Paul Rubens 100% Cotton Watercolor Block Paper Review

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Watercolor and Wet Media Block

300 g/m (140lb)
20 sheets
100% cotton rag (they also have 50% pads available)
Cold Press

Made in China
Shang Hai Owin Art Materials Co LTD

This was purchased off Amazon in January 2021
$21.99 on Amazon: https://amzn.to/3iwWWJM

Protective black sheet
Glued on all four sides

Moderate amount of surface sizing (not too sandpapery)
Reminds me of the Baohang Paper

My camera has a hard time focusing on plain white watercolor paper.

Mud Test:

Going to use the Daniel Smith Mixing Palette for this.

I'm going to:
Saturate the paper heavily.
Do multiple layers
Check for buckling, kipping, lifting, mud

Check for color vibrancy once dried
Check for wet into wet workability

Absolutely doused the surface with no attempt at water control. Surface puffs up a bit, but no real buckling or pooling.

No attempt at water control the first pass, just laid the colors in. A little bit of buckling towards the top, but not bad. Paper is a bit scrubby. Decent color mixing wet into wet.

In the area water was pooled, when I soaked up the excess water and touched the page, it actually left a white spot.

Nice color mixing and dispersion- a good paper for wet into wet techniques so far.

I'm going to move this into another room to let it dry.

After a couple hours, I checked on it, and the paper had dried. I decided to resume this test the next day.

The Next Day:

Colors, esp the ultramarine blue, dried very granulated on this paper

Completely doused it with water again, let it sit. No noticeable color movement at this time.

No attempt at6 water5 control, color was just doused on. Paper puffs up a bit, but no real buckling.

Mop up excess water

Colors REALLY disperse on this paper, almost to the point where you can't tell where they originated. This seems like it'd be a great paper for atmospheric effects.

I'm going to move this pad to another room for it to dry, and check on it in an hour.

30 Min:
Dry to the touch, if a bit cool. Workable. Still puffy.

Day 3, 3rd layer:

Everything on this paper seems to dry a bit muted and very granulated.

Douse it with water

Super minimal pigment movement, basically negligible. This paper keeps its secrets

Paper continues to puff up a bit, but no real buckling

Adding color, without water control

Color disperses A LOT- could be a great paper for washes and glazes

Water control

Water control is pretty easy on this paper since it just bows up a bit, you just need to mop up the bottom

Adding another layer of pigment

While this paper DOES make really atmospheric, granulating grays with a lot of nuance, it doesn't seem to just make mud.

I'm going to move this to another room and allow it to dry


The next day:
Masking Fluid-
Application and Removal test

In the past, masking fluid has ruined some papers (Shizen is a prime culprit, but so is Montval), so this is an important test to let me know if this is an issue to watch out for.

Colors on this pad dissipate a lot and this paper really magnifies granulation. I want to try the Derwent Graphitint on it soon.

Really doused the paper with color, and am going to allow it to dry fully before removing the masking fluid.

Masking fluid seems to remove some of the granulating pigment and leaves white speckles upon removal. Yeah, masking fluid really tears this paper up.

In thin amounts, it REALLY adheres to the paper- like soaks in. In thick amounts, it's easier to remove but abraids the paper greatly. In some areas, it refuses to lift entirely. I recommend not using removable masking fluid on this paper.

Removing from Block:

Removes easily, but some of the paint saturated the paper and affected the next page on the block. It's pretty unusual in my experience for this to happen, and kinda annoying because otherwise, this paper seems to love water.

The Verdict:

This is a paper for the atmospheric painters, the soft misty landscape painters, and fans of granulation. Wet into wet techniques REALLY disperse, and colors granulate more vividly on this paper. I feel like it's probably not a great paper for folks who like to overwork (you lose a lot of what makes this paper shine), and it's not a paper for control freaks or people who like to use masking fluid. Of course, there's still the fieldtest left to come, I'll either end up loving or loathing this watercolor paper.

Music:
Kevin MacLeod:
Inner Light
Meditation Impromptu 02
On the Passing of Time
Silver Blue Light

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