I was getting ready to start the sketches for this week’s post on Patreon when I decided to stretch my paper, because I am going to use so much water and really drench my paper. Then I thought it would be useful to do a quick video tutorial, showing you a very easy way to stretch your paper.
If you use a lot of water when you paint on watercolour paper, you might have encountered the pesky buckling challenge, when your paper is doing its best to impersonate corrugated iron. When you wet paper, it expands. If the wetting is uneven, the expending is uneven, and the paper has to fit expanded and non-expanded areas in a limited amount of space. It doesn’t end well.
There are three ways to potentially avoid this happening:
– Using a heavier paper instead of the most common 300gsm. I usually use 640gsm.
Pros: this is a beautiful paper to work with, and it is excellent at resisting wear and tear and all sorts of rubbing as well as resisting buckling.
Cons: it is expensive and on a project like my current Patreon series in which we are painting very loosely and really drenching the whole sheet, it probably wouldn’t be enough.
– Using a block glued on 4 sides, which holds the paper in place while you paint.
Pros: the paper is held better than it would be as a loose sheet
Cons: you have to finish the painting on the top before being able to use the following sheet, you have to carry the whole block if you are painting away from the studio and if your style is like mine, very wet, the paper might still buckle in the centre of the block.
– Stretching the paper before you start painting, which also holds the paper in place.
Pros: the paper is very taut and very pleasing to work on, a bit like a stretched canvas, and it will flatten after each wash.
Cons: it is time-consuming and requires planning, as you have to wait for the paper to dry before starting the painting.
Painting Stretching boards
These are the types of boards that are available, not all of them being suitable for stretching paper. Always wash down the board and allow to dry before use to test, as quality and performance will always vary.
Plywood – Ply is made of thin sheets of timber that are laminated with glue, with the grains of adjoining layers at right angles to each other. Its very stable when wetted so it’s ideal for a stretch board. There are many different types of Ply – from Far Eastern (probably the best) to sheathing ply (a bit rough and rather heavy) I would suggest a thickness of around 5mm but above 3mm would do.
MDF
Medium-density fibreboard (MDF) is an engineered wood product made from wood fibre and a resin binder, formed into panels at high temperature and pressure. MDF is generally denser than plywood, but I would choose a 6mm or greater thickness board.
OSB (AKA Sterling board)
Oriented strand board (OSB) is a type of engineered wood similar to particle board, formed by adding adhesives and then compressing layers of wood strands (flakes) in specific orientations. Try this at your own risk – it is rough and unpredictable for stretching
Chipboard
Like OSB but smaller particles. Less dense than MDF. Avoid chipboard – likely to swell up, ruin your paper and fall to bits.
A sheet of (non-laminated) real wood
If you are lucky enough to have a sheet of real wood, keep it for another project. It may well warp if you wet it and may not recover its original shape once dried.
Purchase options
Art shops
Art shops can provide boards in a range of sizes.
DIY stores
(plywood or MDF)
Sheet materials sizes are usually derived from imperial sizes. A full sheet is 8’ x 4’ (122cm x 244cm) Many stores stock half sheets (122cm x 122cm) or quarter sheets or (122cm x 61cm) and will offer to cut boards down for you – but do plan your cuts in advance – Paper sizes do mean it is hard to divide a half sheet into useful sizes without waste so you may end up choosing a larger board– furthermore there is a limit to how small they can cut the boards and it is usually a different limit vertically and horizontally.
The method I am showing in the video below is the quickest and easiest way to stretch your paper. It requires minimal equipment and doesn’t take very long. The flat surface you get after it dries might start to undulate with your washes, but it will go back to its flat board every time it dries.
Happy Painting!
Sandrine
Sandrine Maugy 