The 7 Best Arches Hot Pressed Watercolour Papers (2023 reviews)

We consider a arches hot pressed watercolour paper to be a worthy investment in the long run. We are here to help you choose the right one for your purposes from all the best available products in market today.

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Our Top Picks:

Best Overall: Buy: Arches Cotton Paper READ REVIEW

Best For Cyanotype: Buy: Arches Hot Press Paper READ REVIEW

Best For colored pencils: Buy: Arches High Quality Paper READ REVIEW

Best For Artist: Buy: Arches Hot Press READ REVIEW

Best For portrait: Buy: Arches Watercolor Paper READ REVIEW

Best With gouache: Buy: Arches Hot Pressed Watercolour Paper READ REVIEW

Best For Professional: Buy: Arches Water Color Paper READ REVIEW

Best Overall: Arches Cotton Paper

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If you often find yourself scrambling for good paper, this should be your first option for buying. It is best paper for watercolor abd or colored pencils. It is made with natural cotton fibers on a cylinder-mold machine. It has a finer tooth than cold-pressed, so you can achieve more detail. It has a nice texture, and rough texture for special projects.

Watercolor pads are sealed around the edge of the paper so that you don’t have to stretch the paper. It's nice and heavy as well as smooth, making shading easy and effective. They are packaged well, and handled quickly. It is easy to recommend this brand in all of the textures. This also comes in a pad, which means you have to stretch your paper first to prevent buckling.

• Incredible for calligraphy, authentic gold gilding, sketching, and any paint
• Great for serious students and professional level artists
• Absorbs watercolor faster than cold press paper

Best For Cyanotype: Arches Hot Press Paper

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It provides timeless beauty and an inimitable touch. It is used for professional artwork. It allows arches water color paper to slacken uniformly when wet for outstanding control. It is made from 100% natural cotton fiber with no optical brightening agents, and arches paper has an archival, natural white color and an exquisite texture unlike other papers on the market. It provides extra protection from light and elements, meaning this paper is made to last for years to come.

All arches paper is acid-free and made from 100% cotton, ensuring it valiantly stands the test of time and allows you to make the most out of every sheet. It is perfect for cyanotype prints. It is available in several formats and sizes including blocks, pads, sheets and rolls, and 3 luxurious textures.

• Rough has more texture than cold pressed
• Texture can be good depending on your painting style
• Excellent quality paper for cyanotype printing
• You can scrub, shape and 400 grit sand almost at will

Best For colored pencils: Arches High Quality Paper

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While not designed for inkjet printers, the Arches paper paired with a carbon ink produces very unique black and white prints with nice dark blacks. This ultra smooth paper feels as you're painting in fine points. It is great for graphite drawings because the smooth texture lends itself to smoother textures in the drawings.

This paper is much more forgiving than the cold press paper. They actually have a plastic knife for the purpose. It is great for building up layers of pencil. It is a beautiful paper and takes medium very well. It is a very nice paper for drawing.

• Great and quality paper for watercolors
• Good brand reputation

Best For Artist: Arches Hot Press

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The arches hot press's superior materials makes sure that it ages well with use. This is a fantastic paper for a beginner or a professional. The hot press is very smooth & easier to control than the more textured cold press or rough. These blocks contain 20 sheets of natural white, acid free, 100% cotton paper, and are glued on all 4 sides. It stands up to sketching and light erasing (use a gum eraser so you don't remove the sizing), it performs to high standards, it takes layers of colour well, allowing either light washy coverage, or deep and vibrant colours in your piece.

The top cover sheet needs to be removed to reveal the white paper of the block. The paper is high quality & you’ll be able to make changes with your non staining watercolors, like re-wetting & blot off areas you don’t like. This is a wonderful size for quick on-site work.

• Come in standard sizes like 8x10, 11x14, etc
• Delivers what they promise

Best For portrait: Arches Watercolor Paper

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We know from years of feedback from readers, customers and amazon sellers, what most people want in a convenient and appropriate paper. The product is exactly that - it's a simple product that hits all the right notes. For those who make frequent mistakes with graphite, this paper holds up well to all commonly used eraser types. It handles mask far better than pulp paper and stonehenge. It is used for backgrounds for cards using distress oxide inks, spraying with water and diluted bleach for special effects.

This paper holds up well to all commonly used eraser types. It won't pill up easily, it doesn't keep everything floating on top, and it gives plenty of time for wet-in-wet techniques. The hot press finish is very smooth, which enables very detailed drawing.

• Recommended for serious hobbyist and artists for final projects due to the cost
• One of the new comers and featured product

Best With gouache: Arches Hot Pressed Watercolour Paper

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This artist-grade watercolor paper is great for watercolor, gouache, acrylic, and airbrushing. The Arches Watercolor Blocks contain paper made with natural cotton fibers on a cylinder-mold machine. It's a stack of watercolor paper that is adhered at the sides so it makes a block of paper. The pages are tightly pressed together, with the edges lightly glued to help keep them flat.

The cover to all the Hot Press papers are the same color so the picture is from a 9"X12" pad. This way you can open it and paint on the top sheet without having to remove it to stretch it first. There will be a slight black adhesive around the edge of the paper but you can always scrape it off if the edges will be exposed when you display it. These blocks are available in a variety of sizes, if you're looking for another size.

• Smooth surface, holds paint really well
• Good brand reputation

Best For Professional: Arches Water Color Paper

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Next on the list, we've got yet another product that manages to win our hearts. It's the arches water color paper and it's widely considered as one of the best convenient products you can buy. The Mini Tin Art Set is ideal for any level artist from beginner to professional. It features high quality watercolor tools for anyone to experiment with. The long fibers in Arches natural white, acid free, and 100% cotton paper provide timeless beauty and an inimitable touch.

These pads contain 12 sheets of natural white, acid free, and 100% cotton paper in a fold over pad. It is easily removed from the edge-glued pad. This tin offers a perfect storage container to keep your art tools organized at home, school, or anywhere. It is available in multiple sizes and 3 revered textures. It is the only art paper in the world to be gelatin sized "to the core.

• Good investment for long term
• One of the new comers and featured product