Artful things

A few words about watercolor paper for beginners

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Watercolor paint palette, brush, and painted paper with a glass jar of flowers

In the beginning of your watercolor journey, as you are no doubt watching a lot of tutorials and trying to learn, you may hear different perspectives on supplies. Some may tell you that your paints don’t matter, your paper doesn’t matter–that any old thing will do. Years of experience and a good while being frustrated in the beginning of this journey has taught me otherwise.

Yes, not having the professional version of everything is okay. Having student paints when you first start is fine. Paper, however, is another matter.

If you want to follow along with tutorials and have your efforts come out anything like the piece you are attempting to copy, then your paper really does matter. If you begin with cheap, cellulose paper, your work will not look like the beautiful watercolors you see online and in galleries.

With cellulose paper. the paint sits on top of the paper. It is incredibly easy to create backruns in your pictures and the colors will never be as bold and vibrant as they are on cotton paper.

100% cotton paper is not cheap, but it is worth the investment if you are serious about progressing. Arches cold press is the most forgiving, but also one of the more expensive choices in the world of cotton papers. It holds up very well to heavy washes, repeat wetting. lifts and whatever else you might put it through in the course of your painting.

A few other good choices are Saunders Waterford, Fabriano Artistico, Baohong, or Hahnemuhle.

If you choose to use a lesser grade paper, then Fabriano 1264 is better than some. It is a 25% cotton blend, and although not as good as those listed above, it is a bit better than straight wood pulp paper.

Keep in mind that watercolor blocks are more expensive than other choices. Is it really worth it? Yes. If you have built up a supply of cheap paper, don’t throw it out. You can still use it for mixing tests, swatches and planning, but go for the good stuff when you want to create something you are proud of.

(paid link) https://amzn.to/4tMMwsz

A package of Arches watercolor paper featuring a green label that indicates it contains 12 sheets, is 300 g/m², cold pressed, and made of 100% cotton. The dimensions are 23 cm x 31 cm (9 in x 12 in).

11 responses to “A few words about watercolor paper for beginners”

  1. Julian Froment Avatar
    Julian Froment

    Not something you may instantly think about in the beginning, but I guess paper is one of those foundational supplies in watercolor.

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply
    1. Ionia Froment Avatar
      Ionia Froment

      Sadly, as a new artist using bad paper kind of makes you feel like your skills are lacking.

      Liked by 1 person

      Reply
  2. The Luttie Board Avatar
    The Luttie Board

    This reminds me during my school days (Art Class). I always had a hard time when it comes to using water color papers. I remember questioning my lack of skills. Eventually, only to realized that it was the paper that was working against me.

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply
    1. Ionia Froment Avatar
      Ionia Froment

      Thanks for reading! I’m surprised more people don’t quit before they begin using crappy paper.

      Like

      Reply
  3. Terri, I Wanna Be An Artist Avatar
    Terri, I Wanna Be An Artist

    I agree 100%! The paper we use makes all the difference! As you said, you don’t need the best of everything when you first start, but using quality paper is so important to getting results you’re happy with. I love my Arches paper!

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply
    1. Ionia Froment Avatar
      Ionia Froment

      Thank you for reading! I tried an experiment with some Canson wood pulp paper the other day. Laughed at how bad it was.

      Liked by 1 person

      Reply
      1. Terri, I Wanna Be An Artist Avatar
        Terri, I Wanna Be An Artist

        Isn’t it amazing, how much difference just the paper makes? It’s fun to experiment sometimes though…. Happy creating!

        Liked by 1 person

      2. nixiefolks Avatar
        nixiefolks

        Canson used to produce a variety of affordable student-grade papers back in the day – they still have their wide supplier network from that era; unfortunately, most of their entry-level products changed for worse sometime in mid 2010-s. If you can buy a single sheet of the higher end Canson Heritage paper, it might be worth trying out (they released Heritage since losing ownership of Arches around 2016. It’s not comparable to Arches, but it might be worth trying for the novelty. It’s not universally liked like Arches, however, and is closer to Fabriano’s current papers, which are quite divisive.)

        Liked by 1 person

      3. Ionia Froment Avatar
        Ionia Froment

        Thank you!

        Liked by 1 person

      4. nixiefolks Avatar
        nixiefolks

        Thank you for subscribing! I’ve followed you back as well.

        Liked by 1 person

      5. Ionia Froment Avatar
        Ionia Froment

        Thank you!

        Like

Colorful comments appreciated

● About Me
Watercolor illustration of an empty easel and painting supplies overlooking a lush river valley.

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I’m Ionia, the creator of this art blog. I love seeing the work of other artists and being part of the art community. I am a watercolor artist primarily, but dabble in other mediums. Thanks for visiting!

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