Using textured paper is essential to get the best out of your watercolours. The colours will appear more vibrant and the paint will spread about the page without the paper buckling under the pressure of the water. Using regular cartridge paper doesn’t work because it can’t absorb all of the water and may cause the paper to tear.
Soaking your paper is only necessary if the style the style of painting you want to achieve involves using a lot of water. The process of soaking the paper will prepare your paper to absorb a substantial amount of water, therefore the paper will not crinkle like it might if you did not soak it first.
1. You will need: a clean sponge, gummed paper, scissors, watercolour paper, a wooden flat surface and container of water. First cut out the the correct lengths of gummed paper to fit around your paper. You will find your paper will shrink a bit when soaking so be prepared to lose a few cm’s of paper.
2. Place the paper in the water to soak for around 5-10 mins, until it’s floppy. Meanwhile clean and wet your board with a sponge.
3. When the paper is ready remove from the water and let the excess water drip off. Bend slightly in the middle and place on the wet board, letting the middle make contact with the board first and let the paper stick to the board.
4. Use the sponge to wet the inside of the gummed paper, then place gummed paper on all the edges, pressing lightly to fix in place. Leave paper to dry overnight or start painting if you want to paint wet on wet.
The Ultimate Colouring Pencil Guide Table of Contents Learn how to use colouring pencils with Zieler artist ambassador @bishandbow_art. Colouring pencils have become increasingly popular.