Watercolor Paper Weight

The lighter the weight the more buckling and warping you will encounter the higher the weight the thicker the papers and less as a result less warping.

Watercolor paper weight.

90 pound paper is a student grade and is rather thin. It is also the least expensive. Watercolor papers typically require stretching before you paint otherwise warping or buckling will occur during the drying process. It is made of 100 cotton and both sides are available for illustration.

The three standard watercolor paper weights are 90 140 and 300 pounds. Weight is not indicative of quality. The pad comprises 25 pages of hot pressed sheets which have a size of 5 by 7 inches. Their weight is 140 pounds 300 grams.

Typical weights for watercolor paper are. 1 measuring a ream of 500 sheets 22 x 30 in pounds lbs or 2 by measuring a single sheet in grams per square meter gsm or g m2. Contrary to popular belief heavier papers won t necessarily paint better. The standard machine weights are 190 gsm 90 lb 300 gsm 140 lb 356 gsm 260 lb and 638 gsm 300 lb.

However this time users of watercolor pencils will be more interested in this product. Paper less than 356 gsm 260 lb should be stretched before use. Art supply 11 x 14 premium heavy weight watercolor painting paper pad 140 pound 300gsm pad of 12 sheets pack of 2 pads. Light paper is anything less than 140 lb 300 gsm and heavy is 300 400 lb 600 850 gsm.

The thickness of watercolor paper is indicated by its weight measured either in grams per square meter gsm or pounds per ream lb. Otherwise it is likely to warp. Moreover the manufacturer will also allow you to pick between hot pressed cold pressed and rough paper textures depending on your needs and the artwork that you re going for. It s fairly stout can be stretched to avoid buckling when wet dries quickly and is medium priced.

90 pound watercolor paper will accept a fair amount of water but is best used with less water than the average watercolorist uses and cannot survive a lot of scrubbing or abrasion of the paper. In fact i don t even like most 300lb oh excuse me 638gsm paper and i m not alone thicker papers cost a whole heck of a lot more and tend to be more absorbent which doesn t work for me because i prefer my pigments to float. Which is what we will be comparing in today s study. Heavy paper can absorb more water and rarely needs stretching.

The most common weights for watercolor papers are 140 lb. 140 pound paper is probably the most popular choice. The 4 basic weights of watercolor paper is 90lb 140lb 300lb and 400lb.