Bockingford Artists Hot Pressed Watercolour Paper A3 Pack 20 Sheets 300g Curtisward Pack

After starting out painting on much cheaper varieties I decided to go for a hot pressed paper to see what the difference was. This is sheer quality, will not be able to go back to anything else for watercolours!

This was bought to experiment with. I have begun playing around with ink-line combined with watercolour and wanted a paper that was good enough not to be frustrating to use but cheap enough not to cramp my style. I am using fountain pens with fine and extra fine nibs so needed a smoother surface than the cold pressed paper I usually paint on.At slightly less than 85p for an A3 sheet this is not the cheapest 140 lb (300g/m2 ) HP available but thought it was inexpensive enough to use freely.NB. It is of course a cellulose paper and like all papers of this type will overwork easily. If you want to do a lot of repeated washes, lifting off, blotting out and experimenting you are going to have to buy 100% cotton paper.After putting it through its paces I found:The surface is very smooth, fine nibs do not snag and it takes waterproof ink without bleeding, feathering or ghosting through to the reverse.The sizing is good. This paper will hold a wash on the surface for long enough to pull it about and to mix colours on the paper.Colours go down smoothly but lift easily- even with staining pigments.It will withstand quite vigorous scrubbing without the surface disintegrating.Applying wet washes does not distort the paper.Both sides of the paper can be painted on.The only downside I found was that, like many "white" watercolour papers, it is cream coloured. This dulls colours slightly and reduces contrasts. Therefore if I was painting something that needed a lot of brightness or contrasts I would use a High White surface (at a higher price !)I was most impressed with the performance of this paper. I think St Cuthbert's Mill have produced a great paper with superb sizing which I am not only going to use for experimenting with line and wash but also use for finished work that needs a smooth paper.

Fabulous paper,great results both for paint and Collage.

It's great paper for painting on, but I find it very hard to get the pages apart and have spoiled a couple of sheets doing so.

A dream to use and results end up as expected. A very, very good quality paper. Arrived in the time the seller estimated. Would buy again.

Nice paper for fine art

Much better quality than the price suggests.

Bockingford Artists Hot Pressed paper is excellent. Lovely and smooth to allow for detailed work.