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How To Properly Prepare Watercolor Paper!!!

In the early 1990s I fell in love with the medium of watercolor painting, and, although I had studied art in three colleges and numerous workshops, I had never lucked upon a satisfactory way to stretch and prepare watercolor paper.  My college professors advised me to use giant clips to attach the paper to a Masonite board, but I found that when I wet the paper inevitably the paper would buckle and the water would pool up, leaving undesirable watermarks exactly where I did not want them, plus it was just TOO DARNED HEAVY!!

Other suggestions to use various types of paper tape to secure the edges only resulted in my overwhelming desire to throw the frustrating paper tape, which inevitably had less stickum to it than a postage stamp, against the wall accompanied by a few well-chosen-uncomplimentary words.

Finally to my great relief my daughter, "MY SLOW CHILD", came to my rescue with a method she had learned in high school.  I reasoned that maybe I missed out on that valuable lesson because I had managed to miss high school altogether, only gaining entry into college on the strength of a high scoring GED.  Nonetheless I am most grateful to my youngest, who by now had risen to the level of “MY MOST BRILLIANT CHILD” for coming to my rescue.

I cannot understand why my learned professors did not teach this method, for surely they did not know of it.  Even more puzzling was the fact that neither of my instructors, THOSE LEARNED SCHOLARS, taught me about the use of canvas stretchers when I was studying in oil painting classes, WHERE CANVASES WERE USED! Perhaps they would NEVER HAVE CONSIDERED the fact that canvas stretchers might be of use in preparation and stretching of WC paper as well.

It is simple really, and perhaps that is why only simpletons are supposed to learn of this method, not deserving of all those learned scholars who were supposed to be imparting some degree of wisdom into my noggin!!! Watercolor paper, and my preference is 140 lb cold pressed Arches, needs to be stretched significantly in order to hold its shape, not buckle when it is saturated with water, and provide an appropriate surface on which to paint with watercolor paints, especially when painting wet-into-wet techniques.

First of all canvas stretchers are very light and once the various pieces are assembled and the paper is stretched on the frame, it is considerably lighter than paper clamped or taped on plywood, as is suggested by so many instructors.  For an old geezer like me, this is important, because I am still lucky to be able to get the cap off my paint with the assistance of a pair of pliers, let  alone being able to maneuver the considerable weight that plywood or masonite imposes.

The first thing one must do before stretching WC paper is decide on the size of their paper.  For instance, if a half sheet of WC paper is to be used, the canvas stretcher frame must be at least an inch smaller on all sides than the paper giving a good lap over of the paper to allow one a good grip on the paper when stretching it.

ITEMS NEEDED FOR STRETCHING HALF SHEET OF WC PAPER:

1 half sheet of water color (140 lb Arches cold pressed is most forgiving)

2 each 14 inch stretcher bars
2 each 20 inch stretcher bars
A clean 2 inch deep tray large enough to hold a whole sheet of watercolor paper.  (I use a big bread tray pan from a cafeteria.)
Water to fill the tray
Staple gun and staples.
A  spray can of good bug killer.

INSTRUCTIONS:

When purchasing your stretcher bars, BE SURE THAT ALL PIECES ARE MADE BY THE SAME MANUFACTURER!! If your store has only two of the items you need and you purchase the other two from another store, THEY WILL NOT FIT PROPERLY TOGETHER when you assemble them, if made by different manufacturers.  This is important in today’s economy when stores are not keeping their inventory at very high levels, and you may find yourselves having to purchase parts in different places.

Now before you take your newly acquired priceless treasures in, and you will find that these are truly treasures, STOP ON YOUR FRONT PORCH AND OPEN THE BAG OF STRETCHERS, AND SPRAY INSIDE WITH A GOOD BUG SPRAY, AND CLOSE THE BAG TIGHTLY FOR A WHILE.

"Why?", you ask!  Because, if you don’t the little white mites that are the color of the wooden stretchers will go in the house with you, and when you have finished the first masterpiece you have ever been so lucky, or just plain good enough, to have accomplished, these little scamps will settle in on your dried watercolors that are just perfect as they are, and eat them off your paper, and then move on to all your other finised treasures, before you realize what is happening.  You don't really need to know how I know about this either do you?  So be cautious, head them off at the pass, or rather, the front porch!!!  Once you have sprayed the bag full of bug killer, leave them in the bag overnight, and give them time to dry before attempting to stretch your paper on them.

Next you will need to assemble the four stretcher bars together.  I prefer to show all 4 of the size stamps of the stretchers to the back side, with paper eventually being stretched on the clean side of the stretchers; mainly because I am 78 years of age and some days I have trouble remembering my name, let alone remembering the size stretchers I am going to need, and with the sizes plainly in sight on the backs of my work, I don't have to trust my memory.

When it comes to sketching your picture on the paper, you can do it either way; you can do your sketch before you ever wet the paper (for about 15 minutes in the bread tray), while it is still dry.  Just remember to allow for at least an inch on all sides of your sketch for overlapping at the time of stretching; or you can just go ahead and stretch your plain unsketched, thoroughly soaked paper (for about 15 minutes) on the stretchers and do your sketch once it has dried overnight.  If you choose to do the sketch first and then soak the paper it is important to know (if the sketch is in pencil) the water soaking will not interfere with the drawing.  I do it both ways and am equally happy with either method.

If you are like me and have all your stretchers tied up on other projects at the time and you are in the mood to sketch, then you can go ahead and do your sketch on dry paper and wet and stretch it later when a stretcher becomes available.

Regardless of what choice you make regarding when you do your sketch, lets move on to the stretching.  Prior to stretching the paper, I prefer to soak my paper for about 15 minutes completely covered in water in the "bread tray", then hold it up by the edges and let the water drain off.  Once it has drained pretty well, I lay the scene face down on a clean table and center the clean side of the stretchers face down on the paper, being sure to allow enough overlap for stretching.

Starting at the top lift the stretcher up with the drawing facing you, and place your first anchor staple in the middle top of the stretcher (the stretcher bar).  If you stand with the paper facing you and a light or a window on the other side of the paper, you have a great opportunity to observe the side margins, making sure that they are equal on all sides.  If you are not careful here, when you get toward the last part of your stapling, you will find that the paper has shifted slightly, and you do not have enough paper on one side to grasp and get a good pull to stretch the paper.

Now turn the stretcher frame up so that the bottom is now where the top was, still with the paper facing you, again noticing that the side margins are good and equal as you read the light through the paper, Now using the frame as a fulcrum, pull on the paper and pull it upwards until you see a nice bulge occur in the middle, indicating that you are stretching the paper, not just placing it.  Now place one good staple in the paper, again on the side edge of the frame, not the back side of the frame.

Now turn the frame sideways and repeat, placing a staple in the anchor staple in the middle of the side to hold the paper; and then turn it over, paper still facing you, and again, using the frame as a fulcrum,  pull the paper until you get evidence of a good bulge showing that the paper is stretching and place one good staple in the center.

You will now continue around, starting at the top again, and this time, with the paper still facing you, pull the paper toward you away from the stretcher and up at the same time.  This is important, because the wet paper has a tendency to pull against the frame and keep you from stretching the paper, and at the same time you want to pull the paper to the left of the center when you are placing a staple to the left of the original center staple.  When you place a staple on the right of the center staple, you will want to pull out toward you, up and right at the same time, hold it tight, and then staple.  If this is awkward for you at first, you may want to have a friend help you the first few times to assure you get a good strong staple in, but you will get the hang of it after you do a few.

ANOTHER THING YOU WANT TO BE CAREFUL ABOUT IS DON’T LET YOU STAPLE GUN SLING AROUND AND PUNCH A HOLE IN YOUR PAPER.  You don’t really need to know how I know that this can happen do you?  You really hate to get all finished with your stretching, just to have the gun swing around and punch a hole in it.  This inevitably will result in some not too Sunday school friendly words.

You will repeat this around each side, always adding another staple to both the right and left of the previous staples, always pulling out, up and to the right or left as the case may be.

Be Sure that once you are at the corners, not to pull too hard against the frame, as there is a little construction bump there where the pieces fit together and if you pull too hard against that bump, you will either tear your paper or pull a hole, because that little bump is like a knife there, so don’t be too aggressive right there.  You won’t mess up but one or two of your favorite hardest works, before you get the hang of this also.

Now lay the paper face down on the CLEAN table and with scissors or razor knife trim all the excess paper protruding to the back.  This is just enough excess paper to make your frames warp if not trimmed off.  It is a good idea to keep these trimmings and test your WCs on them before placing the WCs on your painting.  It is a good test strip and the paper matches, so the absorbency will be the same as that on the painting.

Now that you have all sides, corners, etcetera finished, you need to find a good safe place in your studio, out of the flow of traffic, to place your frame, frame side down, on the floor, or a very level shelf, to dry overnight.  Since I am not the only one entering my studio, I often dry mine under my table, if I am in fact not going to be working on the table it is in a safe place, and everyone knows that if it is under my table it is mine.  If I am to be working at the table, then of course that would not be a good safe place, because, I throw and pour paint, which could become a liability.

DO NOT STAND YOUR WET PAPER/STRETCHERS, ETCETERA AGAINST THE WALL!!!  The reason for laying the wet stretched work flat is to keep the stretchers from warping, and warped stretchers warp the paper, and you really won’t like that at all.  Never stand your work, while wet, against a wall, it will warp, and your stretcher is ruined, and you will have to buy new ones.  You should be able to use your stretchers over and over unless you get careless with them.

Now that you have gone through all of this, sweated, pulled, stapled your hand, and used a few not for Sunday school words, the next morning you will find that you have a tightly drawn paper that sounds like a drum when you beat upon it, not too hard though.

However, if you get this far and then notice that you still have a few wrinkles in this or that corner that did not stretch tight, you can carry it over to the faucet, let the water run over it, frame and all, and soak it nicely, let the excess drip off, and after it has dripped enough, too wet and you’ll tear it, you can remove a few staples and pull that area and tighten it up.  Leave it overnight to dry again, laying flat as before.  Hopefully, it will be nice and tight in that corner too the next morning.

Now you have earned a reward, go take a break, have a cool drink, wipe the sweat off your brow, and ask forgiveness for the not so good Sunday school words, and take a nice cool shower, and maybe you will be lucky and shrink a bit too; though it has never worked for me, neither hot nor cold, but I keep hoping.  Good luck and happy painting.

About the Author

My name is Mary Lou Mallette. I am 78 years old and have been involved in one medium of art or another since I was 12 years old. My children grew up with paint brushes in their hands, and each of them are rather good artists, I am very proud to say. In 1990, when my husband passed away, I fell heir to his VA benefits and went back to college and majored in art, my first formal training. I am now selling my WC work.

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