Arches Watercolor Pad 9x12-inch Natural White 100% Cotton Paper - 12 Sheet Arches Watercolor Paper 140 lb Cold Press Pad - Arches Art Paper for Watercolor Gouache Ink Acrylic and More

Love it

My favorite go to paper

Ive never found any watercolor paper comparable to Arches brand paper. So dont even try anything but.

Ive been doing water color, using watercolor pencils and recently water color markers, for 5 or 6 years now. I always bought fairly good paper - Strathmore 400 series and other decent stuff, but frankly I dismissed Arches as snob appeal, I mean, its more than double the best quality competitors & I always figured it wouldnt really make that much difference. Unfortunately, however, it does. I say unfortunately because this stuff is pricey! If you dont flood your paper with water (I dont, I generally do ink drawings & I control the paint fairly carefully) - if thats how you paint, then save some $ and buy Arches pads instead of the blocks (the blocks are sealed down on all 4 sides, except for a small section on 1 side - that way you can really wet the paper & it wont buckle or curl...and you are less likely to pollute the page underneath). But wow - oh - wow, water a difference top quality paper makes. Im not a good enough artist to describe it well, but the paint just handles better on this paper...regardless of wet on dry, wet on wet, the color just moves better, blends better. And if youre like me & sometimes overflow your black ink lines, its surprisingly easy to clean up edges, even though this paper seems to take paint better than other papers. And if you like to layer, like to scrub in color, or do over-washes. - this paper can take it. Im lucky enough that my budget allows me to buy Arches for most of my work (it helps that Im not doing anything over 12 - 14) but I still use the other papers for practice & test layouts, it does cause me pain when I ruin a 5 x 7 piece of paper that cost $3.00 by doing something stupid! But when you can afford to treat yourself - buy some Arches paper - all the hype is true, in this case!

I love to paint in watercolor, but have only used canson paper, which has served me well and I will absolutely still be using even for cards and things. I never thought Id be able to buy this paper and did ONLY because a wonderful friend gave me a gift card to specifically buy art supplies. But I had to get a little gift for my son and husband :) Then I splurged on a few pads of this paper since everyone says the paper is most important. But paying $20 for only 12 sheets of paper definitely made my stomach hurt and broke out in hives from nerves :) even as a gift it was hard to do. But, I did and was excited to get them....until I got them. 2 of the 3 pads were damaged. It was shipped loose, in a thin bubble envelope :/ 1 of them had the 2 bottom corners totally smashed and a spot in the center bottom was gouged. The 2nd had it corners smashed downward. The 3rd was fine, probably in the middle. I was in tears. It was hard to buy this for myself already, I felt super guilty or selfish I guess, but then to have them messed up was a bummer. They were supposed to be something cool to look forward to using after a major surgery in a few days, so anxiety is high in general. O contacted the seller who said it wasnt their problem. So after an hour or so on the phone with Amazon and sending pictures as proof, they will supposedly be refunding or return for new ones...though theres no time before surgery to deal with this. But, theyll work it out. I wish Amazon would package things accordingly as to what the item is...paper in plastic wrap needs protection from getting its corners or edges smashed. Yet a toothbrush could be in a 10x10 box rattling around. Makes no sense. Better packaging would be awesome :) I need the edges to be straight, full length, because I make cards for friends and family and I buy this size paper so I can cut it perfectly to make a few cards...so when sides are crunched, then I have to cut edges off on 3 of the side, hopefully straight, but that completely throws off my card size, which throws off the size of the envelopes I make too. So...when you need to be frugal, knowing this is all Ill ever have of this paper, you need every bit. But, Ill figure that out. But the paper is awesome paper for watercolor!!! I feel super fancy...even though Im definitely not :) ;)

Great paper.that soaks up water and retains shape. Excellent product.

Teaching a beginners watercolor class. This paper is perfect. Good quality for the price.

I use this paper as the frame backing for my textile moth and butterfly sculptures. I wanted something thick and archival so it is perfect!

Arches deserves its sterling reputation; it takes water beautifully, with only slight buckling that flattens as it dries. However, it is inferior to a very few others of its kind in one aspect: Lifting. Therefore, one star off.

Arches is the only watercolor paper I use. I love it.