Watercolour paper poll

[caitlinsgarden]

My favorite is Winsor Newton 140 lb CP or 300 lb CP. 2nd favorite Arches 140 lb CP, but I don't care for the smell! They quit making the WN a few years ago and so I have been trying other brands, but not finding anything I like as well. I guess you get used to the feel of a specific paper, and know what it can do. I just found out that WN is once more being sold and I ordered it; hope it is the same as I think another company is making it now.

[virgil carter]

There are so many polls on favorites--brushes, paper, paint manufacturers, colors, easels--virtually any and every piece of watercolor equipment. I read somewhere that watercolor painters buy much more gear than painters using other media. Don't know if it's true, but if the comments here are any gauge, it's logical!

As I think Elaine and Ona said, it really doesn't matter what one's favorite tools are, since everyone uses them differently, with different painting goals. What matters is what each person comes to prefer through their own experience.

That said, I prefer Kilamanjaro 300 lb cold press paper from Cheap's. Excellent artist grade paper at a economical price. Periodic sales help to further reduce the cost. Just a personal preference.

Sling paint,
Virgil

[hblenkle]

Sometimes what is written interests someone to try a different brand. A person only needs a small amount of equipment for Watercolor, but it is so much fun to try things that for one reason or another capture our interest.

I prefer Arches CP 140 lb. sheets or blocks. Reading different posts I am tempted to try 200 lb. paper even if not Arches, but similar paper.

[oty]

I have used Arches, Fabriano, Kilimanjaro and Waterford. Voted Arches and Fabriano - the other two I don't like that much.

[janinco]

I had settled on Arches hot press for portrait painting because I don't like the way paint settles in cold press and tends to mess with fine details. But I decided to try a sheet of Fabriano Artistico CP for the portrait I'm doing right now and I love it! I'm able to get very fine details but still have some of the texture show. It's extremely durable - as good as Arches CP from what I've seen. It's also considerably cheaper.

I'm going to try the soft press next. I don't soak my paper...I just staple to Gatorboard and start painting. I did heavy successive washes on the 140# CP and it dries perfectly flat.

Jan

[treeshark]

My favourite was old Whatman paper, of which I had a small stock, more than 60 years old and made of pure linen not cotton rag. All gone now alas. I am now using Arches rough and cp which I buy by the roll. Old Saunders was good too but not so today. RWS paper I have some from 20 years ago which is nice. I have recently got back into stretching which I had stopped doing as I had bought a load of 300 lb Arches, now I am stretching again I prefer it to paint on to the thicker paper.
Rob

[SSB]

Originally Posted by treeshark

My favourite was old Whatman paper, of which I had a small stock, more than 60 years old and made of pure linen not cotton rag. All gone now alas. I am now using Arches rough and cp which I buy by the roll. Old Saunders was good too but not so today. RWS paper I have some from 20 years ago which is nice. I have recently got back into stretching which I had stopped doing as I had bought a load of 300 lb Arches, now I am stretching again I prefer it to paint on to the thicker paper.
Rob

Thank you very much for your reply. We love your work tremendously. It is among our top two or three favorites on the site, both in oils and watercolors, as well as your other mediums of course!

If you don't mind, a couple of questions?

Have you tried any of the partial linen papers like Two Rivers http://www.fineartstore.com/Catalog/...ost%2Cunitcost

St Armand http://www.st-armand.com/English/E02a-Dominion.php,

Moldau http://www.italianartstore.com/store...inyMoldau.html


What is it about linen that makes it nice?

Do you feel the excessive aging of papers (5 to 50 years) improves it, as has been said at times?

I assume what you like about the thinner paper is the lack of saturation loss (due to absorption, I think?). Is it something else or additional? Either way, would you be willing to explain a bit more- if there is anything else to be said about it?

Thank you very much for the lovely art.

[claude j greengrass]

Originally Posted by SSB

...
Have you tried any of the partial linen papers like Two Rivers http://www.fineartstore.com/Catalog/...ost%2Cunitcost
...

I was fortunate enough to be gifted a dozen or so half sheets Two Rivers. Compared to Saunders-Waterford, Two Rivers has a much harder surface and has more pronounced texture. It liked it, but it was/is beyond my current budget.

[alansam]

I have used 140lbs bockingford so long .I cant get used to any other paper
I feel so at ease with it , .but I use a lot of paper,, maybe two quarter plates a day at least...when I pick up a 200lbs it feels like a piece of cardboard to me now ,.yet I did use it in classes and still have a quite a lot ready to use again ,/but never get round to it ,its just a case of living near Ken Bromleys .I nip round for more 140lbs,when I get low, and enjoy a look around the shop ,,I say to my wife ""I am just nipping out for a minute"
yes" I know..//" to KEN BROMLEYS.""spending again are we." hee he I love it.

[virgil carter]

A, I think you make an important point, which is to find and stick with a paper that one likes. Of course, it's always fun to experiment with new things, including different papers, but for consistent paintings (as well as advancing one's knowledge and skill over time) it may be useful to find and stick to a preferred paper for an extended period.

Only a thought!

Sling paint!
Virgil

[JPQ]

Hahnemühle
Cartiera Magnani
Fabriano used paper shows reds,and greens nice way. actually i like mostly
this paper what comes colour but working i like mostly Hahmühle one.
and i must add one special one i cannot simply just list three:
Meirat (quality i used is 100% flax/linen i include both words what i found wordbook)
ps. btw my ćurrent favorite is Hahnemühle Cezanne Rough. i going test same price and specs (100% cotton and rough,and in Fabriano means Artistico trad. white series) range Fabriano soon.(its easier get and i like cheap Fabriano colours more than what Hahnemühle gives) and others what i listed stays very straight.
One paper which i dont like at all is (even less than one stuff what is made in years ago in finland for kids mainly i think which dont like water much but at least showed colours very bright but this paper is totally poor for serious use) is cheap Arches. its hue and how colours show (they look dull for me and this dont like water at all i say) on it etc. and i know one suprise i paper world what i cannot list becouse i dont know who make this paper. cheap but very good paper not even any % cotton i think but still is very good paper.
btw i prefer blocks (in sidze about 10x8 inchs i think or little more) with rough paper.

[pumkin54]

Originally Posted by virgil carter

I read somewhere that watercolor painters buy much more gear than painters using other media.

That's actually pretty funny because it seems to me that watercolor gear is more expensive than for other media. Except maybe pastels. When I was goofing around with acrylics and oils, I found it fairly inexpensive to acquire the supplies I needed. Whereas with watercolor the brushes, paints and surfaces are so much more costly! Maybe that's just my perception. Maybe I was more poor when I started playing with watercolor, so it felt more expensive lol.

[sashntash]

I started with Arches 140 lb CP.

Then found Fabriano Artistico 140 lb CP

then... when Saunders Waterford started making their watercolor papers in a "hi-white" (rather than the somewhat creamy white they had done traditionally), I now use the Saunders Waterford 140# CP Hi-White.

I would use the Saunders Waterford 200 lb CP Hi-White as my main paper if only I could convince dickblick.com to carry it... sigh

I like all 3 papers.... and keep some of each on hand.

If I want slightly more texture, I use the Arches.

If I want a slightly "softer" paper, I use the Fabriano Artistico.

If I want something in-between, I use the Saunders Waterford Hi-White.

and... just for the record... I read that the new "Soft Press" that Fabriano Artistico is offering in their Extra White watercolor paper, is half way between Hot Press and Cold Press...... so the range is Hot Press, Soft Press, Cold Press, Rough.

[JPQ]

Fabriano how shows colours (i going test more pricey Fabriano range),and Hahnemühle (cezanne) reason stays well flat. and Meirat for price is handmade but clearly cheaper than Fabriano handmade paper and its even flax/linen not cotton.(i dont know which word is correct).
and my others are Cartiera Magnani and Meirat. and if i choice only one form these others i choice Meirat.

[mirizar]

Fabriano or Arches 140 lb CP, whichever is on sale or cheaper.