hello ~
I unintentionally bought three different kinds of watercolor paper in different price ranges, so I thought it would be fun to do an experiment and compare them. The “cheap” paper was Canson XL paper; I use this paper all the time and I like it quite a lot, although I must say I like it because it is inexpensive. At the time, it was forty-six cents per nine-by-twelve inch piece. The “medium” paper was Canson Montval paper, which is the same brand as the “cheap” paper but a different and fancier line. This one was eighty-five cents per piece. The “expensive” paper was Arches, a brand that I had always wanted to try but never did since it was so expensive. This paper comes out at the very high price of one dollar and seventy-five cents per piece.
And because we must make this an actual experiment…
Hypothesis: if the paper is of higher quality (i.e. more expensive), then the paint will be smoother on the paper.
Independent Variable: the paper quality.
Dependent Variable: the quality of the painting.
Constants: the paint type and brand used and the subject painted.
Also, I must note that the Arches watercolor paper is hot press, and the Canson watercolor papers are cold press. I happen to like hot press paper better, so this experiment is in favor of the most expensive paper.
the procedure
Firstly, I made a sketch. I drew on one of the pieces of paper, took a photo, increased its contrast, and traced it onto the two other sheets. It was a bit hard to get all three bouquets to look exactly the same, but I decided that they did not have to. In the end, however, I think they look pretty similar.
After all my sketches were complete, the fun part began. I painted all of them together, completing one aspect at a time through all three pieces. It was a bit of an interesting way to paint; it is not ideal if you want to focus very closely on details, but I think it was amusing and exciting. After I covered all three of the bouquets in a single layer of color, I went back in for the details. The finished pieces are below.
the results
(Above is the Canson XL paper.)
This paper acts perfectly fine and I haven’t any big problems with it, but I noticed it was harder to get crisp and sharp edges with this paper than with the more expensive papers.
(Above is the Canson Montval paper.)
This paper had the most texture out of the three brands of paper, but I think I could still make nice clean edges on it, which is interesting.
(Above is the Arches paper.)
This paper was the easiest to make clean edges on, and this might be the placebo effect, but some of the colors seem slightly brighter (it is not visible in the photographs). The paint on this paper actually was the least smooth; it tended it let the paint sit where I left it instead of spreading to other wet areas.
I also noticed that the higher quality papers were thinner, but the package still stated they were the same weight, so I can infer that the higher quality papers are denser.
conclusion
My hypothesis was disproved, for the paint on the higher quality papers dried less smoothly and with more variation. However, this is not a bad thing; I like the variation since it makes paintings, well, more varied. I also enjoy how crisp lines are and how colors appear on the Arches paper. The middle paper–Montval–is quite nice, though I don’t think it is worth it compared to the cheap paper–XL–since it isn’t that much better. The most expensive paper is not, in my opinion, usually worth it. I will probably use this if I make pieces that I want very nice, but I think I will stick to using the cheaper papers for most of my paintings.
I hope you like seeing my “experiment” with watercolor papers at different prices. Which painting did you like the best? Thanks for reading and happy experimenting 🧪
Whimsical Watercolor 