Inexpensive watercolor paper

[Ocean County Stamper]

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]

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

[blueheron]

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]

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]

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

[stamphappy1650]

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]

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]

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]

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

[ashjoy]

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]

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

[Scrapjanny]

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]

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]

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]

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]

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]

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]

Hot press is smooth - think hot iron pressed

Cold press is lumpy - think never ironed

[Nerys]

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.