina
Great idea, do you think spraying watercolor paper with clear acrylic enamel paint in spray, would work as well?
Sandrine Pelissier
Hello Kristina,
I haven’t experimented with enamel paint but that sounds like a good idea. Let me know how it works out if you try it 🙂
Aino
This is a super idea! Why didn’t I think of this? 🙂 Can’t wait to try.
Caroline
If you can’t get Yupo, stone paper makes a very interesting alternative. I found it in Office Supplies stores. Its also waterproof, shiny, and watercolours do weird and wonderful things on it, but it holds graphite and biro. There are so many new synthetic papers coming out now to experiment with, and so little time to play with them all, lol!
Sandrine Pelissier
Yes that is right:) I love drawing on stone paper because it makes very crisp lines.
Liz Chaderton
Never even heard of stone paper! Will google and experiment. Wonder if we have it over here……
Liz Chaderton
*after a quick google* It seems stone paper isn’t very long-lived – a UK website for Parax Paper (stone paper) says: when exposed to direct UV light for over a year, Parax Paper will begin to crack, like an egg shell and gradually return back to nature as calcium carbonate, once again becoming stone. This might be great for the environment, but not for longevity of your artwork!! Have you had any issues? I try to work with archival properties in mind on the off chance I produce something worth keeping!!
Sandrine Pelissier
Very interesting and yes you want your paper to be archival. This is what I found on the Opus website:
Mitz Terraskin Stone Paper is a biodegradable paper constructed from rock powder and non-toxic resin. This paper harvests no trees and uses no water, strong acids or bases in its production, making it environmentally friendly and naturally degradable in a timeframe of 3-9 months. It will not degrade if properly framed indoors. Its stone construction makes it a completely unique water and tear-resistant surface.
Sandrine Pelissier
It is the same as regular paper I guess. If it gets wet or too much exposed to UV it will also deteriorate.
Liz Chaderton
Thanks Sandrine – I guess if you used a UV protective fixative/varnish before framing it might give extra protection, but might not be one for the museum!
Liz Chaderton
Have used Yupo and it is really interesting to work on. Gel medium is a great idea as Yupo is tricky to get in the UK. Do you seal it with spray matt varnish afterwards?
Sandrine Pelissier
Thanks Liz.
Yes I do spray with fixative as a preventive measure, but because the paintings are on paper, they would need to be framed under glass anyways.
I did nt varnish those ones, but I would have if they were to be mounted on board instead of being framed.