The paper mill
The surface changes the painting more than the paint does.
Thin paper buckles, wrong sizing kills a wash, and no brush can fix either. Match the surface to your medium below, the specs are stamped on every sheet.
For washes and glazes
Watercolour paper
Cold pressed texture holds the wash while the pigment settles. From 250gsm it will take real water without complaint.
How to read a paper label
gsm is weight
Grams per square metre. Heavier paper drinks more water before it thinks about buckling.
300gsm is the safe line
At 300gsm you can paint wet washes unstretched. Below it, tape the edges down.
Cold pressed texture
A gentle tooth that grips pigment. The default for watercolour, and what most of this shelf is.
Cotton is the upgrade
Cotton rag takes lifting, scrubbing and reworking. Once you try it, machine paper feels thin.
The romantic shelf
Handmade cotton rag
Deckled edges, mid texture, made sheet by sheet. Paintings on this paper look finished before you frame them.
For heavier paint
Acrylic & oil pads
Pre-primed, canvas-feel sheets that take thick paint without soaking it up. Canvas practice without stretcher bars.
For the wall
Canvas
Sheets for practice, stretched cotton for the one you mean to keep.
For every day
Sketchbooks
The habit that makes painters. One for the desk, one small enough to never leave your bag.
When in doubt, buy heavier paper.
Nobody has ever regretted 300gsm. Start on the workhorse pack, and try one sheet of handmade cotton rag when you want a painting to feel like an occasion.
Free delivery over £45
Paper ships flat, packed carefully and sent tracked.
60-day guarantee
If it isn't loved, send it back.
Specs on every sheet
Weight, texture and cotton content stamped on every card above.
Paints to match
Every surface here has a matching shelf in the colour room.
A superior collection of artist paper, pads and canvas
