How Do You Prepare And Stretch Watercolor Paper?
With any watercolor paper it is important to stretch it so it will lay flat and not bubble and wave when it dries. It is a simple procedure, but vital for a good watercolor painting if your paper is 140lb or less. Some professionals even do stretching with paper up to 300 lbs. Soak the watercolor paper in a tub of cold to room temperature water for several minutes. Hot water will turn the paper to a glue mess often. Use cold or cool water. Place to wet watercolor paper on your board surface and smooth it our with the edge of your hand. Smooth until it is completely flat. Use the edge of your hand where you have less oil to get on the papers surface. Now tape the paper down with watercolor tape. This is a paper tape that sticks when moistened. If using a wood board you may instead pin the edges with flat tacks. If pinning use tacks that won’t interfere with your hand or brush strokes as you paint. Allow the water color paper to dry before you sketch or paint. The exception to this is if
