Stonehenge Oil

Featured Artist: Charcoal Artist, Nicholas Lantz

Through the Legion Artist Program, Nicholas Lantz tested a variety of papers for his charcoal work. At Legion, we always suggest testing several papers, as each artists hand is different and will find different results.

Learn more about Nicholas Lantz’s work and his journey exploring different surfaces.

“I was really surprised how differently these papers performed given how similar they looked. I expected there to be minor differences, but each paper had its own characteristics.”

Tell us about yourself and your work.

My name is Nick Lantz, I am an artist currently living in Cleveland Ohio. During the day I work as an electrical engineer doing research and development for various space-based systems. Art is a bit of therapy in that regard. Art gets me away from the computer, lets me turn off the rules and use my intuition.

My work evolves from year to year as my skill level and taste change. I think I’ve always been chasing the same type of work and style, but I still haven’t totally found it yet.  The journey continues. I’m really inspired by artists like Jeremy Mann, Zin Lim, Carolyn Anderson, Steve Huston, Jacob Dhein, Roberto Ferri, Mancini, and Fechin to name a select few.  I work a lot in charcoal, mostly because it fits my life better than wet media. I can pick up a stick of charcoal for 15 minutes when I have the time and I don’t have to worry about paint drying too fast or setting up a palette.

Nicholas Lantz testing Stonehenge Oil without Primer

Which papers from Legion did you test out?

Legion sent over a bunch of papers for me to test including Stonehenge, Stonehenge Aqua Hot Press, Stonehenge Oil, Rising Museum Board, Rives Heavyweight, Somerset Satin, Coventry Rag Smooth, Drawing Bristol Vellum, and Drawing Bristol Plate. I also had some Yupo laying around that I added to the stack for fun.

Which papers did you find worked well for you work? what did you like about these papers?

I was really surprised how differently these papers performed given how similar they looked. I expected there to be minor differences, but each paper had its own characteristics.

My favorite paper of the group was the Stonehenge Aqua Hot Press. This paper produces a really nice willow stroke, but when you blend out an edge, you get an amazingly soft transition with just a finger swipe. It sucks up the charcoal dust and doesn’t let go. It also takes to a kneaded eraser with the best of them. More interesting is that it’s a watercolor paper. This opens up a whole area of wet charcoal techniques, including acetone, which usually warps the paper a bit. I’m excited to work with this paper some more.

I also like Stonehenge Oil, which is a really interesting product. Unprimed, you can get an interesting mat finish from the oil sinking in a bit. It accepts layers really well wet-on-wet. I think you could achieve some highly detailed and realistic works with this paper. I have also primed it which results in a wetter, juicier look. Just be a little careful if you use tape to mount the paper for painting like me. It’s cotton, and mild strength tape can pull off the top layer. Clips or magnets are probably a better tool.

The Yupo was a real surprise with oil paint. Talk about juicy brushstrokes! There’s something there, but it’s a little uncontrollable for me. I’m certainly going to experiment more.

I’m also a big fan of the classic Stonehenge. This is the best graphite paper I’ve found.

Nicholas Lantz testing Stonehenge Oil with Primer

Any papers you found challenging?

I found the Bristol Plate a bit difficult to work with in charcoal. This may be a good paper if you prefer compressed charcoal over uncompressed. It just didn’t hold the willow dust very well. The Coventry Rag paper also produced a very wide texture. Not a bad thing, it just doesn’t fit me.  

What materials did you use on these papers?

I used vine, willow, and compressed charcoal on all the papers with the exception of Yupo. I tried Oil paints on most of the thicker papers. I tried oiling out the paper in spots, thick paint, thin paint, galkyd and gamsol washes. I also tried it with gesso.

What characteristics do you look for in a paper? How does paper play a role in your work?

I prefer to use archival papers whenever possible. This isn’t because I think all of my pieces will be around for 100 years, but it puts me in a different mindset when I work. I put in a little more effort and patience when I know the substrate will last. If I’m working on a paper that I know will yellow, I get thoughts like “this is good enough, it won't last anyway”.  This headspace obviously doesn’t produce the best results.

I also prefer a substrate that’s ready to go out of the box. I don’t want to spend my painting time prepping canvases.

Additionally, for charcoal paper, I’m looking for a few extra things.

I want the directionality of large vine/willow strokes to be preserved. Sometimes when you tone an area, you lose the directionality. I can always remove it manually. But that should be my decision, not the papers. Second, I need the paper to hold onto that loose wispy charcoal dust. This really comes into play when blending out soft edges. If the paper doesn’t hold the dust well, even the blender will create hard edges. Third, I need to be able to create a flat tone relatively easily. I like my charcoal work to have a select few highly rendered areas akin to Bargue plates and traditional cast drawings. The paper has a lot to do with achieving this super flat tone.

Any upcoming projects we should look out for?

Is this a challenge? Haha. No, nothing specific. I’m starting to shoot my own reference material, where I can control the lighting and pose. I’m excited to see what finished work comes out of that. We’ll see!

Graphite on Stonehenge White 250gsm by Nicholas Lantz

I think the biggest question might be “why paper at all?” I have always preferred paper because it takes up almost no room when finished. If I painted 100 canvases, they would take up a whole closet. How many friends do you have whose hobby takes up their entire garage? With paper, I can store years’ worth of work in a small museum box. And it’s still ready to throw in a frame at any time. It's also a lot less expensive than other materials. Win win. 

 

Stonehenge Oil: Learn from the Artists

Stonehenge Oil is light, durable 100% cotton that welcomes layers and layers of brushwork while retaining every detail.

Stonehenge Oil doesn’t just do what a canvas can do. It allows you to do so much more and to do it without the need for primer or gesso (That’s right: Zero prep required).

Learn from artists how they are using Stonehenge Oil and why.

Courtney Myers

Tell us about yourself and your work.

My name is Courtney Myers and I am an oil painter. I would say that up until this year I have specialized in landscape painting, but recently I have been trying to branch out and improve my skills in still life and portraiture. 

What materials do you use with Stonehenge Oil?

When painting on Stonehenge Oil Paper, I used my typical oil paint (Winsor and Newton Artist Oils) along with my usual underpainting method which consists of using a mixture of oil paint and mineral spirits. 

How does Stonehenge Oil compare to previous surfaces you were using?

In the past, I have painted on stretched canvas, and canvas panels. I found that painting on Stonehenge Oil Paper was much smoother than painting on a canvas surface.

Why does Stonehenge Oil work well for you?

Stonehenge Oil Paper was absolutely incredible because of it's smoothness. One additional quality that I discovered was that photographing/filming my work on Stonehenge Oil was so much easier than a canvas because although my painting was still wet, it looked matte. My experience with canvas is that it can be difficult photographing my work because I get a bright glare off of my artwork.

What’s your process like in creating a piece?

When painting on Stonehenge Oil Paper, I used my normal process that I would use on canvas. First I sketched out my composition with graphite pencils and set the sketch with a workable fixative. Next, I used an imprimatura underpainting method to give the paper an even wash of an orange/brown color to paint on top of. Lastly, I painted on top of that with my oil paints. The only thing that I did not do that I typically would do on canvas was varnish my finished artwork. 

Advice for artists using Stonehenge Oil.

My advice for anyone using Stonehenge Oil would be to be aware of how much it absorbs. The paper held up amazingly when I toned it with oil paints and mineral spirits (there was absolutely no warping) but next time I paint on Stonehenge Oil, I'll use a thinner underpainting mixture so my underpainting isn't too dark. 

Tell us about yourself & your art.

I’m an artist and instructor from South Carolina. I’m a portrait artist who explores the relationship and intertwining Nature of light and shadow and the composition as a whole. 

What materials do you use with Stonehenge Oil?

I’ve used Winsor and  Newton water miscible oil paints and charcoal with Stonehenge oil.

How does Stonehenge Oil compare to previous surfaces you were using?

Stonehenge is a great surface to work with compared to other oil surfaces without the prep. 

Why does Stonehenge Oil work well for you?

Stonehenge paper is convenient. It allows me to create custom sizes without using standard sizes and canvases easily. Stonehenge paper can also be stretched over stretcher bars if I still crave the canvas bounce. 

What’s your process like in creating a piece?

I can’t recall there being anything special I do differently with Stonehenge vs. other oil substrates. I begin my process by figuring out the dimensions for the painting that best works for the overall composition. I start sketching with a soft pencil or charcoal to avoid scratching the paper as it is very soft. I seal my drawing with a fixative if I haven’t drawn the composition directly with oil first, then I paint. 

Advice for artists using Stonehenge Oil.

Stonehenge is very soft as it is 100% cotton, so you have to be careful not to use any hard materials to scratch the surface that could be seen in the finished product. 

Stonehenge oil is very absorbent, so it allows for more time to work the oil paint before overworking it into mud or moving to new layers faster. 

Stephen Bauman

Stephen Bauman is a classically trained artist that spent 12 years as an instructor in the drawing and painting program of the The Florence Academy of Art. In addition to that, Stephen was the director of the Anatomy & Ecorche Department for 6 years, first in Sweden and then in the USA. In 2020 he left the academy to focus on his efforts on my art career & online courses.

Why does Stonehenge Oil work well for your art?

Legion's Stonehenge Oil paper is my undisputed go to for alla prima and direct oil painting. It holds the brushstrokes perfectly and allows me to work up even gradients unlike any other surface I've worked on.

Why do you prefer Stonehenge Oil over a primed Canvas?

The primary difference between stonehenge Oil and oil primed linen is absorbance. Oil Primed Linen is slick and more difficult to get a pure opaque color onto at the 1st application. This means painting alla prima (in 1 session) is more challenging. Stonehenge Oil absorbs the oil more and so you can lay down clear color values better.

Do you stretch Stonehenge Oil?

Yes, the process is very similar to stretching any paper. Here’s a tutorial on stretching Stonehenge Oil and painting on Stonehenge Oil.