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My stretched watercolour paper sticks to my board

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Michael Robinson

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I hate the thought of stretching paper and I now use a block all the time, no cockling, so easy, I use Bockington 140lb and for my flowers use HOT which I love, but have also used heavier in the past and still have some. I have seen some artists on YouTube or somewhere who wet both sides of the paper and the wetness of the paper sticks to your board while you paint and of course your paper stays wetter for washes etc. I've never tried this myself, it would be interesting to hear if any of you have tried this.

Phil Kendall

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I'm with Michael an "Artcoe" [www.artcoe.co.uk] 33 x 43 cm varnished beechwood with a back leg and a series of notches that hook onto the edge of the desk to give a convenient slope with a couple of 'Eclipse" clips...it works very well.
michael

Michael Edwards

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When I use bulldog clips no problem. Never really thought about it but when I don't fix it in any way I guess I use my left hand to steady it when I need to - will check tomorrow when I'm actually painting. The main advantage of not fixing is that I can easily move the paper around when painting to the best angle for each individual wash. For example I often paint a blue line around rooftops etc and then fade it out as I did in the example below - so much easier when I can move the paper around at different angles.

Michael Robinson

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That's a superb painting Michael.

Deirdre

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Thank you to all the people who have replied to my problem - lots of advice and comment. Robert Jones, in particular, thank you for outlining what you do after re-reading my original post after a clarification from a couple of other contributors. I do almost identically as you do, Robert ... except that I do also do the ripping, crying, screaming part that you have avoided, too! I think the only thing that I do differently is that the gummed tape is wetter than yours - it must be the gum seeping under the edge of the paper, I think, that's causing it to stick. So I need to try to stop this from happening. I've considered the paper stretchers that some of you mention. I've also considered bull dog clips, but I'll have to cut my boards to nearer my paper sizes and, as we know, lots of them are slightly different.... However, I have so many boards that having them in set sizes for certain papers won't be too much of a problem! It might even help me to sort out my Antique Board Collection. I don't always stretch my papers, and sometimes I actively seek the effects of backruns, pools, cockling, cauliflowers, broccoli, etc... The problem arises when I DO want to stretch my paper because of the techniques I want to use and the effects I want, only to find that at the end of it all it's stuck on the board! Maybe I've just invented a new self-adhesive integral watercolour back board. Ho hum. Thanks again, to all who've replied. Such a wealth of knowledge and experience out there; much appreciated.
With Sarah, Phil, Ellen, Rose the dentist, and the granddaughter whose name I forget.

Robert Jones, NAPA

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Deidre, hope we have indeed helped. I stretched a piece of Fabriano 140lb yesterday, using a quite wide gummed tape - 48mm, Apollo brand, from Ken Bromley. I just ran a damp brush over half of it, relying on the wet paper to stick the other half. I thought it wasn't going to work properly, but it's beautifully flat today and I'm looking forward to working on it tomorrow. I'll be sure to let you know if, for the first time ever, my paper sticks to the board! Bet it will, now.... Sorry I misunderstood what you were saying first time around; it was because this had never happened to me and I couldn't imagine it.. I quite enjoy stretching paper, oddly enough: I suppose it puts off the evil day when I have to apply the paint. But I am planning on moving up to 300lb paper next time - I have about 25 sheets of the Fabriano left, though, so it may be a while at my rate of creation.
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