Coming to grips with watercolour paper

I’m busy preparing for my next workshops and one thing I ask is that people bring artist grade watercolour paper, which almost always throws up a few questions, so here goes…

Watercolour paper can be made from woodpulp, which is cheap to make and buy , and difficult to use! It’s bit like trying to paint on blotting paper, as the paint sinks in unevenly and doesn’t move around on the sheet. It is also acidic , which means that pigments will change with time and your finished artwork may not look so great in a year or two. Colours will fade and change. How will you feel if your special painting doesn’t last?

The best paper to use is 100% cotton , which is acid free and therefore much more stable. Your pigments won’t change or fade, and your painting will still look good in the future.Look for a sized paper (which means that it’s treated so that the paint will spread and settle evenly, making paint mixing easier).
It’s much easier to learn to work with watercolour if you have good paper.

Watercolour papers come in a mysterious sounding array of surfaces…. Which usually refer to how they’ve been made.
Hot pressed paper is very smooth – the hot pulp is usually fed through rollers and squeezed into a smooth , even sheet. This is lovely for painting portraits or anything where you don’t want the distraction of surface texture. See the first image below …

Cold pressed paper (you guessed) is cold pulp fed through the rollers, resulting in a slight texture. I find the texture is a bit too regular for my liking.
Rough Paper is sometimes made in troughs and has random patterns of texture – great for landscape and water as you can add sparkle with dry brushing. Pigment will settle in the troughs of the texture, leaving tiny white areas on the higher points of the paper. You can see how this works in the wee sketch of Wellington Harbour.

My favourite is Italian made Fabriano Artistico Rough , which I use for most of my work. The paper also comes in different weights – I usually use 300gsm but if I‘m painting a big work will reach for 600sm, which is almost like cardboard and very strong and stable.

YUPO – this is worth a try if you’re not a control freak! Made from polypropylene and usually used for printing, it’s good fun to play with – paint slides all over the place! You need to seal your painting once it’s finished as you can accidentally (or on purpose) wipe it all off. YUPO gives a lovely abstract feel – check out the bottom image.

It’s fun trying out the different kinds and seeing what they’re like to paint on. Every artist has their own favourites, and you may have to try a few before you find which one suits you best.

If you’d like to know more about the process of watercolour paper making I suggest that you visit either the Fabriano website or the Arches website.

And I’m happy to answer any questions I can!

I’m looking forward to meeting those of you who are coming to my workshops over the next few months ,

Jan 🙂