Painting & drawing blog
WATERCOLOUR PAPERS COMPARISON
Whatever your budget, choosing the right watercolour paper can be a bit of a minefield! Even once you’ve worked out which qualities are important to you it can be hard to identify which brands conform to them as paper manufacturers are not always forthcoming about their ingredients and methods. This is particularly true of the budget ‘student’ ranges, and less so of ranges made by the famous specialist paper mills. In this post I’ve assembled as much information as possible on the well-known papers to help you to choose the best one for you.
I’ve noted whether or nota paper is known to use a gelatin size or non-animal based one (this may be starch or a polyvinyl acrylic) not only because vegetarians or vegans may wish to avoid gelatin but also because – conversely – some artists prefer and seek out a gelatin-sized paper. If you have any corrections please let me know! For explanations of the different criteria and how they might affect your painting, see this post on watercolour paper.
ARCHES: AQUARELLE
100% Cotton fibre paper, cylindrical mould made
Internal and external sizing (gelatin)
Available in loose sheets, blocks or pads
No Optical Brightening Agents
FABRIANO: ARTISTICO
100% Cotton fibre paper, cylindrical mould made
Internal and external sizing (not animal derived)
Available in loose sheets, blocks or pads
No Optical Brightening Agents
ST CUTHBERTS MILL: SANDERS WATERFORD
100% Cotton fibre paper, cylindrical mould made
Internal and external sizing (not animal derived)
Available in loose sheets or blocks
No Optical Brightening Agents
ST CUTHBERTS MILL: MILLFORD
100% Cotton fibre paper, cylindrical mould made
Internal sizing (not animal derived)
Available in loose sheets or blocks
No Optical Brightening Agents
DALER-ROWNEY: LANGTON PRESTIGE
100% Cotton fibre paper, cylindrical mould made
External sizing (gelatin)
Available in loose sheets, blocks or pads
OBAs: no information provided
CANSON: MOULIN DU ROY
100% Cotton fibre paper, cylindrical mould made
Internal and external sizing (not animal derived)
Available in loose sheets, blocks or pads
No Optical Brightening Agents
CANSON: HERITAGE L’AQUARELLE
100% Cotton fibre paper, cylindrical mould made
External sizing (not animal derived)
Available in loose sheets, blocks or pads
No Optical Brightening Agents
WINSOR & NEWTON: PROFESSIONAL WATERCOLOUR PAPER
100% Cotton fibre paper, cylindrical mould made
Internal and external sizing (gelatin)
Available in loose sheets, blocks or pads
No Optical Brightening Agents
LEGION: STONEHENGE AQUA
100% Cotton fibre paper, cylindrical mould made
Internal and external sizing (not animal derived)
Available in loose sheets or blocks
No Optical Brightening Agents
FABRIANO: 5
50% Cotton fibre, 50% Wood pulp paper, cylindrical mould made
External sizing (not animal derived)
Available in loose sheets, blocks or pads
Optical Brightening Agents added
ST CUTHBERTS MILL: BOCKINGFORD
100% Wood pulp paper, cylindrical mould made
Internal sizing (not animal derived)
Available in loose sheets, blocks or pads
No Optical Brightening Agents
ST CUTHBERTS MILL: BOTANICAL ULTRA SMOOTH
50% Cotton fibre, 50% Wood pulp paper, cylindrical mould made
External sizing (not animal derived)
Available in loose sheets or pads
Optical Brightening Agents added
FABRIANO: WATERCOLOUR STUDIO
25% Cotton fibre, 75% Wood pulp paper
Internal and external sizing (not animal derived)
Available in loose sheets or pads
OBAs: no information provided
WINSOR & NEWTON: CLASSIC WATERCOLOUR PAPER
100% Wood pulp paper, cylindrical mould made
Internal and external sizing (gelatin)
Available in loose sheets or pads
No Optical Brightening Agents
DALER-ROWNEY: LANGTON
100% Wood pulp paper, cylindrical mould made
External sizing (not animal derived)
Available in loose sheets, blocks or pads
OBAs: no information provided
DALER-ROWNEY: AQUAFINE
100% Wood pulp paper, Fourdrinier machine made
Internal and external sizing, type not known
Available in loose sheets, blocks or pads
No Optical Brightening Agents
DALER-ROWNEY: SIMPLY WATERCOLOUR PAPER
100% Wood pulp paper, Fourdrinier machine made
Sizing: no information provided
Available in pads
OBAs: no information provided
© Article rights reserved. View this portrait artist’s work here
CATEGORIES
DRAWING PEOPLE
DRAWING ANIMALS
DRAWING MATERIALS
OIL PAINTING
WATERCOLOUR
PAINTING MATERIALS
FRAMING