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Sigune β Watercolour Paper Comparison
Published: 2011-08-03 16:14:26 +0000 UTC; Views: 3151; Favourites: 32; Downloads: 25
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I have used hot-pressed, cold-pressed and rough paper now in my futile attempts at becoming a great watercolourist. So even if I haven't quite reached a level of which I can be proud, I though I'd share my findings about paper, in case they are of any use to anybody. This might be useful for people who like to combine line art with watercolour paint, especially.If the type seems too small to read, please download the file.
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Comments: 26
You should, even if it's just as an experiment. I think it's as useful to know what you can't use (and why) as it is to know what you can use 
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Oh, that's interesting. I somehow missed that beginner tip about using rough paper. I never tried it but I'll make sure I will soon. I'm not big on lines, so it seems it's exactly what I need.
By the way: It's not that difficult to get smooth/flat washes on cold press paper. The trick is to get the whole area damp before you start laying the colour. If you're quick enough to cover it before it dries (a couple of minutes or so), it will ensure smoothness and no visible lines where you reloaded the brush. It's even easier if you use ink/liquid watercolour, because, being liquid, it will naturally spread into the damp area neatly on its own. You can practically drip it and it will still cover the area nicely.
But yes, I agree that life is fundamentally tragic
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*grins*
About cold-pressed paper: I seem to have got hold of a particularly absorbent paper 
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Hmm. I use Canson, for all it's worth. Ever tried it?
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I have now
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Oh, I see. It's good to know. Too bad they don't sell those where I live.
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i really need this info, as i myself am la zy one to find the best kind of paper for every traditional technique, but this one really halped me~ thanks a lot for that
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Thanks! I'm glad it proved helpful. Watch out, though: there are differences between brands as well. I'm going to do some more experiments with cold-pressed paper and see what I can learn...
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yes yes, recently i've gone around to find some heavy papers for watercolor and acrylics, and all i found were Fabrianos :c but the texture kind of gets me off...
Will be happy to learn more about the papers in your tuts! keep up the great work
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So helpful - watercolor papers have always been a complete mystery to me. There's no happy medium, then?
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Maybe there is. As *cabepfir pointed out, the cold-pressed paper I have been using lately is very absorbent. The paintings that have been frustrating me have all been on Fabriano. The same type of paper from other brands may be better. I have Daler-Rowney, Bockingford and Lana cold-pressed paper lying around; I'll try them out and see whether they feel different. This painting here [link] doesn't have the type of stains I showed in the comparison. It's on Lana. It might just be Fabriano that is making me unhappy...
So, even if you compare paper types, you aren't done. You also have to compare brands...
I often wonder why I bother with watercolour at all. I don't seem to get the hang of it! I look at *cabepfir 's paintings and think, "Why don't mine ever look like that?!" Other people's paintings prove to me that watercolour is a great medium. But it clearly takes a lot of experimenting in all sorts of directions until you get where you want to be
Now, on to my other papers!
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wow this is great. thanks for the in depth analysis on these watercolour papers. I'm currently trying out different things on watercolor paper (Satin Fabriano) but mostly with pen and ink and i like it so far. It's the first time i've tried that brand as i usually tend to go towards Arches hot pressed. But now i'm really tempted to try it, Arches Grin torchon. 
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Interesting! What does ox gall do? I've never used it.
Actually, I think that my Arches hot-pressed paper is less absorbent than the Fabriano cold-pressed. - Okay, I'm beginning to seriously hate the Fabriano 
If you don't mind spending a bit of money on it, I'd say: try the Grain torchon, even if it's just to feel the difference. I didn't really understand about absorbency (is that a word?) until I tried that paper. It's wonderful stuff, as long as you don't mind the skritch.
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Ox Gall: I guess i'll just write out what's on the label . Increases wetting and flow of watercolours and improves acceptances of wash on paper. Add a few drops to water. it's from Winsor & Newton
It seems like that is the problem you were experiencing on the hot press. But then i always thought that best use for hot press papers was to get crisp lines but i think that Ox Gall may help blend your colours a bit more.
Is Grain torchon actually rough press? (scratch that, it is) I bought an arches rough watercolour board to try out.
Oh one more question, what is the weight of the paper you use?
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300 g/mΒ², always. I have one block that's lighter, but it's terrible. Moleskine watercolour sketchbooks have lighter paper too - 160 g/mΒ², I think. I don't dare to use as much water in those, and I notice that when I use a lot of layers the paper begins to give up. The sketchbooks are pleasant to use despite that (unlike my light paper block).
Hm. I should get me some ox gall, then
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Aw, I'm sorry! I never realized how hard it was for an artist to find just the right media! I always just look at your art and think how awesome it is (b/c lines are NOT the only thing you do well; they're simply the thing you do best, imho), but I can imagine how frustrating things like the above must be for you.
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It depends... I was getting really discouraged in my painting, especially in the larger drawings I did on the Fabriano paper. But - well, there are many brands of artist materials: brushes, paper, paint... There are differences between them, and it's up to every individual to figure out what works best for them and for their style. That's part of the fun, but on the other hand, it van indeed be frustrating. But as you can see, I keep trying
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Aficionado with one 'f'. But 'skritch' is a perfect sound for a brush pen over a rough watercolour paper
I've never tried Arches, actually. I bought an album in France, last year, and it's still unused on the shelf.
There are kinds of rough paper (Fabriano *cough* Fabriano) where the paint just sink immediately and you can't drag the water drops around not even if you start praying. But in general, you know, I tend to use mildy rough sheets. Actually I believe that very rough paper is better for landscapes and abstract subjects.
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Errrrrrrr meh. I spent so much time on this thing already that I don't feel like going in to correct my spelling -_-. (That would involve various reformattings, bah.)
I'm thinking you would probably like this rough Arches paper. I'm not sure how it qualifies on the Roughness Scale - in my unqualified opinion it certainly doesn't *look* much different from my cold-pressed paper. But, as I said, the difference in use is enormous. Now I feel like trying all my different cold-pressed papers again, because it seems to me that my Fabriano paper is really more absorbant than the others
I'd heard you complain about absorbant papers before, but I never know what to put down to my incompetence and what to blame on my supplies 
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My favourite brand, at the moment, is HahnemΓΌhle. I've tried both Bamboo Mixed Media (wonderful, and you can lift colour out almost endlessly) and Toscana, which is textured. Unfortunately, it's almost impossible to find HahnemΓΌhle where I live, so I haven't been able to find other kinds yet. But I'd like to try them all.
Second comes Clairefontaine. Etival is quite easy to find around here and gives nice results without being too demanding. Cotman is fine as well.
Fabriano Artistico Traditional White [link] is an awful waste of money. I have tons at home, bought out of incompetence, and I don't know what to do with it. On the other hand, Fabriano Disegno 5 - 50% Cotton (sold in loose sheets) is simply gorgeous. Quite difficult to tame, but wonderful.
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Mine is this one: [link] (the blue). I picked it up out of interest - it wasn't expensive, so I guess I shouldn't complain. It did some bad things to my confidence though
We do have HahnemΓΌhle and Clairefontaine here, but I guess I never tried them because they are rough. (I don't know Etival.) Do try the Arches; I'm curious to hear what you think of it!
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Etival is one of the Clairefontaine's types and it comes in different sub-types, as usual.
Imagine that I already know what to draw on the Arches, and have known it for one year now. But my ideas can wait, it seems!
I have never seen the Fabriano Watercolour around here. Mah!
I've tried Langton, recently, and it's not bad.
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