This painting is 15” x 20” on Hot Press illustration board. The illustration board is thicker than paper, and is designed to not buckle. Though it DOES tend to warp into a curve, I just stick some books on top of it when it's completed and totally dried, and it flattens right out. It's probably about 1/16" to 1/8" thick. As for the Hot-press/Cold press issue, I can only tell you what works for me. Everything I've ever heard or read says don't use hot-press for watercolor or for colored pencil because it’s too smooth. And I've been using it for both in combination. But I’m a detail freak, and I like the tight, tight details I can get on the hot press. I use cold press for my more “fuzzy” paintings with less detail work.

I had a previously existing drawing that people liked very much. I decided to work with that as a basis for the dancer in the new painting. I also had a sketch of an idea for a “festival dragon”. I decided to combine the two into one new piece. (This is the importance of sketching and doodling. You never know when a couple of ideas that might not work well on their own can combine into one really great painting idea.)  

I then did several small sketches to decide how I wanted to approach the layout of the characters.

Here is a shot of the original full-sized drawing. Notice all the little comments and notes to myself written all over the margins? They help me remember what I'm thinking for the next time I go back to work on the piece. Please note that these digicam shots are much darker than the actual painting.  

And a small shot of me working out the knotwork sketch.

After transferring the knotwork elements to the board I realized that the knotwork line on the right-hand side isn’t poitioned exactly straight. Since I rarely sell my originals, I figure that I can just fix this in photoshop once it’s done. Lesson learned: put ALL of your elements on one piece of paper before transferring the drawings to the board!

I ink the darkest parts of the drawing in Higgins waterproof India ink. These are only the darkest areas and deepest of shadow areas. I draw the really delicate lines with a pen. I use technical pens in different sizes. I use the kind you buy filled with ink, not the refillable ones. I used to have a set of those, but they are so hard to clean and refill that they aren't worth the trouble. I only use the pens with "pigment ink" because it's waterproof and does not fade or bleed. Once I have the tiny details inked in, I'll go in with a “good but cheap” brush and fill in the larger areas. I use the ink straight out of the bottle, and do not water it down. You have to put the ink down smoothly in large areas, or it will puddle and have a strange sheen when it dries. I’m filling in the whole background with black. I do not intend to leave it black, but I think the black coating will give the final work an added depth.  

Here's a closeup of the dragon's face and some of the knotwork.

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