How to prevent watercolour paper from wrinkling?

Question

How to prevent watercolour paper from wrinkling?

Answer 1

Watercolor paper must be stretched before painting on it. You can find watercolor blocks at Michaels or Hobby Lobby. These are pads of watercolor paper that is secured on all four sides. You paint on it, allow it to dry and slip a knife between the sheets to release the painted one from the others.

The lightest weight paper you should be using is 140# paper. 90# paper is too thin. It will buckle whether you stretch it or not. 300# paper does not have to be stretched.

To stretch watercolor paper, you soak it flat in cold water for 10 minutes. When done soaking you hang it until damp. You then attach it to a board to finish drying. You need to attach all 4 sides so that it dries flat. You can use bulldog clips, watercolor tape, Otto bars.

The best places to get good watercolor paper is from online art houses or if you have a fine art supply store nearby (not Michaels or Hobby Lobby).



Google Dick Blick, Daniel Smith Art Materials, or Cheap Joe's Art Stuff

Answer 2

Are you putting the paper on a Board and securing it with Glue tape? before you do this to use it for painting.. wet the paper so it expands a bit first LET IT DRY then use it ...When you wet the paper with the paint it should not change shape or wrinkle..

Answer 3

Get a good paper like Arches and don't make pools on it

Answer 4

Are you actually using "Watercolor paper"? Good quality paper that are actually meant for watercolor (not a 'general use' paper) wont wrinkle as much. Also i could be your painting technique, you could be over-saturating the paper causing it wrinkle. Try using less water or only paint a small area at a time and let it dry between sessions. Any decent craft store should have suitable quality.

Answer 5

put heavy stuff on the 4 corners

Answer 6

Okay there are a few things you can go to prevent your paper from wrinkling.



1. Stretch your paper- what I use is Masonite board (you can get either at a hardware or art store, they have different sizes depending on how big or small you want to work) paper tape (which sticks when you wet it, like an envelope seal. What you need to do is place the watercolor paper on the board, and use a spray bottle filled with water to dampen the paper. This prevents it from wrinkling when working and allows it to dry flat after you have stretched it. Get a sponge and a cup of water so you can rip off strips of paper tape, wet them, and place them down on the edges of your paper. Make sure your pulling the corners of the paper while you're doing this (hence the stretching) so it's as flat as you can get it. If it's not flat after you stretch it don't worry, it will flatten when it dries. If it's not flat when it dries you may have done something wrong. Try to watch a youtube tutorial on it or something. Once you are done creating your piece you can cut it out with an exacto knife and it will be nice and flat :)



2. There are these things called watercolor blocks. The brand Arches makes them They are 10-20 sheets to a block. You can work on those and once you are finished you cut it out with a palette knife and it should stay flat the whole time you're working. A couple issues with the block is A. They are really expensive (I've seen them between $35-$45) B. they don't always stick to the block, the water you work with can seep through and cause it to come undone on it's own.



3. Try to find a thick board like a 400-500 lb watercolor board. Or sometimes you can also find pre stretched watercolor paper.



Stretching your paper is probably the cheapest route to go, I wouldn't recommend getting a block or a fancy board unless you're doing a really important project.