Exploring Hot Pressed, Cold Pressed & Rough Watercolour Papers

Have you ever walked into an art shop and felt daunted by the sheer volume of paper choices...? You are not alone!

I am Adelas Art, a watercolour artist though I also work with other mediums such as oils and acrylics. I do portraiture but my true passion lies in urbanscapes and in this section I am going to share some professional secrets for aspiring artists looking to find the perfect watercolour paper!

“First of all respect your paper!”
J.M.W. Turner

While it is easy to paint over mistakes with oils & acrylics, watercolour is very unforgiving but a good paper can save you.

Good papers do come at a cost but believe me when I say that choosing the right surface can greatly enhance the appearance of your artwork.

There are 3 types of watercolour paper

1. Rough – this type of paper has a pronounced texture. The deep pits in the paper are brilliant if you want to get the most out of the granulation of your watercolour paints. This heavily textured paper is well suited to those with a loose watercolour painting style. It is easier to achieve "dry brush" textured effects on this paper. It also has a longer drying time and gives you more time to rework your painting and create extra smooth washes.

 

Example of watercolour from my "Buildings of Dublin" collection on a rough surface paper

2. Cold pressed (NOT) – This paper texture is in between rough and hot pressed paper, having a slightly textured surface this paper is sometimes called NOT. The Not stands for “Not hot pressed”.

Private commission created with Watercolour & Inks on Hahnemühle 425 gsm Cold Pressed Anniversary Edition

3. Hot pressed (HP) – The smoothest surface of the 3 types of watercolor paper finishes. This type of watercolour paper with a very flat surface has almost no tooth. Great for painting detailed paintings like portraits. I do feel like this paper produces more vibrant colours than the other 2 types but this might be subjective, and you can easily create lines with a fineliner or a calligraphy nib because of the smooth texture.

Private commission created with Watercolour & Inks on Hahnemühle "The Collection" 300 gsm Hot Pressed

Choosing your Watercolour Paper

When it comes to portraiture, I have moved mainly to hot pressed papers (although I sometimes use Hahnemühle Anniversary Edition on occasions, as I like the tooth and I can add details in tempera, gouache and inks on it), but for loose watercolour paintings, I work almost exclusively on cold pressed.  I find Hahnemühle's "Veneto" Akademie Watercolour paper to be a perfect combination to suit my needs. It comes in a useful size, so I don't have to cut it down, it's quite affordable, it comes in 12 sheet packs, and it can handle almost everything I throw at it, while retaining sharp detail.