The 5 Best Watercolor resist Paper Pads (2023 reviews)

It is important to have the well suited watercolor resist paper pad. In the following post, we will help you to select the best watercolor resist paper pads.

Our review process: Show/Hide

Our Top Picks:

Best Overall: Buy: Arches Watercolor resist Paper Pad READ REVIEW

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

Best For any kid: Buy: Strathmore Watercolor resist Paper Pad READ REVIEW

Best For either skill development: Buy: Lytek Watercolor resist Paper Pad READ REVIEW

Best For durability: Buy: Grabie Watercolor resist Paper Pad READ REVIEW

Best Overall: Arches Watercolor resist Paper Pad

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The pad is a must have accessory for your daily purpose. This paper is beautiful, its incredibly smooth making it great for mixed media like pen and ink and is wonderful to work with when using waterrcolors. It is cotton fiber so it makes painting on it much more successful. It is allows for blending edges, layers excellently and does not damage easily when lifting color for highlights. The texture is rough, and it is excellent for amature for professional artists alike.

It is thick and rigid, 140 lb (300 gsm), and is acid-free for mixed media like pen and ink and is wonderful to work with when using waterrcolors. The watercolor moves better on the paper and the colors are brighter. The surface is smooth and velvety. It is available in several formats and sizes including blocks, pads, sheets and rolls, and 3 luxurious textures.

• Very thick and absorbent paper for a beginner artist, good quality
• Takes water well with minimal pilling and holds its shape fairly well
• Takes in colour quite well, too

Best For Water coloring: Strathmore Watercolor Paper

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For a low asking price, strathmore watercolor paper has managed to overwhelm their customers by packing as many features as they could. This spiral bound pad is easy to flip over or tear out a new page to use. It is great for any kid to have their own pad for the watercolors. It takes water and the colors well, and also allows colors to be pulled up easily. It is best quality art paper for anything including, pastels, watercolors, sketch drawings, and charcoal + paint drawings if you're carful enough.

This spiral helps work while not having to tear out a page. It allows colors to be pulled up easily. It is easy to use and high quality for a beginner that's dabbling in watercoloring. This is a great way to try all of the different patterns.

• Very thick and heavy so it doesn't crinkle with a lot of water
• Lifting is easy, providing you do not use staining watercolors
• Excellent paper that responds to water well
• Paint dries fairly quickly, and paper does not tear or peel

Best For any kid: Strathmore Watercolor resist Paper Pad

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The strathmore watercolor resist paper pad gives the top-tier pad a run for their money by offering flagship specs at a much more affordable price. This paper is great for watercolors. It takes water and the colors well, and also allows colors to be pulled up easily. The paper is thick enough to not have to worry about soaking through the paper. This spiral bound pad is easy to flip over or tear out a new page to use. It is thick and sturdy and receives the water colors well.

It allows colors to be pulled up easily.

• Lifting is easy, providing you do not use staining watercolors
• Works wonders with tombow dual brush pens
• Stacks up pretty well against the heavier watercolor boards for wear/tear/re-working/re-wetting
• Holds watercolors well without running or curling

Best For either skill development: Lytek Watercolor resist Paper Pad

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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 pad. The lytek watercolor resist paper pad is exactly that - it's a simple pad that hits all the right notes. It is a great way to get canvas appearance with the convenience of paper pads. It is thick and it has a surface which looks like woven canvas you buy in canvases. The binding is glue that easily detaches and rubs off when you are ready to remove the paper. The sheets have a very subtle canvas texture. It is heavy and absorbent enough for any wet medium.

It is perfect for oil or acrylic painting. It does not warp when used with acrylic painting. It is a good choice for either skill development and practice or making finished pieces for framing.

• Nice weight and smooth brush strokes
• Great quality the paper thickness is great
• Easy, practical use for watercolor enthusiasts

Best For durability: Grabie Watercolor resist Paper Pad

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Next on the list, we've got yet another pad that manages to win our hearts. It's the grabie watercolor resist paper pad and it's widely considered as one of the best convenient pad you can buy. It feels and performs like a cotton paper. It is designed to endure, keeps artworks vibrant over time. It is cold-pressed, which has a light texture surface, provides strong scrub resistance, and allows for various watercolor techniques, while the other is hot-pressed, smoother, and excellent for detailed work. It is perfect for experimenting with different strokes and ideas, bringing your visions to life.

The texture is subtle (more subtle than it appears in the photo of paper alone) and really nice for pen work. It is a delight to use for acrylic gouache. The paper is thick and the colors do not bleed through, and there is a decent amount per pad.

• One which is textured and one which is smooth, excellent for perfecting different techniques
• Best used as pen and ink paper
• Decent watercolor paper that does curl slightly
• Interesting paper, fun for watercolor techniques