The 10 Best Thick Cotton Papers (2023 reviews)

We consider a thick cotton 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 Thick Cotton Paper READ REVIEW

Best For Water Color Paint: Buy: Arteza Thick Cotton Paper READ REVIEW

Best With Acrylic Paint: Buy: Lear Village Thick Cotton Paper READ REVIEW

Best For old time: Buy: Wanderings Good Paper READ REVIEW

Best For Professional: Buy: BAOHONG Thick Cotton Paper READ REVIEW

Best For applying The finest Watercolor paints: Buy: Speedball Thick Cotton Paper READ REVIEW

Best For colored pencils: Buy: Paul Rubens Thick Cotton Paper READ REVIEW

Best For craft projects: Buy: Wanderings Thick Cotton Paper READ REVIEW

Best For Cyanotype: Buy: Lear Village vintage Paper READ REVIEW

Best For pen: Buy: Nomadcraftsco Thick Cotton Paper READ REVIEW

Best Overall: Arches Thick Cotton Paper

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The latest arches thick cotton 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, this arches paper has an archival, natural white color and an exquisite texture unlike other papers on the market. It is also cotton fiber so it makes painting on it much more successful. It is available in several formats and sizes including blocks, pads, sheets and rolls, and 3 luxurious textures.

It is thick and rigid, 140 lb (300 gsm), and is acid-free. The texture is rough, and it is excellent for amature for professional artists alike. It allows for blending edges, layers excellently and does not damage easily when lifting color for highlights. The Tape comes off easily without ripping and masking fluid also comes off easily without pulling at the paper.

• 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 Water Color Paint: Arteza Thick Cotton Paper

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Even though you are a beginner, it does not hurt to have a paper like this to feel what you paint. This watercolor paper is tbick, and surprisingly, doesn't dry rapidly, which allows you to blend and shade easily. This paper is excellent quality paper. It absorbs water slowly. The entire package is curved and the paper will notay flat.

Any artist can use this but it’s a great watercolor paper for serious artists as it is 100% cotton This is a very good paper. These are designed for maximum comfortability and reliability for sketching, watercolor painting, and mixed media.

• Pretty thick and really made for water colors
• Paper weight is enough for watercolor
• Wonderful watercolor paper for blending, layering and shading

Best With Acrylic Paint: Lear Village Thick Cotton Paper

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Next on the list, we've got yet another paper that manages to win our hearts. It's the lear village thick cotton paper and it's widely considered as paper that has the most suitable features. Acid free sheets in these watercolor mix media sketchbook help keep your art work vibrant and long lasting. It provides 100% pure cotton handmade paper suitable for all dry and wet mediums. If you like dry brush painting, or charcoal work, this paper is unbeatable. It is perfect for wet as well as dry medium.

The paper comes in a durable box so you can store your wonderful artwork for decades. It can be used for dry and wet medium unlike other sketchbook they are suitable for watercolor, oil pastel, pencil color, charcoal, pen and ink drawings. If you take the time to fill this up with nice drawings this will make a nice keepsake and something you will be able to hold on to for decades as the paper is made from 100% virgin cotton to last for generations.

• Holds up well with ink pens and magic markers
• Perfect for looser, impressionist watercolor styles
• Good brand reputation

Best For old time: Wanderings Good Paper

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These one-of-a-kind handmade paper sheets are a great alternative to traditional watercolor paper or writing paper. Best of all, it appears to be sized, so it takes inkjet prints like a champ. It’s rad paper, almost like cloth, but make sure you get a size like 11x17 or bigger. This paper is very thick, richly coloured with great decaled edges.

These sheets would be great sewn together to make a little book, printed with lines to make personal stationary, or printed with instructions for vacation rentals or parties. It’s pretty porous. Being 100% cotton rag, the paper itself is very strong. It is good for projects that require this size of paper.

• Great for bookmaking and other art projects
• Consistency is good and texture is wonderful—linen like
• All edges are deckled and stained
• Antique looking papers with a lovely deckled edge

Best For Professional: BAOHONG Thick Cotton Paper

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If you often find yourself confused about appropriate and satisfactory paper, baohong thick cotton paper is your end point. Baohong artists' watercolor paper is strong and durable for whether wet, dry or mixed media painting, and less likely to curl or warp. It is made from long, 100% cotton fibers, allowing it to absorb a lot of water without warping or causing the colors to bleed. The mix of hot pressed, cold pressed and rough is perfect for different mediums and subjects. The acid-free paper addresses the problem of preserving artwork for long periods and ensures the longevity of your artwork, perfect for the artists who are looking for the ultimate in permanence.

This specific watercolor paper has a cold press finish and light texture. Pigments dry a little lighter and slightly less vibrant than Arches or Fluid 100 but all of that can be compensated for by its great glazing and reworking capability. The cold press has a nice texture and the paper absorbs water nicely as well. It is easy to correct mistakes and colors are very saturated.

• Excellent paper for new and experienced artists
• Wet painting without buckling and is scrubbable when correction is needed
• Hot press paper is flat with no texture

Best For applying The finest Watercolor paints: Speedball Thick Cotton Paper

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Not everyone likes to purchase paper for their daily usage, but the speedball thick cotton paper would be an anomoly. It is perfect for applying the finest watercolor paints. The 300 lb paper does not have to be stretched because it does not buckle, and it is affordable. It is produced at slow speeds for precise control for a stronger, premium quality paper. The block format means there's no stretching to deal with, and unblocking is a breeze, revealing a nice sparkling clean sheet of cotton paper beneath. It can be so translucent to so opaque and everything in between is kept stretched while painting.

The paper lies flat like a board. It pills with wet on wet almost instantly and it does not allow lifting of the paint without staining, even if non-staining pigments are used. The paints take to it beautifully.

• Average watercolor paper, good for practise
• Smoother surface (than arches or wn cold press), dried faster, colors less bold
• High quality, lightly textured watercolor postcard sized paper

Best For colored pencils: Paul Rubens Thick Cotton Paper

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Compared with other paper in this category, the paul rubens thick cotton paper has a convenient design. These little watercolor journals are great and very good for the thick quality of paper. It comes with good quality cotton paper so your colors will pop and look like they are straight out of the tube. 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’s very easy to blend paint—even after it’s dried a while. 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 pages are quite sturdy and are perforated for easy removal. It is easy to charge in with more color and not get crazy blooms.

• Handles a lot of layers, wet in wet, lifting
• Such high quality and very good for traveling
• Uite adequate for traveling and outdoor sketching
• Good size and quality of paper

Best For craft projects: Wanderings Thick Cotton Paper

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These one-of-a-kind raw edge handmade paper sheets are a great alternative to traditional watercolor paper or writing paper. It feels so much more “real” than regular store-bought watercolor paper. It is made using traditional practices passed through generations dating back to 14th century india.

These are very thin, flimsy, lightweight pieces of paper. It is a good look for craft projects. It is a little unsuited for just pencil drawing but details finished in pencil crayon are just fine. It is perfect for crafts, letters, invitations, or maps for hidden treasures.

• Very nice handmade cotton rag paper
• Great for junk journals, watercolor and more
• Beautiful hand made 100% cotton paper
• Lovely and strong cotton paper for watercolors

Best For Cyanotype: Lear Village vintage Paper

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Best part: lear village vintage paper costs comparatively low and it is available to ship in 24 hours. This paper is perfect for any form of art including printing. It provides 100% pure cotton handmade paper suitable for all dry and wet mediums. The quality is great, it holds water very well and the colors look super vibrant. It adds character and individuality to each sheet. The fringed edge gives uniqueness and authenticity to the overall look of the paper.

The thickness offers great versatility for the medium of choice. If you are willing and able to do the sizing yourself, this paper is excellent value and the deckled edges are beautiful.

• Great paper for small plein air
• Beautiful paper, requires sizing for watercolor painting
• Gorgeous, but buckles easily, so plan on pressing finished artwork

Best For pen: Nomadcraftsco Thick Cotton Paper

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This paper has the authentic look and feel of handmade paper. It's a rough and dry texture like a cold pressed water color paper. It does so well with heavy papers. These blank sheets of excellent quality handmade vintage papers work best with watercolor, ink, colored pencil, marker, or other mediums. It's slick-smooth, thick, strong, luxurious, and durable which is suitable for any kind of mixed media art.

These papers are made from 100% recycled and acid-free materials, 200 gsm. The paper is 100 % free from any artificial materials that can degrade its quality. It is ideal for pen, pencil, crayons, and even charcoal.

• Very durable and easily torn to various sizes
• Full sheets make an excellent full size cover
• Very durable and also use them for framed collage works