Phantom Art Resources: Art Tips

Watercolor Painting : what paper is the best to use and why?

Rebecca JJ's Answer:

The important thing with papers and watercolor is to make sure the paper is heavy (thick) enough not to buckle and ripple and do all sorts of annoying things to your art. So generally, watercolor paper is good, as it was designed for it, as are such expensive and heavy papers as Arches. Plain paper (laser, etc) can't stand all the water and scrubbing and messing around watercolor paper can. I've done several of my watercolors on Bristol board, which evidently isn't good for watercolor, because they all buckled.  Illustration board should be good for watercolors, though I haven't tried it yet for that. 

I would suggest getting a pad of watercolor paper and watercolors and brushes, etc., and messing around with it to see what happens. Cold press has a lot of texture, while hot press is smoother, so get what is good for your projects.
I've heard it suggested, though I haven't tried it, that the best thing to do with heavy papers before watercoloring is to soak them in water, "stretch" them out and lay them flat to dry. That way once dry they won't buckle at all when you paint them.

Examples of my better watercolor experiments can be found on my main art site, SilverSong.

Rebecca JJ, 2001