The 8 Best Papers To Paint On With gouache (2023 reviews)

This thick heavy paper is perfect for watercolors and paints. It is great for kids crafts and basic water coloring. It is a 290 gsm watercolor paper but it does not have much of a texture compared to fine art watercolor paper. The scrap leftovers can be used for making book markers or as test samples to see how your paint will look when mixing your own colors, testing out some new paint or some kind of watercolor idea or technique.

This paper is great for serious painting or for beginners. The paper bends a little after painting in watercolor. This paper does not allow the movement of the pigment in the pens and pencils, but you remain with hard lines.

Why We Like This:

Great for students in grammar school
Excellent stock quality for water paints
Sturdy and perfect for water painting

Best For portrait: Canson Paper To Paint On With gouache

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If you often find yourself scrambling for convenient and suitable paper, canson paper to paint on with gouache is your end point. They are "real" watercolor paper and quite affordable. It is perfect for kids and adults to get started with watercolor, the paper holds up to quite a bit of water, doesn't work too fast, and handles color pretty well. It does warp quite a bit, so tape it down. It is great for testing, not so much for finished work.

This paper is good for small pieces like tags. It is really great for watercolor and tombow markers. It works good for half fold cards, so you have to cut it down slightly. It can handle a lot of water.

Why We Like This:

Great paper holds onto water well
Perfect for people just starting to water color
Curls slightly when damp but good paper over all
Definitely works well for heavy use of water

Best For Heavy washes: Arches Watercolor Paper

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If you often find yourself scrambling for appropriate and satisfactory paper, arches watercolor paper should be your first option for buying. This paper can take the punishment of scrubbing, release of masking fluid left on for weeks without tearing, and multiple washes. It is very high quality paper, very stable, and can support a number of styles and techniques. The sheets of white watercolour paper are mounted on black sheets that don’t require stretching. It is available in several formats and sizes including blocks, pads, sheets and rolls, and 3 luxurious textures.

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 can handle scrubbing with your brush or eraser. It provides timeless beauty and an inimitable touch. It is good for heavy washes in that it won't warp with your brush or eraser.

Why We Like This:

Consistent quality and handles pigment and water very well
Boasts a protective cover sheet and ph
Stays flat when you are painting with it
Heavy weight and takes heavy washes without puckers or warping

Best With Acrylic Paint: Arteza Paper To Paint On With gouache

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It is great for a school project that calls for a canvas. It surprisingly takes a good amount of paint layers with very little buckling. The paper is nice and thick and has a very subtle texture to it. The sheets are durable and have a good weight to them for standing up to acrylic paint.

The " tooth " of the paper is good to stop the paint " sliding " rather than " sticking " and there is minimum curl of the paper even with a full paint load. You can use it just like a canvas and it holds up great. This is really nice paper to learn on and experiment on for acrylics. The paper works quite well with acrylic paint pens and metallic pens.

Why We Like This:

Sturdy and makes acrylic look great
Thick and good for acrylic painting
New and hot release

Best With gouache: Paul Rubens Paper To Paint On With gouache

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This watercolour paper is quite good. It is made of 100% cotton and acid-free paper, they won’t become yellow and brittle over time. If you care about permanence or plan on using lots of scrubbing, scraping, taping, and masking techniques, it can take a beating. It is made of premium leather featuring a ruggedly smooth finish, and the paper pad design is convenient. It is suitable for fine detail.

This hot press has some texture to it, you could also use the original hit press block for card making on watercolour papers. It is made from premium leather featuring a ruggedly smooth finish, the paper pad design is convenient.

Why We Like This:

Cotton but ineffective to use eradicator and difficult to soften some edges
Beautiful leather cover, with lovely cotton paper, very good value for money
Beautiful to look at and use and inexpensive

Best For urban sketching: Paul Rubens lb Watercolor notebook

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Next on the list, we've got yet another paper that manages to win our hearts. It's the paul rubens lb watercolor notebook and it's widely considered as paper that has the most suitable features. The quality of watercolor paper is really important for beginners. The paper's surface has enough texture for the watercolor work, but not so much that it affects the air brush work. It's 140 lb (300 gsm), so it's thick enough that it doesn't significantly buckle when used for watercolor.

The paper is thick and lightly textured so it takes watercolor beautifully. It does have a slight texture which is noticeable when using watercolor pencils. The classic book cover can protect the works on the inner page. These are also perforated so that they could be torn out if needed.

It is actually quite nice to paint on it since some of the cons of the hot press and the cons of cold press are solved since this is in-between the textures.

Why We Like This:

Nice and thick, double sided, quality 100% cotton paper in a travel sketchbook
Nice paper for light watercolor washes
Good investment for long term

Best For oil Painting: Sherr Paper To Paint On With gouache

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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 sherr paper to paint on with gouache is exactly that - it's a simple paper that hits all the right notes. You can wrap the watercolor paint paper to your sister, classmate, student, kid, teacher and others who like drawing, showing your care and love, enhancing your relationship, enjoying the joy of painting with them together. You can use the water color paper for kids white in chinese painting, oil painting, watercolor painting, gouache painting, expending your ideas, developing your creativity and imagination.

Why We Like This:

Good investment for long term
Good brand reputation

Best For Artist: Arches Paper To Paint On With gouache

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This 6x10 watercolor journal boasts 15 sheets of rich, cold press, 140 lb watercolor paper. It is made from 100% natural cotton fiber with no optical brightening agents, the arches paper has an archival, natural white color and an exquisite texture unlike other papers on the market. It provides extra rigidity for stable painting on location. It is easy to fold the pages back and keep the book flat for painting.

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 available in several formats and sizes including blocks, pads, sheets and rolls, and 3 luxurious textures. The pages are thick and handle water perfectly. Love the paper and the way it will hold the paint and give the best presentation. This little book is perfect for plein aire painting and taking with you.

Why We Like This: