How To Stretch Watercolor Paper Before Painting

Before we stretch watercolor paper, you must prepare the following materials or supplies. Place along all four outer edges of the paper, covering just about ¼” of the paper.

How To Prep your Watercolour Paper Best watercolor paper

Proceed to stretch the paper to your liking.

How to stretch watercolor paper before painting. However, they are not easy to find. It involves soaking the paper with water, attaching it to some kind of board and allowing it to dry completely before beginning the painting. You can also use a damp sponge.

I do experience minimal buckling of the paper, especially around the edges. Next, the second staple goes in the corner that is closest to the first staple. I was wondering how many of you take the time to stretch your paper, or what, if any, methods you use to avoid this step?

Play would like that on. You now have stapled one of the two short lengths of your paper. Now, staple with staples about 2 inches apart.

The weight of 140 lb works perfect. When you soak the paper it expands. If it’s larger than 190gsm but less than 300gsm, let it soak for about five minutes if your sheet is 300gsm or heavier, let it soak for up to eight minutes.

This is the most common way of stretching paper and spruce drawing boards (draughtsmen’s boards) are the best because they are hard wearing and durable. But the benefit of stretching your paper is the freedom to use as much water as you want, when you want. I'm going to show you now how to prepare your water, your freshly stretched watercolor paper, as if you're going to use a critic like it's water color.

Stretching the watercolor paper is a good technique before painting to get the perfect results. The experience of painting on watercolour paper that stays perfectly taut and flat is a revelation to painters who have always fought with their paper. You can also dampen the paper with a sponge and spray bottle on a clean board.

Lift the sheet of watercolor paper, and gently shake off the excess water. Tilt your paper to see if there are any dry spots and correct those. If you haven’t checked what are the necessary materials for watercolor painting, click them here.

First you soak the paper, then you stretch it. In the video below about how to stretch watercolor paper i use 140 lb cold pressed watercolor paper but you can also use hot pressed paper. Let the paper dry overnight.

Cover with another sheet of sketch paper or a towel. Place sketch or copy paper down on a clean surface. Most watercolor paper needs to be stretched before it can be used as a good painting surface and to ensure that it won’t crinkle when your paints dry.

Once the paper is dry, it will be stretched tight on the board and will not warp when watercolor is added. A lightweight paper will buckle when you use it before stretching. Put your paper in the middle on test, tape it right up to the edges and even overlap the edges.

And since i've yet to finish the small projects i'm working on and can't post new finished painting pictures yet, i thought i'd use the time to share some knowledge instead. Watercolor paper weights / to stretch or not to stretch i'm trying to teach some of my friends about painting in watercolor. There are two ways to stretch watercolour paper:

As a beginner, i used a watercolor block (such as arches 140 lb. You then fix the edges of the paper so that when. How to stretch watercolor paper.

Stretching on a flat board. Now repeat the other short side. Mist the back of the paper with water using a fine mist.

Create your painting while the sheet is still taped to the board. The sketch paper should be larger than the painted paper. If the sheet of watercolor paper is not perfectly smooth at this stage, it won't dry smooth.

Stretching occurs when you prepare the watercolor paper in advance, so it won’t wrinkle during the painting. Take your sheet out of the water, drain as much water from the sheet as you can and place it on a clean, sturdy board. Some are already around the household and some are part of your list of essential tools.

You’ll have to flip the paper a few times to adequately saturate the paper enough to stretch it. Do i need to stretch the watercolor paper before painting? You can use the tap, staples, tacks, or glue to attach the paper with the flat board.

Place it on a drawing board, which must be lying flat. Staple one corner of the paper to the board. Below is a watercolor painting of one of my rose paintings displayed to show how these watercolor canvas look like.

For stretching, you can soak the paper in the water for 10 to 15 minutes and put it on the flat board. You can stretch the paper a day in advance for a perfect, smooth finish, or if you're in a hurry, wet the paper a few minutes before you start painting. Smooth the watercolor paper out with a clean sponge (preferably) or your fingers (but wash them first to get any grease off them).

Whichever method you choose to stretch your paper, the basic approach is the same: That would be absolutely fine. These white areas form some hard edges in your cloud shapes.

Lay the wet paper on a clean board and gently smooth the paper with a clean sponge and remove any excess water.

How to Stretch Watercolor Paper stretch watercolor