Paper types

This is a large scale, rough and version of watercolour paper. It is fibrous and has a texture. It is good for soaking up paint. It is often used for images which don’t need small, detailed or fine working. It is a good choice for images with large areas of single or a few colours applied quickly and expressively.

This is less fibrous and less textured than rough paper. It represents a better choice for beginners. It is popular for people who start working with watercolour. It is popular since it is a more generalised choice. It is a better choice for a wider range of images. It will work well with images which can be more detailed than rough, but also it will soak up paint and layers of water.

If you have a detailed image, requiring fine lines and lots of precise detail, then you should choose 'hot press' watercolour paper. The benefit of this is that it can also soak up water but will still allow for precise work with a small brush. It is a less successful choice for those people who want rougher textures. They should choose cold press or rough quality watercolour.

For example, with either rough or cold pressed paper, brushstrokes reveal the surface of the paper. Here, the nooks and crannies of the paper are revealed as textures in brushstrokes. Colours are applied in brushstrokes and break up over the texture of the paper. By contrast, with hot press paper, brushstrokes apply flat areas of colour. Here brushstrokes are without texture or break up on the surface.

This paper has an embossed texture which feels like canvas. Most often, you will find this paper to be pre-primed. As such, it is ready for painting. You can then use a heavy body paint such as acrylic with it. Yet, even if you find it in its raw state, unprimed, it is not good at soaking up thin watery layers of paint. This is because it is not fibrous and textured. You should use this paper with thicker layers of solid paint like acrylic.

This paper would not be a good choice for working over with watercolours. Excessive water layers would sit on top of the paper and puddle rather than soaking in, as you would expect.

You can often find acrylic paper sold in pads at general sizes like A5, A4, A3 or larger.

This paper cannot be ripped by hand but must be cut with a sharp knife.

An example is 'Fabriano Pittura' which can be used with acrylic paint.

Oil paper is the same as acrylic paper. Often it is pre-primed with gesso so it is ready to paint on immediately.

This paper cannot be ripped by hand but must be cut with a sharp knife.

An example is 'Fabriano Tela', which can be used for oil painting.

This paper is most often very smooth and not textured. This is because it is used to print with lino blocks at high-pressure. The printmaker wants to see the embossing and 3D effects made by the lino block pressing in the paper. So, thin sheets of lino paper will allow the image to be pushed onto the paper, revealing this 3D character.

Lino printing paper is most often available in thin sheets. These are much thinner than watercolour paper. Lino printing paper is also available in Japanese choices (see Japanese paper below).

This paper can be ripped and cut into straight lines with folds before ripping.

This paper is similar to lino printing paper, but, it is much thicker. It needs to be thicker so that it can withstand a greater pressure of the etching press. The pressure from the press is continuous and even. It is applied with intensity as the paper moves over the plate and through the roller.

Etching inks do not have dryers in them and so they need to take a long time to soak away and dry on the paper.

Etching paper is often soaked in water before being printing. So this paper has to be quite strong to survive the soaking process before printing.

This paper can be ripped and cut into straight lines with folds before ripping.

Fabriano Rosa Pina can be used for etching.

A lot of these papers are handmade and so, they are expensive. Japanese papers are valuable because of the particular characteristics of the paper. Many are thin, yet they are strong. When a sheet of Japanese paper is held up to the light, the fibres are revealed. The fibres can be seen, even though the surface itself may be smooth. Japanese papers often have delicate colours applied to them.

Japanese papers can have tints and shades. So that they might be pink-white, green-white or yellow-white. This provides variety and a handmade quality. This is more interesting than just one industrial white colour in all sheets.

Often the texture of the paper is shown as a watermark rather than as a physical aspect. What this means is that you can see the texture rather than feeling it when you run your hand over the paper. In short, Japanese papers are most prized because of their handmade qualities.

These papers are very easily damaged and are difficult to rip or tear with control. For example, because of the fibrous content of the paper, it is difficult to achieve straight line rips.

This kind of paper is very much handmade. It has individual leaves within the pulp, which are visible to the eye. It does not lie flat, but is bubbles and is uneven due to the fibrous content within the pulp. Indian paper is popular for ink drawing. It can also withstand acrylic painting and will soak up thin layers and watery layers of wet media.

Indian paper is available in a range of natural colours. Most notably, these colours come in earthy tones such as yellows, browns and ochres.

This is an expensive type of paper. It is more expensive than cartridge paper, because that is mass produced and this is handmade from pulp.

It is important to remember with Indian paper, that people value it because it has a visual character. Its appearance is unique with each sheet. Against this, cartridge paper which can appear anonymous and industrial by comparison.

Many cartridge papers are made with cotton.

This is the most popular form of paper used by art students and artists. It is very popular for drawing with a range of dry media such as pencils, chalk, charcoal et cetera. It can also withstand working with wet media. It will soak up water layers from watercolour and acrylic. It can work with solid paints like gouache as well as holding thicker paint layers such as acrylic. When working with acrylic paint it is better to go for a thicker weight of paper, such as 300 GSM.

In sketchbooks, it is most common to find paper of 120 to 190 GSM.

This kind of paper is an excellent choice for drawing. It will accept corrections in mark making made with rubbers and erasers. By contrast, watercolour paper is a poor choice for working with a rubber. With watercolour paper, the drawing sits within the textures of the fibres of the paper. By contrast, with cartridge paper, the textures are much closer together. On cartridge paper, the pencil or the charcoal sits on top of the paper. These marks can be rubbed away without damaging the surface of the paper

These are close weaved papers. They have a slight texture, which if magnified would look like a very small version of sandpaper. This is to provide a roughened surface which the soft particles of the chalk can grip onto.

'Fabriano Tizziano' and 'Canson Mi Tients' are popular and market-leading brands.

This is the quality of paper that you might find in a chip shop. Chips shops use Newsprint to wrap up fish and chips.

Newsprint is the workhorse paper of the art room or studio. You should not use this paper for a prized or final image. It should be paper that you use on the journey towards the finished image.

You should use Newsprint for wrapping, and cleaning. It is good for clearing up or protecting other things.

It is somewhat flimsy and very prone to creasing and tearing. Since it is very easy to tear, you have to be careful. To achieve straight edges with a tear, you must first fold and re-fold the paper. Then press hard on the folded edge with your nail or a hard object like scissors. This paper will fade in the sunlight. The technical term for this fading is “not light fast".

Newsprint isn't considered to be good enough quality for any valued artwork.

This paper has an important role in protecting and wrapping artwork but only if it is “acid free“.

You can find many varieties of tissue paper in different colours. These are not acid free. You should not use them to protect other artwork or paper for long periods. This is because the acid in them will transfer and corrode the paper of the artwork.

Tissue is very light paper. Tissue is available in different weights. Most often though, you will only find one lightweight available in most shops.

Tissue paper is quite fragile. It is not effective for any development work with dry media. You can damage it with any abrasive action such as scoring over with a sharpened pencil. It is not suitable for any work with wet media. For example, a loaded brush of water and water colour will go straight through the paper. The liquid would soak through and destroy the structure of the fibres. This would lead to the destruction of the paper.

This is another workhorse paper format. It is not a delivery format for the final work but is often used as part of the process. For example, you can transfer images with this paper. To to this, draw on one side of the tracing paper. Then turn the paper over, rub the back with a pencil, and transfer the original image to a new surface.

You will destroy the image on the tracing paper in the process.

You can also use this paper to make marks over using another image. As it is transparent, you can see the other image underneath. This allows the underlying image to act as a guide. It helps with seeing where to draw when transferring one image with accuracy.

It is easy to work with tracing paper. It tears as expected, so that you can tear it a straight lines and control the tear with a little folding.