#vellum

it's not the same!!!

parchment and vellum are made of animal skins

Hello~! That sounds like such a fun project! I hope you’re having a blast. ^_^

Ahhh, vellum. Plasticized, translucent paper... such beautiful effects, so difficult for me to work with. Thank you so much for enjoying the watery pieces I’ve done with it!

I’m afraid I don’t really have specific brand recommendations for you, unfortunately—when I buy paper, I’m usually picking up a sheet or two at a time of random brands, sometimes unlabeled, so I’m honestly not too familiar with what brands are out there and which might be the best ones. I’m sorry I’m not more helpful on that front! I can note that I bought a multi-pack of Cridoz vellum a few years ago, largely because I liked the light blue color in it and thought it would suit water nicely. So that’s the brand I’ve used in several of my watery-themed pieces, and I've found it fine to work with! Maybe it would work well for your bookmark too?

As for general advice about working with vellum, the thing I personally find tricky about it is that it’s fairly tough and slightly elastic, meaning that A) I need to press down hard to get my blade into it, so B) my blades snap a lot, and C) because the paper is elastic, it sometimes stretches slightly as I cut it, which throws off the shape I’m trying to achieve. I can be going along happily in a smooth curve or long straight line, and then, usually when trying to change direction or cut out a tighter curve, all of a sudden the paper is literally bending under my blade, distorting the shape—or, much more frustrating, the cut can "skip" and extend beyond my blade, cutting into the shape I was trying to outline, or even cutting right through it in narrow areas. Surprises like this can be fine! Mediums behaving in unexpected, interesting ways is one of the joys of art! It is simply not a joy for me in that specific context. XD But for your particular project, water can of course be any shape, so you may not need to follow a sketch closely to achieve the effect you want. Maybe the unexpected elements of vellum will not be a frustration for you, but part of the appeal!

So overall, I recommend going slowly, working carefully (especially around curves!), wearing some protective gear like gloves or eyewear to guard yourself from snapped blades, and maybe cutting out a few practice shapes before you start on the water for your bookmark, so you can get used to vellum's distinctive feel. This material may frustrate me, but I keep using it anyway, because the transparency really is awesome. ^_^

….little fella. I’ve been playing with watercolour on vellum.

word of the day

March 27, 2026