10 Easy Steps To Stretch Watercolor Paper
When painting on lightweight watercolor paper it is necessary to first stretch the paper to keep it flat and prevent buckling. Here are some easy step-by-step instructions that work.
1. Gather together the following equipment:
2. Place the board on a flat surface, and place the wrapping paper on top of the board. Have your paste, paste brushes and blotters nearby.
3. Fill the bathtub with enough cold water to completely submerge your paper. Let the paper sit submerged in the water for a few minutes until it is thoroughly wet.
4. Pick up the wet paper by the corners and lift it out carefully. Immediately place the wet paper on top of the wrapping paper on the board and quickly soak up the excess water from the paper using a blotter.
5. Using a blotter, quickly dry the edges of the paper all around to a width of about 3/4 of an inch.
6. Using the paste brush, smoothly and evenly apply paste to the dried edges of the paper to a width of about 1/2 inch. Use a scrap piece of mat board as an aid to prevent the paste from going past the 1/2 inch width.
7. Lift the wrapping paper and watercolor paper together off of the board and place them on another flat surface.
8. Immediately lift the watercolor paper from the wrapping paper and place the watercolor paper (paste side down) squarely on top of the plywood board so that an even boarder of wood is visible all around the board.
9. Run your thumb lightly around the edge of the paper to secure it to the board.
10. Gently blot any excess water remaining from the paper borders only. Leave the stretched paper attached to the board and place it on a flat surface to dry. When the entire sheet of paper is thoroughly dry, you can begin your watercolor painting on it while it is still attached to the board.
After completing your watercolor painting, use a razor blade to remove the painting by cutting inside the 1/2 inch boarder that is pasted on to the board. Leave the pasted boarder intact on the board to be used again as the surface to paste the next sheet of paper for stretching.
This stretching process can be repeated a few times to stretch additional sheets of watercolor paper before it will be necessary to clean the plywood board completely. All remaining pasted paper boarders can be removed from the plywood board by soaking the board in lukewarm water and scraping off any remaining paper until it is clean.
This watercolor paper stretching method alleviates the need for using messy glue-tape and staples or thumb tacks.
1. Gather together the following equipment:
- five-ply plywood board large enough to accommodate your sheet of watercolor paper: 26 inches x 34 inches (for full sheet size paper) or 17 inches x 26 inches (for half sheet size paper)
- a full sheet or half sheet of 72-lb or 140-lb cold-pressed watercolor paper
- wrapping paper cut to fit the plywood board
- a jar of drawing board paste
- a few paste brushes
- a pack of white blotters
2. Place the board on a flat surface, and place the wrapping paper on top of the board. Have your paste, paste brushes and blotters nearby.
3. Fill the bathtub with enough cold water to completely submerge your paper. Let the paper sit submerged in the water for a few minutes until it is thoroughly wet.
4. Pick up the wet paper by the corners and lift it out carefully. Immediately place the wet paper on top of the wrapping paper on the board and quickly soak up the excess water from the paper using a blotter.
5. Using a blotter, quickly dry the edges of the paper all around to a width of about 3/4 of an inch.
6. Using the paste brush, smoothly and evenly apply paste to the dried edges of the paper to a width of about 1/2 inch. Use a scrap piece of mat board as an aid to prevent the paste from going past the 1/2 inch width.
7. Lift the wrapping paper and watercolor paper together off of the board and place them on another flat surface.
8. Immediately lift the watercolor paper from the wrapping paper and place the watercolor paper (paste side down) squarely on top of the plywood board so that an even boarder of wood is visible all around the board.
9. Run your thumb lightly around the edge of the paper to secure it to the board.
10. Gently blot any excess water remaining from the paper borders only. Leave the stretched paper attached to the board and place it on a flat surface to dry. When the entire sheet of paper is thoroughly dry, you can begin your watercolor painting on it while it is still attached to the board.
After completing your watercolor painting, use a razor blade to remove the painting by cutting inside the 1/2 inch boarder that is pasted on to the board. Leave the pasted boarder intact on the board to be used again as the surface to paste the next sheet of paper for stretching.
This stretching process can be repeated a few times to stretch additional sheets of watercolor paper before it will be necessary to clean the plywood board completely. All remaining pasted paper boarders can be removed from the plywood board by soaking the board in lukewarm water and scraping off any remaining paper until it is clean.
This watercolor paper stretching method alleviates the need for using messy glue-tape and staples or thumb tacks.
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