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The paper

Support impossible to circumvent of your watercolours, the choice of paper is essential to materialize your créations.
Without claiming to be complete, This tutoriel will give you an overall picture on the various ranges and standard commercial as well as a small outline on its manufacture.

table of contents

How to choose its paper
The ranges
The grammage
The granularity
Its manufacture

Paper watercolour

How to choose its paper

The choice is rather personal, you choose your paper according to your way of working, rapid or slower, with much or less water, work outside or the intérieur.

There do not exist absolute rules, all depends on your level, your inspiration of the moment, the effects which you want to obtain, of your imagination, of your mood…

The ranges

A large range is proposed to you in the various paper marks, each one presents qualities and defects.

Japanese papers are often light, flexible, they are appropriate well for the spontaneous and made watercolours rather quickly.Attention, they have a certain brittleness. Paper English watercolours and Italian...
The papers of the Arches mark are stronger and allow the final improvements more easily, they are very good qualities and have a good behaviour in time, the reference for much of painters in watercolours!

If you begin, do not limit your choice to only one mark or paper range. Test, handle, use them under many conditions, try out them, in order to discover your preferences, do not hesitate to leave the beaten paths.

As one goes along of your discoveries, you will end up detecting that which is appropriate to you best. To change from time to time, you will be surprised to find certain qualities of a paper range which you had disowned a few times before.

The grammage

A broad choice to satisfy all your tastes and techniques.

The 185g/m ² is fragile and supports water little. Use dry colours rather. Good for ink, the charcoal, pencil, certain acrylic work, etc.

The 300g/m ² resists tearings better. Moisture will be easier to you to manage than in the use of the more important grammages. if you use wet colours forts, fixed your paper.

The 640g/m ² It gondole not. Use for your work requiring the use of much water.

The 850g/m ² very marked Grain, paper all-land . If you feel the need for you défouler, go ahead!

The granularity

It is the trace which the felt with manufacture leaves.

The fine grain
Your colors will be spread out flexibly by giving the impression of a smooth surface on which your brush will slip more easily. "I appreciate it for my portraits because, it leaves an impression of softness. It will allow you more precision in work with the brush (J.Thirion)". With the transparency of the watercolour the grain of paper remains always visible.

The grain cloth
It absorbs less. I find it interressant because it is dynamic, gives relief to the matter and luminous variations remarkable. The white will be well marked. I use more water with this grain and my final improvements made dry are well rythmées.(J.Thirion)"

"I pass from the one to the other without too preferably, I rather adapt them according to my subjects."(J.Thirion)"

The satiny grain
The grain is not visible, it is rather used by the graphic designer for its made more neutral. "It will be more difficult to control for your work of watercolour if you begin."(J.Thirion)"

Its manufacture

In spite of its automation and the contribution of some components, the manufacturing process of paper recourse always to the traditional models. The basic materials which intervenes in the manufacture of paper watercolour, is cotton.

C'est au niveau des fleurs les plus jeunes que le linter (coton) est récolté. Son origine géographique a une importance essentielle, comme par exemple la longueur filamenteuse du coton., celle-ci déterminera le degré éminent de qualité du papier.

For his manufacture, one mixes cotton with pure water while adding to it of calcium carbonate. This one will protect paper from the acid attacks while balancing are pH for better a conservation.
For a good resistance the fibres are reduced and mixed, filtered.

The homogeneous paste is then formatted mechanically at the steam on a round form, a cylinder of large diameter covered with an end treilli of copper with a filigrame. On this form comes to present a felt which absorbs part of water and takes off paper. By the pressure of rollers, paper is moulded with the grain of the felt and water is driven out by it. Paper then is dried and conditioned for the sale.

With you to tame it now, water, pigments, a blow of brush and ...

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