Video: Understanding Paper Weights & Pads for Watercolor Painting

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Learn the importance of paper weight and using a paper pad in watercolor painting in this free video art lesson.

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Video Transcript

Hi! I’m John Junger. I do the paintings that we’re going to be talking about, the watercolors. I’m here representing expertvillage.com. Paper also comes in sheets besides the pads. The pads are a little more expensive, but they’re handy to use, carry around, keeps the sheets clean with the cover. It also has a gum binding on the edge. You can work on the surface while it’s still bound. There’s an opening here to remove the sheet. You can also you the sheet on a board or however you want to work. I use these because I can take them out onto the field in a valise and not have them get wrinkled. It’s back with a hard cardboard backing. It just works well for me. The sizes come from small, there is even smaller than this. This is a 9 x 12 pad, which is a nice size for a small painting. 18 x 24. You can get some sheets pads larger, but this is handy for me to carry around and it’s big enough to do what I want to do. The weight of the watercolor paper varies from block to block. The color in these arches indicates what weight it is. This is an 180 pound. I thought it was on the sheet here but it doesn’t. There’s a 300 pound paper, which means it’s about twice as thick as this. There is also a lighter weight paper 90 pound. The lighter paper is kind of flimsy if your start working too much with it, you’ll have some problems. The medium weight is good for working on. You can do some minor corrections and it holds up well when you frame it. The 300 pound, you don’t need to stretch or do anything with, but it is much more expensive to purchase. Also, the water absorption and so forth is different on it, so if you’re going to use it you’re probably going to have to use it for everything.

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Understanding Paper Weights & Pads for Watercolor Painting

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