Alan Bickley sheds light on the often-bewildering array of papers available to the artist
The choice of mould-made, machine-made and traditional handmade papers that are available to us artists today is vast. For the relative newcomer to art, or even the more experienced among us, this almost endless choice can often be confusing. So, let’s begin by breaking it down into simple headings, starting with the medium that we are using, although many papers are suitable for a variety of media.
Before we do that, here are a few useful pointers:
● Your choice of paper will often be determined by the medium, subject matter and affordability. Handmade paper can be fairly expensive because the manufacturing process is labour-intensive, but there are many machine-made papers available that will do an adequate job and at a reasonable price.
● Most papers are made from one of two substances: cotton and wood pulp. Cotton is the most stable and wood pulp is a good economical choice. A mixture of both cotton and rag (cotton rag) is generally considered to be the most durable, and is my favourite go-to watercolour paper for finished studio work, available from Two Rivers Paper Mill.
● The weight of paper is measured in pounds or grammes per square metre (lbs or gsm). The weight indicated on the paper packaging, pad or block, is the weight of a full ream (500 sheets 22x30in). As a general guide, anything under 140lb (300gsm) will require stretching. More on stretching paper later on (page 58).
● Make sure that you choose an acid-free paper! This will ensure that your artwork has a good degree of longevity and won’t yellow over time.
● You have a choice between machine-made and handmade paper. Handmade is often a heavier weight (although not necessarily), and is easily identified by its four deckled edges. Machine-made paper is cheaper and will often display a more uniform surface texture, which could be described as being even, and perhaps more mechanical looking.
● Most papers are available in either loose sheets, drawing pads or blocks, the latter being glued on all four edges thus eliminating the need for stretching. I find blocks to be an excellent choice for plein-air painting, as they normally have a stout backboard.
Watercolour paper
Watercolour paper is generally available from 90lb (190gsm) up to 400lb (850gsm) in weight. Not many manufacturers make 400lb, but the one tha t I often use is Fabriano Artisti
