I haven’t used Fabriano, but rough is rough, and the paper’s high and low points always tend to trap wet washes.

I’ve used Kilimanjaro 300-pound cold-press paper for a long, long time and will be interested in your experience with it. Works for me!

IIRC, Cheap Joes and perhaps some other Internet retailers offer trial packs of paper from a range of manufacturers. If you haven’t tried these it may be helpful.

Sling paper,
Virgil

That’s sad to hear, I quite liked the Fabriano Rough in 140lb in my last sketchbook. Hope they are not downgrading all their quality.

CK =)
I take great comfort in knowing that my genuine typos will probably be blamed on some device's autocorrect.
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Jan,
I am one of those people who doesn’t like 300 lb paper in any brand. I remember I was excited to try it when I won a full sheet of Arches in a little grab bag we had at the WC Meet in Tennessee a couple of years ago.

I was so surprised when I began painting on it. It felt like I was painting on blotting paper.

I have discovered that my favorite weight is anything in the 200 lb range (some manufacturers made 220 lb, for instance). It is a lovely weight that has some of the features people like in 300 lb, but it feels similar to 140 lb as you work on it rather than blotting paper.

Why not give a sheet of 200 lb paper a try and see what you think. The brand I used was Hahnemuhle, but others are making it now as well.

Sylvia

Simply stating that a particular brand of paper is awful, really isn’t helpful to anyone. Explaining WHY you thought is was awful is certainly more meaningful.

I, personally, don’t much care for 300# paper in any brand because the paper seems to absorb water too much and seems to dry unevenly. I don’t paint using a lot of wet-in-wet passages, so the problem may be due to my style.

I do like Arches 140# rough. The tooth seems to make the paper heavier than it is and a lot of textural elements are possible. I bought a roll of this paper and it really is one of my favourites because I can now paint larger compositions!

The Centre where I teach provides Saunders Waterford 200# cold press paper for our Students. It has a minor tooth and is very warm white. While it’s not my personal favourite because of this, it is a good sturdy paper that’s easy to paint on and really doesn’t buckle much.

I have tried the Saunders 140# cold pressed also. It’s a nice paper that’s a little whiter than their 200# paper.

Arches 140# cold pressed has a nice tooth and is a really sturdy paper to work on. It can take a lot of lifting without seeming to abrade the surface. I recommend it to my own Students from my home classes. It has become more expensive to buy, recently, and we watch for sales.

I tried painting on Winsor & Newton’s 140# cold pressed and didn’t care for the slick surface at all. It definitely seems to have a right and wrong side which I also didn’t much care for. It is a nice white, though.

I bought a LOT of Fabriano Artistico 140# cold pressed because of a great online sale. It took a little “getting used to” when I first began painting on it and was worried that I’d made a mistake. It’s a challenge when glazing because paint lifts so easy from the slick surface. And there isn’t much tooth. My Students are using it also because it was such a bargain and they can paint without fear of wasting money. We’ve all grown to really like this paper.

The long and short of it is that you really need to try paper to see if it meets your needs. While I don’t much care for painting on 300# paper, many others wouldn’t use anything else.

I don’t know what Fabriano was like in the past, but a few years ago a got a sample pack from Cheap Joe’s and tried the different surfaces and weights and liked them all. I also paint on Arches and Saunders, but have been using Fabriano more and more and continue to like it. I have not bought 300lb sheets though. I have bought 140lb sheets and blocks. I use hot press for portraits and cold press and rough for landscapes. I find it works well with the way I paint, the paint moves easily across the surface and retain a brighter color than when I paint on Arches.

I like Arches enough, except for the smell of wet Arches. But somehow I get better results with Fabriano, and it is cheaper too.

I like Saunders 140lb a lot, but it is a little too yellow, and some sheets can be very absorbent.

I don’t like metal rollers that leave dimples and fill with colour in a wash , like fabriano.,but the latest bockingford rough 140 lbs I bought ,seemed like one side was rolled with a dimpled metal roller, I was wondering if the felt roller was get a bit worn and the metal ones last longer ,hence the change .. also I notice a sheet . can revert back to the roller bend it was cut from .especial when dampened . please contradict me if I am completely wrong ,
because I probably am.

I like 300lb paper. My favourites are Arches HP and Fabriano HP but I have not bought any recently. I think it depends on the way you work with watercolour. A paper that suits one person will not suit another.