Clairefontaine Watercolor Pad Media Tests and Review

Moving on to the next item from the Exaclair sample package, we will take a closer look at the Clairefontaine 8" X 8" watercolor pad. This wirebound watercolor sketchbook features sturdy translucent plastic covers and a rigid backboard that would make it quite an efficient choice for a compact field kit and sketch crawls. It is fairly easy to wipe the covers clean from any accidental spills, and its solid construction and ideal travel size allow artists to sketch and paint comfortably without an easel or table. While the front plastic cover displays a fairly nice image of a plate of cherries, I would prefer it to be blank so that the art created on the first page could be viewed unhindered by the cover graphics. Alternatively the cover art could be printed on a sheet of paper behind the clear translucent cover, leaving the option to remove it to the user. Though that really would be nitpicking since the 300 gsm cold press Clairefontaine watercolor paper itself is actually quite pleasant to use with a variety of wet media.
Winsor & Newton Artist Watercolors and Daniel Smith Extra Fine Watercolor Sticks color chart.
This photo taken the following day on the library patio fountain under bright sunlight shows how well these artist watercolors look on the Clairefontaine paper.
Managed to draw another couple of color charts while waiting at the mall food court.
Caran D'Ache Museum 3.8 mm watercolor leads color chart wet and dry. Holiday Maneki Neko outlines were drawn with Sakura Pigma Sensei pigment liner pens and colored with the watercolor leads using the Fixpencil 44 leadholder.
Dry marks were readily dissolved with a medium Niji waterbrush yielding bright saturated washes.
Caran D'Ache Neocolor II watercolor crayons color chart. The left side of each swatch was left dry, and the right side was dissolved with a flat Niji waterbrush. This chart was drawn on the back of another color chart, and neither one show through the thick paper. While I normally only use the front page of every sheet in a sketchbook, it is nice that both the front and back of each sheet of Clairefontaine watercolor paper could be effectively painted on if necessary (like when running out of paper while traveling and keeping a watercolor journal).
Faber Castell Albrecht Durer watercolor pencils color chart. The section of dry watercolor pencil swatches in the middle reveals the even texture of the cold press 300 gsm watercolor paper. The outer area was blended with a medium Niji waterbrush producing bright colorful semi-opaque washes.
Faber Castell Albrecht Durer aquarelle sticks color chart. This 30 colors set palette looked fairly bright on this paper. Waterproof outline was drawn with a Uni-ball Signo DX 0.38 black gel pen which skipped a bit on the cold press surface. The same Winsor & Newton Gold Sceptre II 1/4" flat brush used to paint the color swatches was used to quickly color the fantastic menagerie.Caran D'Ache Neoart watersoluble wax pastels dry color chart. These large diameter watercolor crayons allow for quicker coverage and are suited for working in larger scale surfaces.The dry NeoArt swatches dissolved quickly with a 1/2" Utrecht 1162 Sablette wash brush loaded with clean water. The bright semi-opaque washes spread easily on this support.The Clairefontaine Watercolor Pad readily accepted a variety of water soluble media, and would make a fine gift for the watercolor aficionados in your list this coming holiday season. Browsing through the company website, I was quite pleased to learn that this French art paper is manufactured from sustainably managed forests while minimizing the environmental impact of the manufacturing process. It is nice to be able to pick up a fine art paper knowing that it was also created in such a green manner.