Arches Watercolor Block, Cold Press 9X12

Costly but worth it, never have to worry that the paper will be a cause of a mistake. For me, that makes it worthwhile.

I ordered this book of paper for my son. He loves it. Its the only kind of paper he uses. He is a tattoo artist and uses it to draw his flash on.

Very durable. Holes up well. Probably a bit pricey for beginners.

I purchase this often because I love it. I just wish it were less expensive

it is nice to have and use for quick sketches and easy to carry with you

Do yourself a favor. If you really want to paint watercolor, buy quality products. Believe it or not, paper can have more of an effect on your painting than paint (except for crappy, no-name, cheap paint). And a watercolor block is SO much easier to work with than a single sheet of paper. Especially if you travel, paint outdoors, dont always have access to your GatorFoam Board. You will be much happier with your results, using Arches paper.

GOOOD

Arches brand is the most recommended by watercolourists. It has just the right amount of texture. The block is a little more spendy than pads or bound but since it is attached all around in the block, it doesnt tend to warp as badly so that cuts the prep/stretching time way down. No need to stretch!

The pad is wrapped tightly with black plastic inside, with instructions to open it with a palette knife. Even if a water colorist has a palette knife, it takes real caution to extract a page without ripping it. I love Arches paper and thought it would be convenient to have pre-cut paper, but it was a bad choice. Very disappointed.

I bought this paper because I wasnt supposed to need to stretch it. Well the block fell apart before I even used it and now anytime I wet it down to use it, the pages peel up and now my pieces are all wrinkled. Very disappointed that I paid so much for this for a college class and it doesnt even stay together. Only giving it 3 stars because the quailty of the paper is decent, it just doesnt stay glued together.