If you have ever watched a wash bloom beautifully in a tutorial and then attempted the same thing only to have the paint bead, streak, or buckle uncontrollably, the culprit is almost certainly the paper. Paper is not a neutral surface in watercolour. It is an active collaborator in every mark you make. Choose the wrong one and nothing else will save you — not your brushes, not your pigments, not your technique.
Here is what I have learned after twenty years of painting on everything from supermarket watercolour pads to hand-pressed 640gsm Arches sheets.
The Three Surfaces: Cold Press, Hot Press, Rough
Every watercolour paper has a surface texture — called the "tooth" — that determines how paint behaves on contact. There are three main types:
Cold Press (NOT — Not Otherwise Textured) is the starting point for most watercolourists. The surface has a gentle, irregular texture that holds water well, allows for smooth washes and fine detail, and forgives minor errors. It is the most versatile surface and my default for landscapes and detailed work. If you are starting out, start here.
Hot Press paper is pressed flat and smooth under heated rollers, producing a surface with very little tooth. Paint sits on the surface rather than sinking in, which creates a luminous, glass-like finish ideal for botanical illustration, portraiture, and work requiring very sharp edges. The catch: it is deeply unforgiving. Mistakes do not lift easily. Washes dry faster and can look streaky if not applied confidently. Not recommended for beginners.
Rough paper has a pronounced, random surface texture. Wet-on-wet techniques produce beautiful broken-edge effects as paint pools in the hollows and skips across the peaks — a technique called "dry brushing" exploits this particularly well. Rough paper suits expressive, loose work and large-scale painting. The texture can swallow fine detail, so it is less useful for intricate subjects.
Weight: Why 300gsm Changes Everything
Watercolour paper is measured by weight: grams per square metre (gsm). This matters enormously, and it is the second biggest variable after surface type.
Under 185gsm — cheap student pads and cartridge paper. Fine for sketching, disastrous for watercolour. The paper absorbs water unevenly, warps and buckles badly, and the surface breaks down under multiple washes. Avoid for anything you care about.
190–200gsm — the entry point for "proper" watercolour paper. Fabriano Accademia and similar student-grade papers fall here. Will still buckle unless you stretch it first. Perfectly acceptable for practice work.
300gsm — the professional standard. Paper at this weight can handle multiple wet washes without warping (on small-to-medium sizes) and does not usually need stretching for sheets up to A3. Arches 300gsm, Saunders Waterford 300gsm, and Fabriano Artistico 300gsm are the papers I use for almost all finished work. The extra cost is justified — cheap paper makes everything harder.
425–640gsm — heavyweight sheets for large-scale work, multiple wet applications, or painters who dislike stretching paper. Extremely forgiving of heavy water use but expensive and less necessary than manufacturers suggest.
Cotton vs Wood Pulp
Watercolour papers are made from two types of fibre: cotton (also called rag) and wood pulp (also called cellulose).
Cotton paper is made from 100% cotton fibre and is what all the professional-grade papers use. It is acid-free, archivally stable, and has a surface that responds beautifully to water — absorbing it evenly, allowing colour to flow predictably, and lifting cleanly. Arches, Fabriano Artistico, Saunders Waterford, and Hahnemühle are all cotton papers. They are expensive. They are worth it.
Wood pulp / cellulose papers are cheaper and widely available in pads and blocks. They are suitable for practice and experimentation but are not acid-free and will yellow over time. Paint tends to sit more on the surface rather than being absorbed into the fibre, which makes lifting and re-working more difficult. Canson XL and most supermarket watercolour pads fall into this category.
My rule: use cotton paper for anything you intend to keep, sell, or frame. Use wood pulp for practice, sketching, and testing colour mixes.
Stretching Paper
When wet paper dries unevenly — one side drying faster than another — it buckles and distorts. Stretching is the process of pre-wetting the paper and then fixing it to a board while it dries, so that it remains flat throughout the painting process.
The traditional method uses a wooden drawing board and gummed tape (not masking tape — proper brown gummed paper tape). You soak the paper briefly, lay it flat on the board, and tape all four edges firmly. Allow it to dry completely before painting on it. The paper will buckle while wet and then pull completely flat as it dries. It will remain flat — more or less — throughout the painting session.
Watercolour blocks — a pad of sheets glued on all four sides — are a convenient alternative for up to about A4 size. The glued edges hold the sheet in place while you paint. When the painting is dry, you slide a palette knife or butter knife along the unglued edge to release the sheet.
For 300gsm paper in sizes up to about 30x40cm, I often paint on unstretched sheets held to a board with clips. At this weight and size the buckling is manageable and mostly resolves as the painting dries.
My Current Favourites
Arches 300gsm Cold Press — my main paper for landscapes and finished studio work. Handles multiple wet applications without breaking down. Excellent for lifting (removing paint with a damp brush or tissue). The industry standard for good reason.
Saunders Waterford 300gsm Cold Press — a British-made alternative to Arches with a slightly harder surface. Takes wet washes beautifully and I find it particularly good for crisp-edged detail work. Good value compared to Arches.
Fabriano Artistico 300gsm Cold Press — softer surface than either of the above, excellent for wet-on-wet work where you want paint to flow and blend freely. Good for loose, atmospheric washes. My go-to when I want paint to move.
Hahnemühle The Collection 300gsm — a pressed German cotton paper that occupies a middle ground between hot press and cold press. Excellent for work that mixes painterly washes with fine-detail passages. More expensive; worth it for large finished pieces.
What NOT to Do
Do not buy a cheap pad from a craft shop and wonder why your watercolours look nothing like the ones you see online. The paper genuinely accounts for a large proportion of the difference between a beginner result and a professional one — more than the brushes, more than the brand of paint.
Do not avoid stretching if you are working on anything below 300gsm. Buckling paper at a critical moment in a wet wash is deeply demoralising.
Do not assume that the most expensive paper is always the right choice. Fabriano Accademia at 200gsm is entirely adequate for practice work and significantly cheaper than Arches. Save the expensive sheets for the paintings you care about.
A Simple Starting Point
If you are coming to a workshop with me and unsure what to bring, I recommend a pad of Saunders Waterford 300gsm Cold Press in A4 or A3. It is widely available in the UK, handles everything from wet washes to fine detail, and will not let you down. I will have sheets available in the workshop if you want to try something different.
Paper is the one material in watercolour where I consistently encourage people to spend more than they think they need to. Everything else comes down to practice and patience. But practice is much harder — and much less enjoyable — on paper that fights you.
If you have questions about paper, or want to discuss materials before a workshop, get in touch — I am always happy to help.
Simon Robin Stephens runs watercolour workshops in Carshalton, South London. View upcoming workshop dates and book your place here.
