Leanne Barrett: Watercolour Paper - What Side Do I Paint On?

Thursday 23 January 2020

Watercolour Paper - What Side Do I Paint On?

Which side of watercolour paper do I paint on?
As I pulled out a huge sheet of watercolour paper (size A2) I wondered what side do I paint on? Is there a right and wrong side?

I looked at the paper and the answer wasn't obvious. I knew that my cold pressed watercolour paper had a rough side and a smoother side but what about hot pressed watercolour paper?

So off to google I went.

First, I wondered about watermarks on paper. Using my light box I discovered that 1 of my 3 pieces of paper had a watermark. Then as I read more I found out that this is not necessarily an indicator of the 'right' side.

Secondly, I discovered that sometimes the page that is on the top of a pad or block of watercolour paper is not necessarily the 'right' side either.

In fact what I discovered was very freeing. It does not matter what side you paint on. There is no 'right' or 'wrong' side of watercolour paper.

Why?

The paper tooth changes how watercolour paint moves on the paper surface. Therefore choose the side that allows for the painting technique you want to use eg. bleeding.
Choose the side that gives you the end result you want eg. I generally don't want the dimples showing on my illustrations, so I want to use the smoothest side, plus I find smooth paper easier to scan and edit when wanting to print images onto cards.
Select either side of hot pressed paper to paint on because often there is little difference to the texture between the surfaces.
You can always do a test paint of both sides to see which side you have a preference to paint on.

Jargon of Watercolour paper;

tooth- texture, smoothness
texture - smooth or rough
felt side - the top side, front, 'right' side, often more random texture - the rougher side
wire side - mould side, back, the opposite side to the felt side, often more regular - the smoother side
not - cold pressed paper