Inexpensive watercolor paper

Ocean County Stamper · 01-22-2018, 06:40 AM

Hi there. Previously I had been purchasing watercolor paper in small pads for $2 for 20 sheets. The pages were about 3 x 4 inches. It seems that is no longer manufactured. Do you know someplace to purchase inexpensive watercolor paper? I need a lot for a group project. Thank you. Ann

southgirl · 01-22-2018, 12:38 PM

Hobby Lobby has pads in larger sizes. I buy big and cut down to what I want.

blueheron · 01-22-2018, 12:42 PM

Ann-
It depends on what kind of quality and weight you need. Michael's sells a pad of Canson 90 lb. 9x12 watercolor paper (10 sheets) for $3.99. Wal-mart also sells it for about the same price. That would give you 6 3"x4" pieces per sheet, or 60 pieces per pad. That is about the cheapest I know of. The 90 lb. isn't very heavy, but I think the Canson 90 lb. is better quality than the Strathmore Practice 140 lb.

Hope this helps.

bjeans · 01-22-2018, 01:10 PM

I agree with blueheron about Michael's Canson vs Strathmore. I used both in an on-line beginning watercolor class a couple years ago and couldn't blend or move color on the Strathmore compared to the Canson. Plus the Canson was whiter. For an inexpensive paper I think it's a good deal.

Ocean County Stamper · 01-22-2018, 01:14 PM

Thank you everyone. I will try the Canson and cut it down.

stamphappy1650 · 01-22-2018, 01:29 PM

In the future watch Michael's for when they put Strathmore on sale. Its often on sale for 50% off or buy 2 get 1 free. I stock up when their is a sale.

maryalena · 01-22-2018, 04:30 PM

I had poor luck with the Hobby Lobby version-Master’s Touch. It pilled with very little working and buckled with small amounts of water. The best I could do with it was a very light wash. Experienced watercolorists might be able to deal with it but I couldn’t. I ended up cutting it up into cardsized pieces and using it for backings where nothing would be stamped or colored.

dini · 01-23-2018, 04:32 AM

Unfortunately with watercolor paper cheap paper generally yields poor results... when I need a lot of watercolor paper for a project or class I use the large pads by Fabriano - these are their Studio line which is a step below their artist grade papers, but these are still great.

Fabriano Studio Watercolor Pads - BLICK art materials

The hot press is great for stamping as well as marker coloring and blending. I prefer the 140# paper but I've used the 90# for classes.

maryalena · 01-23-2018, 10:30 AM

Thanks for the suggestion Dini. This sounds good. I checked, and it's a much better price point than the Arches hot press.

ashjoy · 01-23-2018, 11:11 AM

I’ve had luck finding pads at Tuesday Mornings, but I’ve had a few different brands. But I’m not painting like Dini, so I’ve had good luck with what I have found and used.

maryalena · 01-23-2018, 07:53 PM

The reason that I need better watercolor paper is because I CAN’T paint like Dini. I need more forgiving surfaces.

Scrapjanny · 01-24-2018, 04:46 AM

If you have a Michael's near you, they sometimes have a pad of heavy watercolor paper for a few dollars in the children's crafts aisle. I think it has 10 sheets, and it's fairly good quality. I found mine with the construction paper and fingerpaint pads.

Ocean County Stamper · 01-25-2018, 06:57 AM

Hello and thank you all for your help. Is Canson 140 lb reasonably good? Am i correct that it is superior to the 90 lb? It's for a brusho project for a group of 12 women. I found a 30 sheet pad of 9 x 12" 140 lb paper at Walmart for what seemed insanely cheap, $5.97. What do you think?

bjeans · 01-25-2018, 07:16 AM

My take is that of all the inexpensive watercolor papers I've tried, Canson's has been the best. I basically just use it for testing or fooling around now, unless I'm just adding a bit of color, but in general heavier is better than lighter.

Brusho projects sometimes use a lot of water and if the paper is being worked, it could pill. I have 140 Cansons and Brushos. If you explain a bit about what you're doing, I can try it out, though YMMV. : ) Maybe others have it too. It wouldn't be until later today or early tomorrow though.

Or if you project isn't for a while, I'd be glad to send you some Cansons to try out - just PM me your address. Of course if you buy it the price is so good if it didn't work out it wouldn't be a huge loss?

Ocean County Stamper · 02-14-2018, 04:03 PM

Hi Everyone. Thank you for the kind offer. I bought the Canson 140 lb. It works great for my project. I'm organizing materials for a project for a group of women living at an assisted living facility. We'll do a brushos on watercolor paper, followed by stamping a sillhouette stamp on top, then layered ovals for the sentiment. It should be great fun. Anyway, I made a few cards like this and the 140 lb worked great. I used 1 " Miracle Tape to adhere the watercolor paper to the layer before the cardstock base and that worked well.

wavejumper · 02-18-2018, 03:22 PM

Yay! Glad you found one that works!

In the future if you keep an eye on Blick, they have good sales for Canson...like 2/10.

Kristina Werner did a nice review of WC paper here

http://www.kwernerdesign.com/blog/ca...n-to-use-them/

But now I want that paper Dina just recommended to try out! LOL

emck · 02-23-2018, 02:00 AM

I have a question about watercolour paper/cardstock

What is the difference between hot press and cold press??

I have only ever used unsure what type it was but was very cheap like $2 for a 5 x 7 inch pad and its really not that great

I know some ink pads can become watercolour also need for distress ink or distress oxide projects though i found so far that super thick non watercolour cardstock also works fine for me!
I want to get something that would do all of this but remember thinking what IS the difference between hot and cold press i meam im assuming to do with how its made but in termd of these techniques what is a good one to try?

I dont mind if its not super cheap because im not going to be usimg tons of it but probably dont need absolute best

Im in australia so i dont have walmart or Michael's or hobby lobby however sometime shortly i will be doing a order from simom says stamp
The strathmore was out of stock think was thicker one i forgot to say i would prefer a thicker one because i have seen the mosy amazing underwater card and wanted to do something similar was by nicole sphor (sorry for mu spelling!)
I was stunned its just i have most of sets already from lawn fawn and once i get my MISTI (i got it BTW it came so fast! Like super super fast from MFT got 30 percent off during their sale but i missed out on the creative corners and i know simon says stamp has them and there's somethings i have run out of and things that i need so i decided i would make a order to there!

I am sure places here in australia have watercolour paper but every order has postage so i try to keep how many places i go to to a minimum!

Thanks for your help
I would love to know if you need hot and cold press and if so why and what they're used for and what the differences are!
Thanks for your help

stampin stacy · 02-23-2018, 05:59 AM

Hot press is smooth - think hot iron pressed

Cold press is lumpy - think never ironed

Nerys · 02-24-2018, 11:52 AM

I buy sample packs from UK at Jackson's Art Supplies - Finest Art Materials - Best Prices | Jackson's Art Supplies click on colour and at end of list click on test packs and samples. The samples are big enough to get out a card topper or two small watercolor pieces.