The two winners of the toned watercolor books are:
Louise Primeau (Canadian)
Stephanie Alexander (American)
They have been contacted. Congratulations!
I have been begging Hahnemühle for this paper since they came out with the Greybook (review)& Cappuccino (review) sketchbooks. Now, we have it! Toned watercolor paper in three sized books and two tones. Both the grey and tan books come in A5(5″x8.25″) & A6(4″x6″) & square (5.5″x5.5″). Each book has 60 pages of 200gsm watercolor paper. The paper has a fine grain to it and to me, is not hot pressed or cold; it seems in-between. THere’s just enough texture to take both pen and pencil beautifully.
The books are all hardback and covered with a linen-like fabric that coordinates with the tone of the paper. There is a matching secure elastic closure and the requisite red bookmark. The books are lovely and so well made, they are Hahnemühle which always heralds good product.
The Tone:
Above, you can see both the tone and texture of the paper. I defer to Roz from Rozwoundup.com about the tone of this paper. Click the link to read her effusive review. She gives a stellar description of it’s color, much better than I could do, since I don’t do portraits. Essentially, she says the glow of the paper lends itself to both portrait painters and those who do landscape in the Southwest or Southwest adjacent US states.
The Texture:
I was thrilled to find that although there is texture to this paper (I prefer textured paper), it wasn’t enough to deter using pen and ink. My technical pens glided easily over the paper. As you can see in the picture above, my lines have no problematic “skidding”. I achieved good, bold lines when I wanted them but also could use a light touch that allowed for subtlety in my drawing. The paper took the ink beautifully without feathering or any other problems. The general texture of the paper is easy to see here too as I glided several pencil crayons over the background to add a little color to the already tan background.
How The Paper Took Watercolor:
As you can see, watercolor works beautifully on this paper. That would seem obvious as it is watercolor paper. The colors look bright and clear. I found that colors lifted well and allowed me to pick up color where I wanted to. When using staining colors however (see the purple shadow in the pear), much like most watercolor papers, some paint will be left even after scrubbing. I used Dioxazine Purple as my first shadow layer. I was too heavy handed for my first layer. The purple was too dark and as you can see, the edges stayed darker than I wanted even after several attempts to “pick up” color. This is as I would have expected. It’s also the reason adding shadows is always my most trepidatious (and thrilling) time in a painting. Yes, sometimes we get it wrong. But I still like the effect and I think that’s the relationship between your art and the page.
I used titanium white gouache from the tube when creating the Poplar trees. I was darn happy with how this toned paper allowed me to lay down totally opaque white. On the other hand, the fully transparent colors I used for the leaves look so etherial over the tan paper. Pretty darn cool effect with just starting with tan paper!
Brightness On Toned Paper:
This was the most wonderful part of my testing phase. I agree, the above piece is not my usual style. I wanted to do some loose flowers to see how the colors worked on the tan paper. Would the colors look dull? As you know I use mostly transparent watercolors and I was happily surprised that the colors came out bright and energetic. The tan does not dull the vibrancy, my transparent watercolors still jump off the page!
Overall Thoughts:
I want bigger books! I’m not alone in this. I know that was the only complaint Roz had in her review. I would love any larger landscape, A4 (8″ x 11″) or a 9″ X 12″ or even an 8″ x 10″. I know Roz likes portrait orientation so I think we’ll need a larger A4 landscape AND portrait book to make us happy, lol.
I also think I’ll love the grey toned book better than the tan. I don’t live in the Southwest and I also don’t do portraits. I found that generally, the tan didn’t lend itself to my choice of subject. But that’s a personal choice. You all know how I gushed over the color of the Greybook sketchbook that Hahnemühle came out with a few years ago. Still, that color and tone calls to me weekly to go have a play.
The paper worked well with watercolor. White paper will always be my goto but there is something uniquely fun about playing on non-white paper. It makes you think about your paint and how you can use that background color to it’s best advantage. If you’d like even more information about this new toned watercolor book then I recommend going to Doodlewash and reading my friend Sandra’s review. She even shows a color comparison of the toned watercolor books and the Greybook/Cappuccino sketchbook. It’s a terrific and informative review.
Until then, I talked to Hahnemühle and they agreed to do a US & Canada giveaway. See below, at the bottom for the GIVEAWAY details!
WHERE TO BUY:
Because of the Pandemic, many stores are not carrying these books yet. Below is where you can get them now and in the near future. For any Hahemühle paper products, look at my WHERE TO BUY page for purchasing across North America.
Canada:
Above Ground Art Supply – IN STOCK
Gwartzman’s – COMING SOON
USA:
Wet Paint Art Store – IN STOCK
GIVEAWAY:
We’re gonna do this old school. Hahnemühle has agreed to give an A5 landscape toned watercolor book to ONE Canadian AND ONE American. So, what I’m gonna do is just get you to comment below if you’d like to win.
IF you are Canadian, comment the word ‘CANADIAN’ in a comment below.
IF you are American, Comment the word ‘AMERICAN’ in a comment below.
(please be a subscriber if you’d like to win, I’d appreciate it and it makes sure I have your info to contact you if you are a winner).
That’s it. This Sunday, I’ll choose one Canadian and one American reader who will win an A5 landscape toned watercolor book! I’ll contact the winners and get your mailing address and telephone number for shipping purposes.
Tracy
AMERICAN
This is a great review Jenn – I love that you have so many examples of work for this. I have other papers in toned paper, but have to say that I’m really excited for these Hahnemuhle books. The covers on their journals are so wonderful and the other books of theirs I have lay absolutely flat. I’m primarily a plein air kind of person and while 5×8 is my usual size, I have become fond of 7×10 and 8×10 sizes lately – but always landscape format for me 🙂 My one exception is July. When “World of Watercolor” month rolls around and I try to do a daily watercolor, there is nothing that can beat a 5×5 journal size when you’re up past bedtime trying to get a painting done before midnight lol.
June
American. Great review Jenn. Thank you to you and Hahnemule. Stay safe and well.
Linda Ogle
American
Shelley Butcher
Canadian
Thank you for the opportunity!
Cora C
American
Naomi Deren
Would love this as I have time to ecperiment! CANADIAN
Trisha M
American
Chloe
AMERICAN
I’ve been dying to try the toned Hahemühle watercolor paper!!
Dee Sawyers
American
Terri B
Canadian
Laura Hale
Thank you for the thorough review. My favorite part of receiving your emails is a chance to see more of your art.( I may have a case of daffodil envy.) American.
Anna Y Guettabi
American.
oh, thank you for the review! this is fantastic.
Rita Carpenter
American
Yvonne
CANADIAN
Exciting! I’ve never tried toned paper.
Susan Cuss
Loved seeing your watercolours on the tan paper! Good to know it doesn’t affect the colours. Canadian.
Karen Colson
🇺🇸 American 🇺🇸. Thank you , Jenn.
Clare Taylor
American
Winnie Q.
American
This was such a great review – I love the detail you included! Painting is on my list to learn this year.
Ginger DeValue
American – I, too, am thrilled about the new paper. Hahnemühle is my favorite watercolor sketchbook and I can’t wait to try the new ones. I’m really dying to try the cream first.
Anne
CANADIAN
Great review, thank you! Your comments about how the paper worked with pen and ink as well as watercolour were very useful. Good that you tested it with staining and non-staining co!ours too. I also appreciated your comments about the comparison between the gray shade and the tan shade.
Rebecca Meyer
AMERICAN
Always love to try new products. This color gives kind of a vintage look that would be interesting to experiment with.
Barbara Aronis
AMERICAN
Heather Swanson
Canadian Thankyou for the chance.
Sharon Gullikson
AMERICAN
Siu
American
I love my Hahnemühle watercolor sketchbook and can’t wait to try their tones watercolor sketchbooks! Thank you for the review!
Stephanie Alexander
American. This looks like so much fun to work on!
Sandra Strait
Don’t add me to the giveaway, please, since I already have copies! I just wanted to say FANTASTIC review!
Dawn Giddings
American
Jean Marmo
review filled with great information! Thank you so much! Your pieces are so much fun! Thank you for the wonderful opportunity!
Ann
This American is very excited about toned watercolor paper. Can’t wait to try both colors.
Alice McIntyre
American 🤣🌈!
Shizuka Otake
American
Your birch tree painting is stunning!
I’m really curious about this paper. I’ve used Hannehmuhle’s Nostalgie notebooks which take ink beautifully.
Lisa Cihlar
American
Jane
AMERICAN
Jill H
AMERICAN
Jessica ko
AMERICAN
Have been seeing this brand for a while. I would really love to try them! The paper looks so gosh darn gorgeous!!!
Mary
American
Victoria Woods
AMERICAN
This was such a nice review and I’m really excited to try and get ahold of one to try out! I’ve been really loving toned sketchbook paper lately in a warm grey color. It somehow seems less intimidating than bright white papers to me. Toned watercolor paper just seems so cool!!
Aneta
American 🇺🇸
I hope all is well💗🤗
Priscilla DeConti
American and I agree bigger would be nice!
susie
AMERICAN
What you do with this paper is fantastic, I’m looking forward to having this available in more areas as time goes on.
Thank you for the giveaway!
Mariam G.
AMERICAN
Jenn, I had seen Sandra’s review on Doodlewash and now, after reading yours, I want to try these more than ever! Can’t wait until they are more readily available!
Linda Webster
Canadian. I love the watercolour flowers!
Linda B
American
Enjoyed the excellent review.
Phong H.
American. I love using the Hähnemuhle Watercolor Book for my sketches. Can’t wait to try out its toned version!
Margret
Canadian
Jane
American. Thank you for the review.
monique s
Would so love this. Painting is my new hobby AMERICAN
Steve Waller
Canadian
Anna B.
Thanks for the review and giveaway opportunity!
AMERICAN
Elaine
CANADIAN
Carol Hartmann
American
Dawn Carr
AMERICAN
Thank you so much for all your reviews. They are so informative and interesting to read! They give us a good perspective on the product.
Vicky Kirby
AMERICAN
Love their paper and sketchbooks so really excited to see toned version! Thanks for offering the giveaway 😉
Lynn Milewski
American
Love the review! Would love to see the the paper in the larer size as well!
Jerri E.
An American from California. Thank you.
Lakshmi Yendapalli
AMERICAN
Laura Flath
American
Lakshmi Yendapalli
AMERICAN
JOAN WILSON
Canadian
Jenneke
Canadian and would love to try out this paper that you and Roz tout so highly!
Fran
American. It sounds like a great book to use. Can’t wait to get my hands on it. Thanks for the opportunity.
Benadette
I’d love to try the tan colored papers. The texture looks great, just enough to hold the water well. I don’t usually do portraits but the color is so conducive to florals, landscapes and painting my tan colored kitty! Yes, the larger pages would be wonderful but the smaller sizes make carrying them along in my purse so much easier.
wen
AMERICAN – these are fabulous, the pen and ink piece is stunning, and really pops on that paper!
Natali
I love Hahnemühle’s paper and would love to try their toned papers.
I live in America! 😍
Margaret Zaleski
American
Barbara Gray
AMERICAN
I enjoyed your review and can”t wait to try out the new toned watercolor paper.
Thank you for this great giveaway. Barbara
Sandra Gilbert
AMERICAN
paige
CANADIAN
I have been so interested in these ever since i heard about them and your review is so thorough- thank you so much! I would love to try this paper for portraits- i really think it would be wonderful. I Also love working with charcoal which always looks amazing on toned paper too! Thank you so much for the review and chance to win!
Alice Roche
American – I would love to use these papers, beautiful quality!!!
kelly woods
American- thank you
Ruofan
American
I love drawing/painting on toned paper. It would be so awesome to try these sketchbooks.
Louise
Canadian
Mary Beth McDonough
American
Denise Chapel
American…great review and I do love Hahnemühle paper. I’ve never tried toned paper of any sort but am interested to give it a try.
DebP
Canadian – would love to work in this medium,
Sharon Nolfi
AMERICAN.
Thanks for this review and for having this giveaway.
Julie Miller
American
Treava
CANADIAN
Great review! I’ve been wanting one of these since I first heard about them. Thank you for this opportunity!
Tina
American.
Kathy Delumpa Allegri
American
Karen, I enjoyed your review and I do love painting on Hahnemühle papers. Stay well!
Theresa
American
Wow! Love your birch trees and colorful flowers. So pretty! This looks like nice paper. I would definitely like to try it. Thanks for the great review.
Carol L
‘AMERICAN’ — thx for the wonderful review. Watercolour paper!!! How exciting ; )
Anthony
American
Tasha Cooper
Canadian, eh? What a review. Who could resist not wanting to try out the paper for themselves?
Becky Winters
I love their paper…America…USA
PENNY H
American
Pat W
AMERICAN. I’d love to try this beautiful paper.
Lisa Anderson
AMERICAN. Thanks!
Hope Hanley
American
Mary Van Kleunen
American
Nell
American
I would love to try this book! Thank you!
Lina Barattin
Canadian
gjeneve
I am an American living in the SW so would love to try the toned paper. I have been reading a lot about the toned papers and have been wanting to give them a try.
Angie Lorandos
American
Thanks for a great detailed review…it helps understand the product so much!
Kristine M
American
Jansi King
AMERICAN. Thanks for an excellent review!!!!
Linda Kunsman
AMERICAN
SO good to hear from you again dear Jenn. Your reviews and descriptions are just super! I do like the smaller sized journals;)
And your birches-oh my- this painting is just spectacular!! I do love the flowers though too.
Hope all is well with you and yours, and thank you, thank you for the giveaway offers. Mwah!
Angela Feltes
American. Thanks for the opportunity
Vicki Hollenbeck
America….I have been following you for a long time. I use to live in St. Paul but have moved to Port Ludlow, WA.. Trying to do some kind of art everyday, since being at home social distancing during this Covid-19 pandemic.
Mary H.
AMERICAN…but I live really close to Canada. 🙂
Thanks for the chance to win. These books look beautiful.
Cheryl
American
Thanks for the review. I would love to have the opportunity to try this product!
Jill Bartos
AMERICAN – Thanks for sharing, Jennifer, your reviews are always so helpful and inspiring. Your cheerful flowers are my favorite, they look like they’re happy spring is here. Hahnemuhle’s watercolor books look great, I’m curious to try their toned watercolor paper.
Susan Huhn-Bowles
AMERICAN
Love the wc paintings. The paper looks really seductive. Want some. SJHB
Nancy Sapp
AMERICAN – ALL the way!!
SUSAN VHOUSE
American. Beautiful artwork, BTW! Thanks for the giveaway.
Linda
This would be great to get the creative juices flowing. Canadian.
Nancy
AMERICAN
Cathy Oppedisano
CANADIAN
Always feels good to see and read about what you’ve got in store for us.
Maryann Kavanagh
American
OMG. This toned watercolor paper looks AMAZING!!!
Nancy Miess
‘AMERICAN’
Susan
AMERICAN
Thanks for the review and the giveaway!
Gail M West
‘AMERICAN’
DebP
Hi, Canadian. Thank you so much!
BrendaLea Abbott
American
Great review
Elde
American
Linda P
Canadian. Would love to try these out.
Connie Diggs
American
Natalie Hutchison
Canadian
Thanks for doing this great giveaway
Julie Knowles
I’m American, thanks!
Karen Luz
American
Barbara Bradley
Canadian. Would love this!! 💞
Rain Longson
Canadian, on the west coast. I go hiking and do plenty of plein air painting.
I would love either of these, such a book would be perfect for my nature studies <3
Bonnie Elliot
Canadian. Would love to win.
Kaci
CANADIAN
Vicki Ross
American
Barbara Hayes
AMERICAN Great review – Although everyone has their own comfort level with different papers, it’s nice hear how it behaves under certain conditions. Thank you for sharing this.
Suza
Americano
DougD
American
Pauladawn Owen
American. Thank you.