The 10 Best thin Watercolor Papers (2023 reviews)

We consider a thin 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.

Our review process: Show/Hide

Our Top Picks:

Best Overall: Buy: Canson thin Watercolor Paper READ REVIEW

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

Best For stretching Watercolor Paper: Buy: Arches thin Watercolor Paper READ REVIEW

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

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

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

Best With Acrylic Paint: Buy: Wanderings thin Watercolor Paper READ REVIEW

Best For durability: Buy: Mujinhua thin Watercolor Paper READ REVIEW

Best For classroom projects: Buy: Tecunite thin Watercolor Paper READ REVIEW

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

Best Overall: Canson thin Watercolor Paper

Buy on Amazon

These are really nice quality papers. It's possible to have paper thick with a little, ore transparency. It's perfect for testing out different techniques or how colors look when you're mixing. The paper really holds up to the water and dries quickly. It will last even this family of 5 watercolorists longer than most watercolor tablets.

The paper is sturdy and holds up well to plenty of waterpaint layering. It does warp quite a bit, so tape it down. This paper is good for small pieces like tags or tags.

• Curls slightly when damp but good paper over all
• Definitely works well for heavy use of water
• Good size and weight for watercolors and brush pens
• You can cut it without a problem and water absorption amount is perfect

Best With Very Wet Watercolors: Ucreate thin Watercolor Paper

Buy on Amazon

Compared with other paper in this category, the ucreate thin watercolor paper has a convenient design. This thick heavy paper is perfect for watercolors and paints. It is perfect for cutting various materials for any paper craft. It's a bit more durable with a card stock paper feel to it.

These sturdy sheets have a uniform texture and whiteness, and are ideal for wet and mixed media. There is no leaking or holes created when water is added. It is the perfect texture for use with watercolor pencils. It is a must have for your watercolor painting fun.

• Excellent stock quality for water paints
• Great for students in grammar school
• Sturdy and perfect for water painting
• Good for swatching, scrap paper, and throw away studies

Best For stretching Watercolor Paper: Arches thin Watercolor Paper

Buy on Amazon

Arches is known for creating pragmatic and minimalist paper for people on the go, and its line of arches thin watercolor paper definitely falls in line with that reputation. This is generally used for someone that’s trying for fine details such as in a portrait. It provides timeless beauty and an inimitable touch. The rough surface breaks up the brush strokes and is more forgiving. The pigments spread totally evenly in every direction. The topmost sheet is black and is there only to protect the first page. The quality of this paper makes for the best results.

The paper is beautiful and makes the painting process so much better.

• Makes a difference even for a beginner
• Terrific quality, size selection and more
• Neutral paper with a harmonious natural grain and no optical brightening agents

Best For Water coloring: Strathmore thin Watercolor Paper

Buy on Amazon

Strathmore offers a variety of paper for personal choice and yet maintaining quality in all the variants. Strathmore Watercolor pads are top-of-the line for any art project. It's nice and thick with light texture on one side. The quality of the paper is great and watercolor looks sharp and dries fast and great.

This spiral bound pad is easy to flip over or tear out a new page to use. The paper quickly peels, dissolves and sort of unravel when it gets wetter on cheaper brands. It's great for beginners. It's easy to use and high quality for a beginner that's dabbling in watercoloring.

• Holds watercolors well without running or curling
• Wonderful paper, stands up to watercolors beautifully and oil pastels
• Good quality for beginners on water color painting
• Great paper you will love the way it takes watercolors and also acrylic paints

Best For Watercolour Painting: Arteza thin Watercolor Paper

Buy on Amazon

If you often find yourself scrambling for appropriate and satisfactory paper, arteza thin watercolor paper is your end point. This is a high quality watercolor paper and very affordable for the amount you get. It works perfectly for bleeding the colors and has great absorbency. It has both a smooth and a textured side and it stands up very well to wet on wet painting and adding washes. The paper is sturdy and doesn't buckle too much during wet-on-wet.

The paper is nice and thick enough that the water doesnt soak through and the colors do not bleed through. It's heavy and cold pressed, but still somewhat smooth. There are other woodpulp papers that perform much better, such as Canson and Strathmore.

• Top quality for your quality painring
• Worked well with water color pens
• Great for starting out, at level
• Good for quick sketches and watercolor painting

Best For Price But page Curves: Bellofy thin Watercolor Paper

Buy on Amazon

The bellofy thin watercolor paper's material feels more premium than its price would suggest. Whether you are just entering the art world or you are a seasoned pro, these supplies will bring out the best version of your inner artist to the surface. This watercolor paper is perfect for experimenting. It is micro-perforated at the top, providing safe detach. It tears easily so it makes a nice torn edge for greeting cards. It is really fairly nice and also it is 130 pound/190 gsm paper. It is ideal for watercolor paper for kids, beginners and artists. It is great for trying ideas out on and would make good sketch paper.

• Good texture, nice and solid and stiff
• Great for kids,look at the attached painting
• Nice texture to this water color paper

Best With Acrylic Paint: Wanderings thin Watercolor Paper

Buy on Amazon

Next on the list, we've got yet another paper that manages to win our hearts. It's the wanderings thin watercolor paper and it's widely considered as paper that has the most suitable features. It is made using traditional practices passed through generations dating back to 14th century india. It is pretty good handmade paper, however, it is quite thin. It is perfect for crafts, doodling, letters, artwork, or maps for hidden treasures. On the plus side, it is quite a tough paper with a fabric feel. It goes nice and straight when it is dried.

The paper is absorbent and works well with the ink that is in the jane davenport ink brushes. It is just translucent enough to trace, using a light board. The quality of the paper is amazing.

• Lovely, luxurious texture and deckled edges
• Beautiful deckle edge and clean white
• Supports most media including watercolor, acrylic, gouache, ink, gel pen, marker, pencil and charcoal

Best For durability: Mujinhua thin Watercolor Paper

Buy on Amazon

We know from years of feedback from readers, customers and amazon sellers, what most people want in a convenient and appropriate paper. The mujinhua thin watercolor paper is exactly that - it's a simple paper that hits all the right notes. This quality watercolor paper is ideal for amateurs, professionals, and students, with a surface that works beautifully with a variety of mediums. It is perfect for making cards with stitching. It is perfect for traveling or using outdoors for smaller paintings.

This watercolor pad is ready to house your next creative environment. They are perfect for small paintings, drawing or even homemade cards. This is a great product for giving oil paintings protection prior to final varnish finish. It is suitable for better paint performance and durability. It is nice for bigger children who want to experiment with watercolor and techniques.

• Nice sturdy paper for beginners very thick and easy to work with
• Acid free is definitely a bonus for preserving labor intensive creations
• Perforated edges of each sheet, resulting in a clean, seamless look every time

Best For classroom projects: Tecunite thin Watercolor Paper

Buy on Amazon

The tecunite thin watercolor paper's material feels more premium than its price would suggest. These watercolor papers enable to move color nicely to show a good vision experience. It is suitable for beginners, amateur, educational arts and crafts, school supplies, art exams, watercolorist and more. It is made of heavy paper, sufficient quantity is enough for you to share with others. 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 used to cut in half and make christmas cards. It is suitable for mixed media, such as wet and dry. 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
• Good brand reputation

Best For Cyanotype: Lear Village thin Watercolor Paper

Buy on Amazon

This paper is perfect for any form of art including printing. It’s more like strathmore watercolor paper or sanderford paper. The Sizing paper in manufacturing process allows it to let water sit on top of it rather than to absorb it and buckle the paper. The edges are rough and it has a very defined texture to it so allow for that in your painting.

This paper is thick and easy to make a gradient effect on the paper. It’s thick enough to hold the color on the surface, but light enough to dry quickly and very pleased with this paper. If you are willing and able to do the sizing yourself, this paper is excellent value and the deckled edges are beautiful.

• Ph neutral so your work will last for centuries
• Beautiful paper, requires sizing for watercolor painting
• Held on beautifully without buckling or bleeding