The Northern Arizona Watercolor Society (NAWS) in Sedona, AZ recently invited me to present a seminar on how and why I use Aquabord™ for my watercolor paintings. I’ve been painting with watercolors for nearly 15 years, and started using standard watercolor papers. About 7 years ago, I read an article about Aquabord as an alternative surface and decided to give it a try…I’ve been using it ever since!

The NAWS seminar was part of the society’s regular monthly meeting and over 50 watercolor artists turned out on a beautiful Sedona morning. At the beginning of my presentation, I asked the group how many had used Aquabord, and a few hands went up. At the conclusion of the seminar, I asked how many now thought they would give Aquabord a try and nearly everyone enthusiastically raised their hands.

So, what’s so special about Aquabord as a watercolor surface? Here are just a few features:

• Aquabord is an acid-free clay, textured surface coated on to a hard board – very similar to a fine 140-lb watercolor paper. The hard board makes the clay surface durable with no chance of tearing or wrinkling.
• You can apply paint wet-on-wet, wet-on-dry, dry brush or glaze
• Colors remain bright and dry lighter
• You can use frisket, scrub the surface or even sand it for a finer texture
• Unlike traditional watercolor paper, you can remove paint by scrub brush or angular brush for the appearance of fine lines or highlights
• You can remove all the paint if necessary right down to the white board – easy to erase mistakes
• Once your painting is complete, you varnish the surface – no mat or glass is required, just slip it into a frame

I’d like to thank NAWS for their invitation to speak to their group. For more information about NAWS go to their web site: http://www.naws-az.org/.

For more information about Aquabord, go to their site: https://ampersandart.com/aquabord.php

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In the interest of full disclosure, I am NOT a representative or paid spokesperson for Aquabord or its manufacturer (Ampersand™). I simply find this product to be the best surface for my style of detailed watercolor painting.

Here are a few photographs of the seminar and some of the attendees: