Which Side Of Watercolor Paper Do You Paint On

Take you ever establish yourself wondering which side of watercolor newspaper to employ? Maybe you cut upward a large canvas into smaller pieces, and now you're wondering which was the "right" side to pigment on? Or if you've removed a sail from a watercolor block or a pad then y'all're facing the same problem…

I've found myself in this situation a few times. The important question being whether there's a "right side of the paper on which you are intended to paint.

And so what side of your watercolor paper should y'all use? Well-nigh of the time the reply seems to be "whichever side yous like". The just existent departure being a subtle variation in texture. Only with that being said, there IS a difference between the 2 sides of the paper. And this difference varies depending on the brand and type of paper yous choose to paint on.

I did a lilliputian research to discover out what changes you tin can wait between one side of your paper and the other!

What Side of Watercolor Paper to Apply

If you lot're asking yourself this question and so it probably ways at that place isn't a huge visual difference between the two sides of your paper. This is true for the majority of good quality 100% cotton wool papers on the market. The but noticeable departure is a slight change in texture between the ii faces.

Of form, the real question we're request ourselves is whether there's a discrepancy in the handling qualities of the "forepart" and "back" of the sheet.

The two factors which might have an influence on how the paper handles (apart from your choice of weight, surface finish, etc.), are the "tooth" or textural variations and any possible differences in the sizing of the sheet.

Sizing is an important feature, especially for watercolor paper. Traditional sizing uses gelatine. Sizing prevents all the color pigments from watercolors from being absorbed deep into the newspaper, and in this style it preserves the vivid color advent of your paints. Well sized paper also allows wet pigment to transfer easily from castor to paper, and remain damp on the surface so you have longer to play with the pigment.

Differences between handmade and moldmade watercolor paper

100% cotton paper can either exist handmade or moldmade.

To begin with, cotton fibers are mixed with a large corporeality of water to make paper pulp.

Handmade papers are produced using a rectangular hand-held mold. This is basically a big flat sieve with a wire mesh stretched across a frame. This mold is dipped into a vat of cotton pulp, then sloshed around to spread the lurid evenly over the mesh. The h2o drains away and the pulp sticks to the wire mesh.

This sheet of pulp is so transferred to a sail of felt for drying. This wet paper sheet is sandwiched between successive layers of felt (like a big newspaper and felt lasagna). A big press is used to clasp out the water and begin the drying process.

The type of felt used is what gives watercolor newspaper its famous "crude" or "common cold press" end. Smooth "hot press" paper undergoes an additional treatment of being compressed by hot rollers to smooth abroad the texture.

I'm telling yous this so y'all understand the departure between the ii sides of traditionally made watercolor paper. Every bit yous take probably guessed, this process tin can produce two different surfaces to the newspaper.

The first is the wire side where the pulp adhered to the mold.

And the second is the felt side where the canvas was placed on the felt for drying.

Of class, both sides finish upwards getting squeezed between sheets of felt, which reduces the departure in texture between the "front" and "back" faces. But the impression left by the wire mesh often persists. And the two sides of the paper are referred to equally the wire side or the felt side.

With handmade papers this by and large means you get a more than important deviation in surface texture on each side.

For a better idea of how this handmade procedure works take a wait at this quick video which shows the handmade process of Fabriano paper:

Now, handmade papers are pretty expensive (they are more than labour intensive than machine fabricated papers). Then most of us stick to professional person quality 100% cotton newspaper which is made by machine. This blazon of paper is what nosotros telephone call moldmade.

Moldmade paper relies on the same method every bit handmade paper, but to make things easier, the whole process is automatic. The sheets of watercolor newspaper are fabricated as one continuous very long sheet. To do this the wire mesh is in the form of a cylinder mold. This cylinder is dipped into a vat of paper pulp and rotated so that the pulp slowly adheres to the surface of the wire mesh.

The moisture sheet of pulp then gets transferred to a sheet of felt, and sandwiched between felts to begin the drying procedure.

Note that for both handmade and moldmade paper, gelatine sizing of the sheet happens after the paper is formed and dried. The sheets get sent through a vat of liquid sizing which impregnates the cotton with gelatine, or other chemicals depending on the manufacturer.

This manufacturing procedure results in paper which has a less conspicuous change in texture on each face of the canvas.

And then you can compare the two processes, here's another video, this time showing Fabriano's moldmade newspaper production:

So Which Side of your Watercolor Paper do Y'all Utilize?

Okay… And then what can nosotros take away from all this?

The only real difference for virtually of usa will be a slightly dissimilar surface finish on the felt side and the wire side of the sheet. Depending on the brand of your paper and the production method used, this variation in texture will be more or less pronounced.

I suggest y'all experiment to discover out which side you prefer.

Paint handles differently on different paper textures. For example smooth hot press paper is good for detail. Slightly textured cold press paper is well suited to a wide diverseness of painting styles and the texture contributes to the final appearance.

Personally I utilise Arches newspaper for my finished paintings (here'due south the stuff I buy on Amazon). The difference on common cold printing paper is very subtle indeed, but over time I've come to recognize each side, and I use the "front" sheet as it is presented to me when I open the pad or block.

A quick tip if you buy big sheets and cut them up. Utilise a pencil to mark the "back" of the sheets with a "B" so you can quickly determine which side is which!

As for sizing, there should be very little divergence betwixt the two faces. In fact, Arches boasts that it is ane of the few brands which sizes its paper with gelatine "to the core"

Can you Paint on Both Sides of Watercolor Paper?

By now I'one thousand certain you lot've guessed the answer is yes. It really is a question of personal preference. I've found very piffling difference on both faces of Arches, Winsor & Newton, and Sunders Waterford papers.

I ofttimes employ both sides for sketching. You get double the value out of each sheet!