It's so hard to use anything but cotton once one has developed the "taste" for it... Not that I eat my paper... You know what I mean :)

PREFERRED 0:25 Baohong Watercolor Block - Fine Grain, 300gsm 3:40 Fluid 100 Watercolor Block 4:12 Arches Cold Press 5:38 Blick Premiere Hot Press DISLIKE (Least Favorite - because the colors lift too easily. When trying to layer, they lift colors underneath). 7:14 Fabriano Studio (Hot Press 25% Cotton), Strathmore 400 Series, and Canson Montval Coldpress

Let me put in a vote for Fabriano's 100% cotton line, "Artistico". When I got tired of paying for Arches, I gave it a try, and it works just as well for me, and costs considerably less. I've used cold press in the past, and currently use rough press. I'm not sure it's a brilliant idea to discuss cotton papers and others in the same review, as the difference in quality is so very great. Everybody who can afford 100% cotton uses it exclusively.

i watched this video a week or so ago and looked up the Baohong paper on amazon and the block is 300 gsm and 100% cotton and I LOVE IT SO MUCH... it is amazong, thank u so much Arlee! i am always in search of new paper to try and this just made my process seem so easy✨

So glad you included those fluid blocks, I’ve been hesitant on trying them out because of their affordable price.. thanks 🙏

Your videos are so calm and you give lots of detail, thank you for doing this! Also, I've watched your classes on Skillshare and they're so, so good to watch. Your speak really clearly and that's good for the people who don't speak english as their first language. Thank you, thank you, thank you :)

It is always interesting to see who people react to "favorite" papers and supplies in general. I often tell people that if your going to skimp do not skimp on paper, use the best you cannot afford! I find that the cheaper papers just do not last even short term 10 years or less. I had bad yellowing in many cellulose papers in many of my student works when price seems to be paramount! Ah well its good to know your opinions and I look forward to learning more about you through your videos.

I loved Arches for my artwork.... and to make my hardcover leather bound watercolor sketchbooks. Most people that buy my sketchbooks ask for Arches. Once I used Saunders Waterford paper, I never wanted anything else lol. Painting on Saunders Waterford is like painting on.... well, heaven. So now for my sketchbooks I sell, I offer a choice of Saunders Waterford papers, Stonehenge aqua papers, Arches papers and Fabriano Artistico papers.... plus the Strathmore 500 series 100% cotton papers. I have converted alot of people to Saunders because I had a problem buying a large order of papers from my usual supplier, so all I had in my studio was Saunders Waterford ( because I buy a ton of it for my artwork ) to make any sketchbooks. So people got antsy waiting and wanted the sketchbooks with Saunders.... they now use nothing but lol. Saunders is like Arches, but with alittle less of the super insane sizing, its brighter and the texture is extremely sexy. ( yes I said paper is sexy )

Finally someone who doesn't like the Strathmore watercolor paper! I was beginning to think there was something wrong with me for not liking it, when everyone else seems to enjoy using it. Great review, thank you for sharing your experience.

I'm so grateful to have gotten to try Blocks HP because of you! I still owe one more episode on paper to my favorites series from a little while back, but I've been hesitant because there are still so many I want to try! Thanks for sharing your favorites with us!

Ohhh the Fabriano block you have got my attention! Since I work with Fabriano paper a lot! Maybe I know why you didn’t like it, it’s only 25% cotton (so it’s doesn’t perform as good as 50% or 100% cotton) and I noticed it’s Hot Press Satinata, I‘ve never tried the Satinata type but I heard it’s one of the most difficult texture to work on! I personally like working on Fabriano paper, they have different types of papers and surfaces and I tried several of them but the best (for me at least) it’s the Fabiano “Blocco per artisti” 50% cotton, 300gsm. Fabriano has rather good quality paper over 50% or 100% cotton, not sure about the price in other countries but in Italy, Fabriano is one of the best papers as price/quality ratio! I’ve heard a lot about Arches paper! I would be curious to try it but since it’s one of the most expensive papers, I already have good quality papers for a cheaper price 😂 I always wanted to ask you; What is your favorite texture/surface to work on?? Do you prefer working on hot press or cold press? 😊

We're so limited with our papers in Australia and shipping paper from overseas is super expensive, you might as well just pay for and use the Arches! Yes, Arches Hot Press dries too fast. Ho hummm! Thanks for the honest review.

Gotta say I was shocked to see strathmore on the least favorites list. I really love strathmore papers, haha. But I guess that's why so many companies have watercolor paper! I don't think I've used cotton paper before except for those fancy $8 giant papers we were forced to use for drawing class. Might try it out now that I see what brands of it are worth the money.

My favorite paper is Canson Heritage cold press, but I can definitely appreciate a nice cellulose paper as well, like an Etival. And even Montval isn't bad, I like it a lot for ink and wash. I also do not mind the inexpensive Fabriano Watercolour (I do not know if this even has a name, it just says waterolour on it. Looks like the blue cover of Fabriano studio, but it doesn't say studio on it) to play around, and I find that Hahnemühle Expression is an excellent choice for when you want pure cotton without having to spend a bunch of money. I have some of the Fabriano studio hot press kicking around here. I have actually only used it once last year, then forgot about it and recently recovred it - I do not even recall what I thought about it, but seeing how I never used another sheet, probably not much.

i can only afford the canson paper so i am gonna try it and take a look for myself . i love abstract and expressive work with more saturation so canson is the best for me

I am definitely interested in getting that blick hot press paper now. Thank you!

did anyone else realise there was a lil bug on her paper at 3:22??

Baohong block 300gsm/Brilliant tip about being able to reactivate bottom layers. In The several years I've watercolored, I've never heard this. Thanks!

3:23 nice little spider :o ! But nice video & good to see your insight and opinion about those papers!

I love the Canson. I’m just very impatient, so I forget to wait until layers dry. The paper also warps a lot less than the strathmore. From what I’ve seen at least lol.

i love how textured arches is and i find myself wanting to find cheaper very textured paper, but i can totally see how others wouldn’t like it, it’s got a strong personality (if that makes sense haha)

I'll admit that I haven't truly branched out in watercolor papers. I've tried Strathmore 300 and 400 series HP CP, Fabriano Studio CP, Richardson CP(You cannot mask this with tape or otherwise, it's too soft, and it warps badly.) and Fluid 100 CP. Personally, I like Strathmore best, probably because I learned on it. But I mostly use Fabriano, because it's cheap. Which means I don't have to feel bad when paintings are failures. But I do not slowly build up color, I go in bold and bright... and suck up the color I need to. Strathmore and Fabriano are great for that. Plus, I layer at this point for texture, details and to add a touch of dimension. And for me, it's nice to be able to rewett and lift/mix areas, probably because I live in the desert and boy does it dry fast! 😂 I've tried hot press now for the first time and am thinking about entirely switching over, it was incredibly easy to use and I really liked painting on illustration board. I want to try more papers because it'd be fun, and who knows maybe I'll fall in love with another paper... But for now, I'm keeping it cheap... haha. I think it'd be too upsetting wasting a $4+ sheet of paper on a bad painting. And of course with new supplies you should always expect mistakes. 😊 I enjoyed hearing your thoughts, and you've given me more to weigh over with what I will try next. 😊 I will say, we're very different painters, but I do love your work. 😁👍

do i see bee paper there?!

Nicely done Doll keep those creative juices flowing I also like canson watercolor cold press and arches cold press as well but not a fan of fluids hot press not sure if it's hot press I don't like or the brand it's self I will have to keep trying out more papers

My Jackson's cart is full of paper sheets😂 this is exactly what I needed

I have the baohong one as well! They now have 300 gsm cold and hot press.

I'm currently using up a pad of that same Strathmore paper and it's awful!!!! Paint just sits on the page and the colors lift. Can't get nice washes or blends. I'm new to watercolor, so I'm going to keep practicing with this paper until I use it up, but I want to move onto something better. Maybe I will try the blick or aliexpress one

Arches is internally and externally sized. Best to wet it and let it dry fully. then start your piece.

This is such a super handy video. I am also in a weird place with arches and may need to play around with more water to see how I feel.

I just bought some Canson L'aquarelle Heritage 100% cotton pads on clearance at Hobby Lobby recently (insanely cheap btw 75%off). I haven't used it yet, but I have to tell you it feels quite a bit like the arches. Honestly, if I didn't know that I was touching the Heritage paper I would have thought it was actually the Arches. Thank you so much for such details on the paper. I have a little bit of everything you shared, except the Blicks. I'll have to give it a try next time I order from them. Thanks again!

Arches paper has two sides with different textures (both hot and cold pressed) I hate the hot press on the smoother side but love the side that’s rougher. Eg it dries slower on the rougher side.

Nice review. My favorite non-cotton paper is WinsorNewton Classic. Great feeling. Best regards

Oh my goodness I needed this video so much!!! Thank you for blessing me with your knowledge, my dear!!!

Fabriano Studio really was something... I remember back when I started I bought it and it almost scarred me off wanting to paint anymore because it wasn't even just not enjoyable-- the paper surface started rubbing off in ways I didn't get with cheaper paper. I tried it again about a year or so later, but it still wasn't enjoyable-- it felt frustrating. Glad to know I wasn't alone in that... What I like about Canson Montval is that it's just so much more affordable, especially when you're someone not from the west and thus the cost of a good pad is... the price of rent for a one person dorm. Yes it's not good, but it's predictable and workable enough you can actually paint something without feeling like you're committing war crimes. I mostly stare at my Langton Prestige with longing in my eyes, but even after years I don't feel comfortable "wasting" it on pieces that don't feel as "important", such as character arts...

you’re literally my favorite youtube artist 🤩

Thanks for the paper review, and the brush you are using is beautiful!

I am glad because I feel the exactly same way to arches cold pressed and hot pressed papers. My favorite hot pressed paper is Saunders imperial white paper. It shows vibrant colors like arches cold pressed. Hope you try it one day.

Love your reviews style! Not so much technical stuff, but more of your own experience. I feel lthe same about the cellulose papers and while I decided to move to cotton papers for the layered pieces I will probably come back to these other ones for the 1-2 layer illustrations.

The only watercolor paper I've used is the hot press from blick and I really loved it. It was the required paper for my intro to watercolor class and I was amazed by it

I'm still learning watercolor and I really liked this video. I also started on canson watercolor paper because of the cheap price. I've been wanting to try other types of paper but have been worried about not liking it and spending mega bucks on it. Canson is ok but like you said it doesn't layer very well without activating the prevous layer below. I'll try to see if I can find any of these other brands in my local art store and try them out.

Thank you so much! I was really in doubt of what to chose and also it's sometimes kind of limited what brands we can get here in Denmark (at least in the stores and paper is hard to judge just by a website) so this was PERFECT!

I'm so glad I'm not the only one who didn't immediately love arches. I still can't get over the texture and dryness but everyone says it's the best...idk guess I'll just keep trying brands until I find something I like

Baohong and Blick's changed my LIFE

Am i the only one who enjoys the Strathmore paper? It's affordable and works great for what i water color!. To each their own. Good vid! Thanks.

I’ve been looking for a video like this for ages!! Thank you💛

Someone told me I really needed to invest in good watercolor paper so I got fabriano. It's the only specifically watercolor paper I've ever used, and I thought the issues you mentioned were just things I had to get over. Now I'm way more open to another brand

Thank you for this video! All my teacher showed us was arches, and I'd never heard of these other ones before

I saw that paper block from your aliexpress video and I had it in my cart til I chickened out and removed it. After this video I just ordered it so I guess I'll get to test it out for myself in a couple months time (thanks Chinese shipping lol)

I like to make my watercolor portraits in a hard bound book. I’m having a difficult time with the paper in my Stillman and Burn book -Zeta. The paper is smooth and thick. Thankfully it’s thick, because I get quite allot of feathering that needs to be worked around and messed with. Now I’m committed to this book, which is practically brand new, unless I write off the price and buy a book with cotton papers.

YESSSSS i got the same fabriano paper and i was SO disappointed!!!! I think it might work okay for ink or gouache though...ive just been meaning to pick it back up.

Papers that lift the colors easily are really good for watercolor markers!

i'm in the same boat with arches myself, i bought it for college but rarely use it as it was 1. expencive af and 2. I struggle with how textured/thick the paper feels IMO. but i'm glad i'm not the only one who had issues with it. also: what is that pink/red colour you use @ 6:22 pls it's gorgeous and i want it

I really like Fluid's Hot Press Finish, Ill try their cold press now for sure, Thanks

Thanks for the review! I have similar feelings, prefer Arches CP or Fabriano Artistico SP for many things, but am okay with Montval for swatching, studies and sketches. I dislike Strathmore 400 for it's color, hardness and having different texture on each side, but use it as scrap paper. I had a sample of Fluid 100, wasn't impressed but should probably try it again because of the price.

I have never liked Arches cold or hot pressed. For smaller paintings Bee Watercolor paper is my go to.

Thanks for going through these AB, it was so helpful 😊

Cotton paper is really something else

Ooh, have you tried the cold press studio fabriano paper? I haven't tried the hot press version but I really enjoyed the cold press one!

I knew it wasn't me, it was the paper!! I have a lot of fun playing around and layering some light washes on my Mixed Media pad, so I got the Canson Aquarelle pad to finally try my hand at making some finished pieces, but it felt like it sucked all the paper from my brush! I couldn't layer, couldn't blend colors together, nothing! And the colors looked so dull on this pad, too, even more so than on the Mixed Media pad

Really great info! Oof, most of the papers you mentioned in this video aren’t available in my country and if they were, they were either really hard to find, really expensive for me or both XD. The ones that happen to be available for me and that are the least expensive papers for me are the canson, fabriano and strathmore XD. The strathmore 500 series is available, but even small blocks and/or pads of it are too expensive. Is canson XL (not montval) good enough for not 100% cotton?

Very informative video. Just noticed that the Baohong blocks are also available on Amazon.com, under the MEEDEN label. Search "Meeden cotton watercolor paper" and it comes right up. Good price, too.

I'm curious to know if you would like the Hanhemülle paper, I really like it so far 🧡

I share your sentiments about all of those brands, haven’t tried Blick though. Wanted To know if you have tried Meeden Watercolor paper block? Very affordable and I really really like it I’ve only tried the hot press though. I so feel you on the Montville paper!

Lot of these are no longer available, do you have updated preferences? Thanks!! Love your work.

Great video! Thank you for taking the time to make this video. I'm looking for the thinnest most absorbent. That first one mentioned seems like a good fit. Any suggestions?

I know you made this video a long time ago but if you can please tell me how you feel about the Arteza watercolor paper, that would be very much appreciated! Thank You so much for all that you do and share...

My first experience with cotton paper was sobering, mainly because I was hoping for a much better paper, because many people believed and had the experience that cotton paper is very good and cellulose paper is so difficult and bad. My expectations were maybe too high for a paper. The Artistico in CP 300g / m2 was my first cotton paper and was bought before the changeover in 2016. It was better but not that it felt e.g much better like 10 times better and it's a lot easier to paint on. I also never had the feeling that I had to fight against my cellulose paper, which is also due to my somewhat loose painting style. Maybe the other people had awful papers before and from something bad to very good there is a very big difference and from good to very good the difference is much smaller. I previously had 2 private label papers a cheap 200g and an expensive 275g with cloudy texture, Etival by Clairfontaine, Fabriano Watercolor and Canson Montval and I like all these papers for their peculiarities. I think that very good paper with special properties is only needed with a very precise painting style and that the paper has to support the working method very precisely instead of the certain pictures failing due to the material if it is not quite as optimal. The colour, for example, dries up exactly as desired and that there can then be no deviations, so a paper 100% must meet the requirements and with 99% it is not enough. So I'm not so perfectionist and paint more loosely, so I can deal with my paper selection more loosely, I still like to paint on these papers even if i have tried other papers. I prefer to paint on cloudy paper and there are not many papers that have this structure apart from the private label paper, there is for example the Fontaine paper in cloudy from Clairfontaine 100% cotton, Fabriano Artistico in soft also cotton, Reflex Aqaurell No 10 Esparto paper from desert grass for which not as much water is used for cultivation as for cotton.

I'm new to watercolor painting (started on my own a few months ago) and I've been trying all sorts of techniques (loose painting, realistic). Would you recommend Montval in my case?since watercolor supplies aren't quite affordable and we all are locked down or in quarantine, I've been considering the Montval maxi pack for the next months. 🤔 I use Van Gogh by Talens and paint botanicals, birds and nature motifs mostly. Thank you so much for sharing your impressions. Subscribed already! Stay safe. Xx

Hello Arlesha hope i wrote you,re name right. I am no longer painting whit gouache and acrylic. I wanna get back at inking. I started inking last year. Then i stopped. I don,t know why. But i miss it and i wanna do it again. I don,t know if watercolor paper is suiteble for ink. If someone knows witch paper to use for inking it would be a lot of help. Right now i am trying diffrent watercolor papers. I love all of you,re portrets and paintings.😀👍🏽😁

Was looking reviews on the Fabriano Artistoco 100% cotton Grana Satinata Hot Pressed 150 lb. I just tried this paper and I hate it! The paper tends to “swell” when you are trying to do a wash, it even bled through to the back. I’ll be using this for scrap paper. Back to Arches and Bee paper for me.

I am going to try that Blick hot press. I've been making card size paintings ( 2 1/2" by 3 1/2") and selling them on ebay, but I find that when I take a photo of them close up (because they are small) the texture of the aches cold press shows up so pronounced. I was thinking to try hot press but I do like a little texture, so the Blick hot press sounds perfect. Thanks, let's cross our fingers and hope that this is the answer!

I got a bunch of xl paper for Xmas 😅 I asked for some higher quality but people don’t really know if they don’t paint so I have like 3 large books of it now 🙃 it’s fine and works but it’s a lot

Helpful video, and I love your art style! I subscribed to see more :-)

thank you so much for this!!!!! I found the Baohong paper on my local amazon cheaply (incredibly surprising... in Australia and our amazon is normally terrible!). May i ask, compared to stonehenge aqua hot pressed, do you think it feels smoother or rougher? Thank you so much again!!

Thank you for your opinions! How do you feel about Aquerelle ones?

Do you ever paint on the back of the papers as well? I really like the fluid brand, but painting on the back doesn’t really look nice. I really enjoy the arches but it’s so...expensive... I’ve tried the moulin du roy, Stonehenge, canson xl, shizen, and I don’t really like them. The Blick hot press is nice as you showed but that black gum is really annoying. But I suppose that’s a preference thing

Hey! I know you bought the Bee paper pretty recently, so you wouldn’t have used it as much, but what have you thought of it so far?

Aww man I just saw this and had already bought strath more and Arches ha

I like Baohong too!

With all my respect i would like to ask you based on your paper experience. Whiich one of this papers would you used to writte a victorian style letter ?? And why ???

Arches is such a dream to work with, just featured some on my latest video!!

New to your channel! Thank you for the wonderfully descriptive video! Do you suggest swatching when using new pads? For some reason that never occurred to me and I just dive in off the bat. So far I haven’t been too frustrated but I can see the advantages. Keep up the great content!

Strathmore paper is not good for traditional transparent watercolor techniques but work great for opaque style watercolor techniques. I am able to build up layers using gum arabic.

I have the fluid 100 paper and i love that it’s so thick but whenever i put water the paper Just lifts or if i mixed two colors and i put it on the paper when it dries it just has this really weird lighting texture to it and I’ve only ever used Holbein artist gouache so the paper didn’t work for me:(

I really like the brush she uses. Where can I get this ? 🤔

The montval paper was designed so that the image can be corrected very well. And beginners often have to correct something.

Coooooool ! I love your videos!!!!!!!!!😃

Have you tried the bee paper aqua bee watercolor paper? It’s cold press, 140 lb and 100% cotton paper. It’s pretty affordable at Michaels but I just haven’t brought myself to get it since I’ve never heard anyone talk about it. :)

What's the difference between hot press and cold press? And what type of paper would be best for portraits?

Thank you for the review, Alicia. I have not tried the Chinese, Blick and Fluid cotton, but tried the rest. So funny - I am on the same side with you on Arches paper! Recently I found that Strathmore 500 series cotton (in multi-media pads) is amazing! It is thinner, but a great paper. And I tried our local BeePaper in cotton. I would say it is too absorbent, almost spongy. Maybe I need to use more water with it...

I think the blick hot press cotton paper has been discontinued, cause when i saw this video i looked it up and it was on the website and now its not, I can't find it in the website and i really wanted to try it :(

what are your thoughts on the fabriano cold pressed paper?

Perfect video for the time! I’m applying to an art school soon and I need 18x24 paper. Hopefully these are cheap enough for me to order! >~

Having used Arches, CANSON IS THE BEST. CANSON FREES THE ARTIST TO CREATE. Arches tends to be a straight jacket on creativity. Glad you basically owned up to that fact at the end. Don't understand the "elitism" of art supplies & the willingness of some artist to bind their creativity to the "right" tool. Just because something cost a lot, doesn't make it the BEST.

The g\m2 thing is new to me. Guess they don't have that in Canada!

Have you tried Potentate watercolor paper? It’s a cheap brand on eBay and was wondering had anyone used it. All the few reviews are in foreign languages.

weird ive never had an issue with strafemore tho i can't stand Canson xl the paper disintegrates when i use it and the colors come out so dull XC

Hi, what is that brush you used in the video?

Yay, thank you sooo much, Arleen. ^_^

Is that person with the green crystal coming out of the head still available for sale?!