How much is your watercolour paper choice effecting your work?

I put 4 very different types of watercolour paper to the test - from cheaper student grade paper up to 100% cotton professional grade - to see how they compare and can effect the final result of your art.
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[@studioofmm]

I hope you enjoy seeing me put these papers to the test! I'd love to know what your favourite kind of watercolour paper is at the moment 👇

[@noralizmedinacolon4367]

Super useful! Thank you for putting together this video.

[@Indigo_moon]

Thank you so much for doing this video. It makes me upset that most watercolors artists who do tutorials on YT don't explain how important the right paper is and that if you do not have 100% cotton watercolor paper (like they use) that your painting will not look the same as theirs nor will your paint react in the same way if you are using pulp paper. Especially if using alot of water. Most people watching tutorials are beginners & often this leads people giving up because they think they are a terrible artist when it's just the paper that's the problem. For practice & work using a small to medium amount water I use Bee 100% cotton rag 6x9, 50 sheets watercolor paper. You can get this on Amazon for a very good price. Probably the least expensive 100% cotton paper. It's obviously not as good as Arches but it's a much better alternative than pulp paper. You can wait for sales to buy the more expensive paper. I'm pretty sure I've seen this video before & also made a comment then but I'm glad you're reposting this due to it's importance. Would love to see a new video comparison using the Bee WC cotton paper. Thank you!!

[@SuzanneLegault]

This is very helpful. Thanks ! I use Fluid and Arches so nice to see the difference

[@bettysumners4089]

Love this tutorial comparing papers. Yes, gotta love Arches, but expensive ! my bak up paper is Canson XL. I've learned what I can & can't do on/it. I save Arches for my special projects.

[@nicoleperron3315]

I have always used Arches or Stratmore and honestly thought all watercolor papers were cotton. Because of the price I had grabbed XL Canton 😢OMG I thought I'd lost my mind, I thought I couldn't paint anymore, so I went back to my tube paints, thinking it was the paint, same thing streaky mud puddles......😮so then I sideyed my brushes and hunted for my most expensive ones....😖 same thing ....then I realized I'd never used XL paper before, now this is my 10th video since yesterday and I feel so much better. Now Im going to go make paper airplanes or cut out snow flakes with it..😵‍💫

[@justv3289]

I hardly ever see the Fluid 100 paper (140lb) on KZbin. It was my first cotton paper and I’ve enjoyed it.

[@FridaBeautyBird]

Not related to this video, but I have a question about your palette towers. I am VERY clumsy and from what I can tell, the tower layers don't snap together. What would you suggest for an absolute klutz? A rubber band or something? I just need to figure out if there's a good solution before I buy one. Thanks!

[@studioofmm]

They indeed do not snap together; they were designed to be more studio storage that wouldn’t necessarily need to travel much. I’m a massive klutz as well so I completely get it! I believe some people have used rubber bands or a wider piece of elastic, similar to something that a lot of wet palettes use, to secure the layers together for more transportation. The towers come with adhesive putty for the individual pans so those as least should stay secured if anything were to be jostled.

[@HellbornPhoenix]

Honestly, my favorite watercolor paper isn't 100% cotton, or even considered a watercolor paper. I like using regular 165gsm Moleskine paper. I don't do a lot of wet on wet, but I hate the 'dry' grainy look I get when I use Arches. I have 6 giant pads of Arches hot pressed and cold pressed in my closet I'm not using; that's how much I prefer the look and feel of Moleskine. (Just don't use Moleskines' watercolor line. That paper sucks for watercolor, ironically. Seriously, the paper physically repels water???) Cool to see someone else do tests as well! They're good to reference when you're considering a project, that might do better on other paper. If anyone ends up trying out Moleskine; make sure to use a soft as heck brush. Normal brushes will pill the paper.

[@miamays9138]

I feel you. I have stacks of cold-pressed Arches blocks, but I don’t like using it. The texture just… doesn’t feel right to me when I use the paper and, while I love using cold pressed paper, it’s almost too textured for what I’m trying to achieve.

[@fuzzydragons]

i try to use the best paper i can afford for the medium im using, hence why i will never be able to afford arches lol too much money for my broke butt