Watercolor Paper – Watercolor For Newbies

Are you ready to start Watercoloring? So am I! But I still had a lot of questions about the paper. Originally I thought I would buy a student pad, but after further research, the hassle just isn’t worth it with the cheaper paper. You get what you pay for!

I found that some of the best paper is found in singles and they are huge! The larger paper would require you to trim down, folding a large sheet in half and tearing down the half then doing the same for each of the halves until you have four sheets from the original sheet. Sounds fun!

Here is a list of some items that are of quality and won’t disappoint you while you are learning to watercolor.

Arches Paper comes in BLOCKS in 8×10 sheets. Look for 140 pound cold press. Anything less is likely to tear or show stress. More expensive than pads; $18 and up

ARCHES or FABRIANO brand watercolor paper in the SINGLES, each 30x 22 and are only about $4 to $5 per sheet. Look for 140 pound cold press paper.

PADS of Arches paper 9×12 or larger. Cover has a white and green landscape painting. About $10-14; highly recommended. Look for 140 pound cold press paper.

You shouldn’t waste your time or money on ‘student’ or ‘studio’ pads. These pads of paper are thin and will fall apart or ruin your end result. You don’t want that! Quality is key.

Here are some tips and techniques for preparing watercolor paper:

Have board, butcher’s tape, staple gun and a small rolled up towel ready before you soak your paper.

Cut your paper to size. Using butcher’s tape, tear off strips so that each strip is a little longer than each side of the paper. Soak the paper for 3-5 minutes, depending on the weight of the paper. Lighter paper will require less soaking. A sink works well for small pieces but a bathtub or large basin will be needed for larger sheets. Be sure that the tub or basin you use is completely free of any oils as oil can permanently damage the paper.
Submerge your paper completely.

Once the paper is adequately soaked, pick it up by one corner so that the water runs off the opposite corner. After it stops dripping, place it face down on your board, roll the towel along the back surface of the paper to absorb any excess water. Do not rub the surface as it can damage the paper. Flip the paper over and roll the towel over the front, working quickly before the paper starts to wrinkle.