Watercolour Paper
Using the right paper for watercolour makes a huge difference to your paintings and avoids disappointing results. Paper made especially for watercolours is heavier and has been ‘sized’, which helps reduce the absorbency of the paper, reduces buckling, and while allowing water absorption, keeps the pigment on the surface.
Watercolour paper is made in different weights, with 140lb or 300gsm (grams per square metre) being the most commonly used weight. This weight is heavy enough to prevent buckling, but if you use a lot of water you will need to either use a heavier paper or stretch it – wetted and taped down on a board.
Watercolour paper is also made in three different ways: Hot Pressed , NOT or Cold Pressed, and Rough.
· Hot Pressed paper as the name suggest has been hot ironed and is very smooth. This paper is ideal if you are going to paint lots of fine detail.
· NOT or Cold Pressed paper has a versatile slightly textured surface perfect for painting most kinds of work.
· Rough paper is the most textured of the three which allows the paint to gather in the dimples.
As far as quality goes watercolour paper is divided into Student Grade and Artist Grade.
· Student Grade is usually made from wood pulp and cellulose and is machine made.
· Artist Grade is more expensive and is usually made from cotton rag which has a neutral PH, meaning it will not yellow over time.
The very best papers are handmade sheet by sheet.
The cotton paper made in South India is called Khadi paper and is handmade from pure cotton rags, using 100% cotton T shirt cut offs. It is made sheet by sheet on frames which naturally produce a ‘deckled edge’. Another very popular 100% cotton paper used by artists today is Arches, made in France since 1492 using a cylinder mould.
Hemp paper is made from pulped hemp, the earliest surviving examples of which are Buddhist texts from the 2nd and 3rd centuries AD. Hemp is more sustainable and more environmentally friendly than wood as it grows more quickly. Hemp in paper production reached the Western world in the 13th Century via the Middle East but the global prohibition of cannabis in the 1920’s and 1930’s had a devastating effect on the production of hemp paper.
Nepalese Washi paper is made from the inner bark of the Lokta and Argeli plants that grow in the high altitude forests of Nepal.
Bamboo paper has been used in China for centuries and was reintroduced by Hannemuhle in Germany as a cheaper alternative to cotton papers. It is extremely environmentally friendly as bamboo is sustainable and naturally white, so no bleach is required.
These are the most well known handmade watercolour papers. You could always make your own of course, using recycled paper, but that is something for a future blog.
Happy painting!
