Water Colour Paper Loose Sheets and Rolls

The chart below lists available loose watercolour paper sheets at Jackson’s Art Supplies.  The choice is ever growing, but the quality is always the highest possible.  Artists inspired by watercolour are of all levels of ability, from absolute beginners to painters who use the medium to capture ideas or quick landscape sketches prior to larger work in oil or acrylic, to professional watercolour painters who use watercolour as their main medium.  Don’t be fooled into thinking that watercolour painting is purely for those who want to paint gentle and watery landscapes – watercolour painting can possess colours as strong and be as expressive and as dynamic as acrylic or oil.  The right paper for your intentions is therefore vital in achieving the final results you are looking for in your work.  The chart lists the choices available in order of weight.  Paper under 200lb in weight is almost certainly too thin to paint on to straight away without it buckling (also known as cockling) and to prevent this happening, artists tend to stretch paper on to a board (either using a specially designed paper stretcher or by using gumstrip to fix the paper to a board.  The paper may sag or become ‘baggy’ when saturated with water, but once it dries again the paper will shrink so it is flat against the backing board. If you are going to apply heavy washes of very liquid watercolour on heavier weights of paper you may feel more confident about it not buckling if you were to stretch it, however work with less water in it is less likely to cause the paper to cockle. 

As discussed in other watercolour paper pages on our website, watercolour paper prices do vary quite extensively, and the main reason for this is the make-up of the paper. The strongest, most durable and most stable watercolour papers are made of 100% cotton.  Cotton has the longest fibres, and it is elastic in comparison to cheaper wood fibres.  The very best watercolour papers are made of 100% acid free cotton.  Eco papers such as Khadi and Jackson’s Eco paper use the cotton of old rags, so is environmentally friendly too!  Handmade papers such as these tend to have a slightly coarser texture than other papers – this will have a strong impact on the look of your work and it is best used by painters who are interested in textures in their work.  For very heavy weight paper the Jackson’s Eco paper is a very good buy as it is such a good price, and would also be a great surface for oil or acrylic painting if primed or sized prior to painting.  The most popular professional standard 100% cotton papers include Fabriano Artistico, Arches Aquarelle, Saunders Waterford and Jackson’s Two Rivers Paper.  These are all available in 3 surfaces – hot press (the smoothest, no tooth), not surface (a slight tooth) and rough surface (the heaviest tooth).  The natural colour of these papers is a creamy shade, but recently paper manufacturers Saunders Waterford and Fabriano Artistico have found a way of whitening their papers with a little bleach.  The result is a significantly paler paper alternative in both ranges. However do note that while the high white/extra white ranges are lighter in colour, they are not as white as standard copy paper as it would compromise the stability of the paper if it was bleached to such an extent. However the paper is a treat to use by any painter who strives for luminosity in their work, as the lighter the paper you apply your transparent colour to, the brighter the appearance of the colour itself.

Students or those on a tighter budget may want to paint on paper that is a little more affordable.  We have several solutions! In addition to Jackson’s papers, which succeed in offering high quality and low price, we also have lower cost papers such as Bockingford, Fabriano Pittura and Fabriano 5. Although these papers are not 100% cotton they are all a good mix with 100% acid free cellulose fibres.  These offer a perfectly adequate painting surface for painters of all abilities, but you may find the paper does not withstand the same amount of scrubbing that a 100% cotton paper might.