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Becky Jewell

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oil on heavy yupo becky jewell mt elbert.gif

Medium Moment: Oil on Yupo

Becky Jewell November 7, 2018

On a total lark, I bought a sheaf of Yupo paper from the DickBlick store in Washington D.C. last spring. The ‘paper’ was unlike anything I’d ever seen.

Placing colors on Yupo is like putting the color in a vacuum - a color’s unfiltered brightness and truest essences emerge when on Yupo.

After working with Yupo for a while, you realize that it definitely isn’t paper in any sense - made of recycled plastic, it rebuffs water like a duck’s feathers. Colors don’t sink into it, they float on top of it, roiling softly, blending like a dream. It’s more like working on glass than paper or canvas. Think Bristol board but not made of trees. Like painting or drawing on Mylar, Yupo is extremely mutable. You can make a mistake in ink, and remove the mistake with a bit of rubbing alcohol.

Given all of this, I could see no reason why oils wouldn’t work on Yupo, where oil is like ink and turpentine works to erase like rubbing alcohol. That said, oil isn’t exactly advertised to work on Yupo - the Yupo pad itself states that the surface is great for watercolor, alcohol inks, and acrylics. No mention of oil paint anywhere.

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I gave it a try, and spoiler, it’s amazing.

To get started with oils on Yupo I used Yupo Heavy (purple packaging) instead of the Yupo standard (orange packaging) paper. I tend to paint with heavy layers of thick oil paint and painting on anything less sturdy than card seemed unfair, or like it would end in disaster.

I hadn’t seen Yupo Heavy in stores until lately. (Sidenote our local art store in Hyattsville, Maryland is probably the most intimately-stocked store I’ve ever seen. I feel like this store knows my deepest desires, like it knows artists better than they know themselves. More on them soon)



To get oil to flow smoothly over Yupo, I wouldn’t recommend using anything heavy like linseed oil or stand oil. Winsor and Newton Liquin is the key:

Winsor and Newton Liquin medium

Winsor and Newton Liquin medium

The painting above doesn’t even look like an oil painting, it’s more like a watercolor or acrylic ink at this point. Liquin makes layering easy and provides the mutability needed to make oil on Yupo work.

oil paint yupo.JPG


One part Liquin gives oil on Yupo a glassy, alcohol-ink-like feel, with all of the benefits of blending in oil. While Liquin makes oil paints a bit more like acrylics in that it speeds up drying time, it doesn’t dry so fast that you can’t go back and rework within 2 hours.

oil paint on yupo becky jewell artist .jpg



Without Liquin, oil paint can kind of get stuck on Yupo. It goes onto the Yupo and your brush just kind of sticks there - controlling it isn’t as easy.

I did not use Liquin in bulk on these paintings:

kiss me oil paint on yupo becky jewell artist.jpg
sleeping nude 2.jpg

The first challenge is getting the Yupo paper onto an easel-like surface - since it is a sheet rather than a board, it’s a good idea to put the paper on a board or something like it. I used this wooden canvas backing as a support for the Yupo.



Without a decent amount of Liquin I had to keep brushstrokes shorter, and the model looks more like she was cut like a stone rather than flowing.

sleeping nude.jpg

(Sidenote: the Android Google Pixel 2 camera is dope AF for taking photos of paintings and artwork. If things look a bit clearer above, this is why.)

I did like painting on smaller pieces of Yupo but for range, larger pieces (around 8 x 12 or so) work much better. It turns out you can get huge rolls of Yupo, similar to rolls of mylar, for larger work.

More oil on Yupo discoveries:

Will oil paint crack or split on Yupo once dry?

No, it bends as easily as the plastic it’s sitting on. Freezing weather would likely cause cracks, but that’s all I could think of. It’s been a few weeks since making my first painting on Yupo and it’s holding up beautifully.

Since plastic has extreme longevity (think of all the pictures of plastic in the ocean and its tendency to never biodegrade) oil paintings on Yupo could last for a long time. I don’t see yellowing as a problem, as long as the paint utilized is pretty good. I’ll get back to you in a couple years.

Does Yupo work for thick, heavy layers of paint?

The answer is YES, it works just fine and can support quite a lot of paint and impasto medium, up to about half a centimeter at highest. I’d recommend the Yupo heavy version for painting with thick paint.

The smaller Yupo surface worked well for experiments and compact painting, so I decided to branch out and try a larger size.

What else works on Yupo?

To be honest, just about anything. Watercolor pencil looks great, acrylic ink pours on and Yupo holds the color brilliantly. Copic markers work and since they are alcohol-based and the paper is smooth, they blend even more fluidly.

Related blogs:

First Yupo tries! https://www.beckyjewellart.com/blog/2018/1/6/medium-moment-yupo-paper



In Medium Moment Tags oil on yupo, oils on yupo, yupo paper, yupo medium, oil painting, experiments in oil painting, painting, studio life
4 Comments
Clip Studio Paint iPad Pro - .PNG

Medium Moment: Clip Studio Paint for the iPad Pro Revisited

Becky Jewell February 15, 2018

Clip Studio Paint for the iPad Pro continues to be dope. 

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In Medium Moment Tags clip studio paint, clip studio paint ipad pro, ipad pro art, clip studio paint how to export files, export files clip studio, manga studio, ipad pro clip studio paint, brush stabilizer clip studio paint, clip studio paint fill, paintbucket, close gap, clip studio paint settings
2 Comments
The Artograph Flare 100

The Artograph Flare 100

Medium Moment: Artograph Flare 100 Art Projector

Becky Jewell January 28, 2018

WARNING: If you have an extremely romantic view of art production, this Medium Moment might break your heart!

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In Medium Moment Tags art projector, heartbreaking, artograph, realistic portraits, photoshop, weird art
1 Comment

Clip Studio Paint for the iPad Pro

Becky Jewell November 15, 2017

Clip Studio Paint released an excellently intuitive version for the iPad Pro! 

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In Medium Moment Tags ipad pro, apple pencil, clip studio paint, making comics, comics, illustration, digital art, best
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Medium Moment: Procreate 4 on iOS 11

Becky Jewell September 29, 2017

Over the years, I've tried painting with layers of melted plastic, painting with oil on plexiglass, and making large works of art with ink on mylar. Every time I experiment with mediums, I have to ask: 

Does this medium make good art? 

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In Medium Moment Tags procreate, ios 11, ipad pro, new procreate, apple pencil
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ElevationLab DraftTable - iPad Pro Stand-.jpg

Medium Moment: DraftTable for the iPad Pro

Becky Jewell September 20, 2017

After setting up DraftTable, all I can say is, wow. I'm so glad I have it now. It has made my art production routine so much better, and it did so almost immediately.

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In Medium Moment Tags DraftTable, iPad Pro, iPad Pro Support, iPad Pro Stand, Drawing, Discipline, digital art, digital art studio, art accessory, ipad accessory, apple pencil
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Medium Moment: Papermaking

Becky Jewell September 10, 2017

Flyers, newspapers, advertisements, paper stuffed under car windshields, copies of bills that were already paid online, free magazines... the modern world bombards us with paper on a near constant basis. 

Thankfully, even the most boring bank statement can be reborn through the handmade papermaking process.

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In Medium Moment Tags papermaking, handmade paper, salt bae, recycle, reuse, repurpose, art life, appreciating modern technology, slow down, relax with art, handmade, how-to, DIY paper, art, creative
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Medium Moment: Winsor and Newton Drawing Ink

Becky Jewell August 31, 2017

When it comes to writing, or the comic book world, or even body art - the word 'ink' sounds so permanent! 

Yet, these inks from Winsor and Newton feel so refreshing and fun.

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In Medium Moment Tags winsor and newton, drawing ink, colorful ink, inking, relax with art
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Medium Moment: Freedom

Becky Jewell August 23, 2017

I started using Freedom when I heard about it on, of all things, the radio. Freedom is an app that turns off a device's ability to access social media sites. It has made my life so much better ... 

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In Medium Moment Tags Freedom app, focus, concentration, banjo kazooie, social media blocker, artist tools, distraction, focusing, how to focus
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Medium Moment: Body Kun

Becky Jewell May 24, 2017

After refusing to use traditional art mannequins, I thought I would finally give a mannequin a try when I saw an ad for Bandai's Body Kun. 

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In Medium Moment Tags Bandai, Body Kun, Mannequin, art tools, drawing, ipad drawing, cintiq, digital art, demystification, artist, art supplies
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Medium Moment: Drawing Supplies for the Color-Hungry

Becky Jewell January 25, 2017

Imagine a pencil that is made entirely of graphite or the color part of a colored pencil, coated with a faint shell of lacquer that keeps the color from getting all over your fingers. And there you have it - Woodless Colored Pencils. 

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In Art Tools, Medium Moment Tags derwent pastel pencils, pastel pencils, pastels, woodless colored pencils, nupastel, pencils, art supplies
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Medium Moment: Procreate for the iPad Pro

Becky Jewell July 31, 2016

Simple, yet versatile, Procreate helps artists of any level create beautiful work. It's so popular that it has become essential.

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In Medium Moment
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Medium Moment: Adult Coloring Books

Becky Jewell April 30, 2016

You've seen them at Barnes and Nobles, airports, and in the grocery store line. There are radio shows about their popularity, but you're not sure who uses them. Maybe you should buy one for your mom, or maybe Craig in Accounting might like one. 

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In Medium Moment Tags adult coloring books, relax with art
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Shameless Fan Art I Made

Becky Jewell April 21, 2016

From time to time I make fan art, not necessarily for any reason. What I like most about making fan art is that it makes my friends happy. 

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In Medium Moment Tags video games, comics, fan art, photoshop, Procreate App, ocarina of time, captain america, aladdin
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Medium Moment: Removing Oil Paint from Anything

Becky Jewell February 19, 2016

Oil painting gets messy. After all, oil paint is a vegetable-based oil, meant to stick on a surface, bond with it, and never break free. Good oil paints never fade. Heaven forbid you ever get alizarin crimson on your carpet.

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In Medium Moment
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Art, comics travel, books, life! Welcome to my blog!

xoxo

Becky

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