Arches Watercolor Block, Cold Press 9X12

Its crazy; Ive used Strathmore before and its very nice but then my friend gave me a piece of this paper. Just the look of it is amazing; the texture is wonderful and it feels great and thick. The color looks brilliant on it, even with cheaper paints. Now strathmore is for my fun small projects and this paper is for my big ones.

Always the best watercolor paper! I can count on Arches to work best with my paintings!

Nothing beats a good quality watercolor paper. Arches are the best, my painting has improved just by using this wonderful paper. The paper holds the water nicely making wet into wet do just what I had intended.

There are few mediums as tricky to master as watercolor. After a very frustrating year of watercolor exploration, I finally found Arches brand, and was blown away at how it changed my work. Apparently when it comes to watercolor, nothing is more important than quality paper. Arches is fantastic because its thick, solid and consistently finished. Cheaper brands tend to buckle or bleed, but Arches maintains its integrity even after exceptionally heavy washes. Because it comes in a block, you can work directly on the top sheet without having to tape down edges or worry about bleed through. Note that Arches makes two types of watercolor paper: cold press and hot press. Cold press features a much heartier texture with grooves and ridges that provide that slightly rougher look typically associated with watercolor. Hot press is super smooth and feels more like thick ply bristol paper. Cold press is great for impressionistic painting and other heavier textured pieces, while hot press is a good choice for more illustrative work requiring a cleaner finish or inking. I tend to paint landscapes on cold press and birds and portraits on hot press. Dont let the price intimidate you. After one session with Arches, you will never want to go back to cheaper economy brands. Honestly, I feel like I wasted a lot of valuable practice time struggling with inferior paper. Arches has added such a level of professionalization and ease to my work, that I now love and enjoy a medium that I was almost ready to give up on. A great purchase.

I bought Canson water color paper from the store. I always prefer Arches that because the paper does not unravel or becomes weaker when use the wet on wet technique to for the starting the painting

In my opinion Arches is the best Watercolor on the market. Ive tried several other brands and have always come back to Arches. Its thick, it lets you put layers and layers of paint and water and it lasts forever.

Just what I needed! Perfect for painting!

If you love good quality, cold pressed, blocked paper, this is for you. It comes in plastic shrink wrap and as always theres the top layer of black that needs to be gently peeled off ( no you didnt accidentally order black WC paper) also the glue used for the blocking is black, this is a tremendous help when removing a finished piece. Some blocks arrive and are wonky with the actual demons ions. This drives me nuts as I use a ruler often. This one arrived in perfect shape. Will always turn to Amazon for this paper.

This is the cream of the crop of watercolor paper, so no complaints.

Love Arches hot and cold pressed papers. Ive tried others, but always come back to Arches. Think Ive found my forever watercolor paper.