The 10 Best Quality Watercolor Papers (2023 reviews)

We consider a best quality watercolor paper to be a worthy investment in the long run. We are here to help you choose the right one for your needs from all the best available products in market today.

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Our Top Picks:

Best Overall: Buy: Arches Best Quality Watercolor Paper READ REVIEW

Best For portrait: Buy: Canson Best Quality Watercolor Paper READ REVIEW

Best With Very Wet Watercolors: Buy: Ucreate Best Quality Watercolor Paper READ REVIEW

Best For Water coloring: Buy: Strathmore Best Quality Watercolor Paper READ REVIEW

Best For Watercolour Painting: Buy: Arteza Best Quality Watercolor Paper READ REVIEW

Best For colored pencils: Buy: Paul Rubens Best Quality Watercolor Paper READ REVIEW

Best For Price But page Curves: Buy: Bellofy Best Quality Watercolor Paper READ REVIEW

Best With Acrylic Paint: Buy: Tecunite Best Quality Watercolor Paper READ REVIEW

Best For Professional: Buy: Newbested Best Quality Watercolor Paper READ REVIEW

Best For Cyanotype: Buy: Lear Village Best Quality Watercolor Paper READ REVIEW

Best Overall: Arches Best Quality Watercolor Paper

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The latest arches best quality watercolor paper is an absolute beast in terms of its features, and rightfully takes the top spot with ease. It is made from 100% natural cotton fiber with no optical brightening agents, and the arches paper has an archival, natural white color and an exquisite texture unlike other papers on the market. It is thick and rigid, 140 lb (300 gsm), and is acid-free. It lends itself better for media that don't require a rougher texture. The texture is rough, and it is excellent for amature to professional artists alike.

It is cotton fiber so it makes painting on it much more successful. The Tape comes off easily without ripping and masking fluid also comes off easily without pulling at the paper. The watercolor moves better on the paper and the colors are brighter. It is available in several formats and sizes including blocks, pads, sheets and rolls, and 3 luxurious textures. It is perfect for rugged landscapes and any project where added texture is desired.

• Very thick and absorbent paper for a beginner artist, good quality
• Perfect amount of texture for amazing detail with nice thick quality
• Rough surface is great for landscapes

Best For portrait: Canson Best Quality Watercolor Paper

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This paper is very sturdy. It is ideal for watercolor and suitable for use with pencil, colored pencil, pen, ink, charcoal, pastel, and acrylic. It doesn't wrinkle from too much water and it blends colors so well. The paper really holds up to the water and dries quickly.

The paper has great texture and it is fun and flexible to paint on. It is strong and the paper doesn't fold when wet. The paper does not permit alot of scrubbing, no need to scrub very much, paint will lift so well.

• Great paper holds onto water well
• Perfect for people just starting to water color
• Lot of satisfied buyers

Best With Very Wet Watercolors: Ucreate Best Quality Watercolor Paper

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Ucreate line of paper come in a pretty wide variety of styles, so you can definitely find one that suits your individual preferences and needs. Your watercolour paper has absorbency to take colour and gives you some blending for beautiful colour presentation. It is great for kids crafts and basic water coloring. The paper bends a little after painting in watercolor. It is great with pencils, ink, and paint.

These sturdy sheets have a uniform texture and whiteness, and are ideal for wet and mixed media. It will handle acrylic paints and it is all loose in shrink wrap. It is of low quality and the watercolour paint doesn't sit or blend well. It is great for large groups or classrooms at the beginner to intermediate levels.

• Great for teaching lessons and for practice
• New and hot release

Best For Water coloring: Strathmore Best Quality Watercolor Paper

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The 300 series watercolor paper pad contains 12 sheets of heavyweight, student grade, watercolor paper with a cold press surface. It's a sturdy, well-textured paper, with predictable and even saturation. It's best quality art paper for anything including, pastels, watercolors, sketch drawings, and charcoal + paint drawings if you're carful enough.

It's easy to use and high quality for a beginner that's dabbling in watercoloring. The paper is strong and easy to draw and paint. It allows for plein air settings, working on new techniques. It is necessary to have at least a 140 pound density paper to use.

• Great paper, very thick and sturdy
• Very thick and heavy so it doesn't crinkle with a lot of water
• Paint dries fairly quickly, and paper does not tear or peel
• Wonderful paper, stands up to watercolors beautifully and oil pastels

Best For Watercolour Painting: Arteza Best Quality Watercolor Paper

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The arteza best quality watercolor paper's superior materials makes sure that it ages well with use. A two-pack will satisfy many hours of sketching or fine finishing your artistic visions. Your Arteza watercolor paper is thicker & heavier (140 lb./300gsm), so it can stand up to multiple washes without warping or bleeding through. It does not lift paint when applying the second layer. It is ideal for large, even washes & for finer detail, too.

The pages are held with a light gum keeping them together. It is more like a heavy durable paper. There is some warping but it mostly dries flat. This is a very good quality paper.

• High quality canvas textured surface, good for dry and wet media
• Good quality & handy for small watercolor projects
• Best for watercolor pencils or watercolor brush pens only
• Doesn't leak and is super strong

Best For colored pencils: Paul Rubens Best Quality Watercolor Paper

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We would, of course, be remiss if we didn't mention paul rubens best quality watercolor paper for regular usage. This is an easy cary pad of hot press paper. It is made of 100% cotton rag for dry or wet painting, can be used for watercolor paint, gouache paint, acrylics, pencils, etc. It is perfect for plein air. It is made from premium leather featuring a ruggedly smooth finish, the paper pad design is convenient if you do not want to stretch your watercolor paper and are handy to take on holiday or away on trips.

It has a smooth surface and easy for drawing with pen or pencil, it also takes water well and doesn't buckle, the size of the journal is also good for travel. The paper does buckle a bit but you can still close the sketchbook just fine and it is indeed double sided. It is easy to charge in with more color and not get crazy blooms. This product is cute and portable.

• Nice quality paper and cute pink cover
• Uite adequate for traveling and outdoor sketching
• Such high quality and very good for traveling
• High quality watercolor painting paper with smooth paper

Best For Price But page Curves: Bellofy Best Quality Watercolor Paper

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If you want nothing but the best desirable paper, then bellofy best quality watercolor paper is the one you should definitely consider, as it manages to bring a lot to the table. This watercolor paper is perfect for experimenting. It works best by adding the inks to a dauber first and then lightly dabbing on the paper. It has a velvety texture more than a pressed down one. It makes toting supplies very easy.

This pad of water color paper is the ideal size for sketching and painting both practice or finished work. It's thick enough and economical enough to allow for experimenting. The paper is wonderful if you’re using it to teach kids how to watercolor.

• Good texture, nice and solid and stiff
• Good brand reputation

Best With Acrylic Paint: Tecunite Best Quality Watercolor Paper

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If you are currently in the market looking for a suitable paper for your daily usage, tecunite best quality watercolor paper is the natural choice. This is a good, toothy, thick and durable watercolor paper. It can be sent to someone who likes acrylic painting, watercolor painting, or sketch. It is made of heavy paper, sufficient quantity is enough for you to share with others. It is great for color swatches or wash tests. It will curl up a bit when the paper is saturated, but this is easy to overcome by taping down the edges before you begin. It is perfect for small water coloring. It is great for classroom projects. It takes longer to dry, it definitely ripples/curles as you paint, even if you tape it down.

• Perfect size for kids or a small painting
• Perfect size and nice quality paper
• New and hot release

Best For Professional: Newbested Best Quality Watercolor Paper

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There are really decent, affordable cellulose paper out there. These watercolor paper enable students to move color greatly to show a good vision experience. It is not high quality watercolor paper, but it is way better than copy paper for kids who are wanting to make a hundred nice-ish watercolor paintings.

The finish is too smooth and it has a lavender/bluish tint to it. It does buckle when wet but dries flat. The paper also wrinkles and buckles due to the thinness. There is a bit of a rougher texture than most sketch paper, but it still worked well and allowed the students to blend colored pencils and build layers of colors. It is great paper to burn trough when practicing.

• Wrinkles and buckles due to the thinness
• Great for drawing, not for watercolor
• New and hot release

Best For Cyanotype: Lear Village Best Quality Watercolor Paper

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This 100% cotton watercolor paper has neutra ph to keep your artwork safe for centuries. It’s more like strathmore watercolor paper or sanderford paper. The edges are rough and it has a very defined texture to it so allow for that in your painting. It offers great versatility for the medium of choice.

This paper is perfect for any form of art including printing. The paper comes in a durable box so you can store your wonderful artwork for decades. They are handmade, so they feature the characteristic deckle edge. The thickness offers great versatility for the medium of choice.

• Very sturdy paper and really pretty
• Great paper for small plein air
• Watercolors glide over paper just fine
• Gorgeous, but buckles easily, so plan on pressing finished artwork