How Do You Choose Artists' Watercolor Paper?

Familiarize yourself with the types of paper available: • Weight and texture: Watercolor paper is available in a variety of weights and textures, and choosing the right paper will depend on technique as well as personal taste. • Absorbent ability: Unlike drawing and printmaking papers, watercolor paper contains sizing, which reduces the absorption of paint into the paper itself. The pigments remain on the surface of the paper, so the colors remain brilliant. (To see this for yourself, make one watercolor painting on heavy drawing paper and another on watercolor paper.) • Cost: Watercolor paper can be very expensive, but if you want to get the best results, you've got to use the right materials. Copier/cartridge paper, sketch paper, illustration board, and other types of papers and artists' boards aren't meant to be used with watercolor, and the results will reflect that. Understand the different qualities of texture is usually the first consideration when selecting paper. There are ...  more