HOW TO: Stretch Water color paper
If you have ever painted a watercolor painting on watercolor paper and found the paper puckering, warping and buckling you might not know how to fix or avoid it from happening in the first place.
Stretching watercolor paper is a time tested method used by watercolor artist for a long time. The process is simple. You will need a tray or tub large enough to fit your watercolor paper. Fill the tub with fresh water about an inch in depth. Place the paper in the tub and submerge it completely. The paper must soak for at least twenty minutes. The paper will absorb the water and expand. After twenty minutes remove the paper from the tub and let it drip so that the excess water runs off. Place the paper on a large wooden board of a soft wood. You will be stapling the paper down to the board. Masonite does not work well. It is too hard and the staples will not penetrate.
To staple: you will be working the edge of the paper about a half inch to three quarters of an inch inside the exterior of the watercolor paper. Start at the mid-point of the top edge with one staple and go across to the bottom edge and place a second staple, Next place a staple on the right edge in the middle and then another staple across for that on the left edge. From there work your way out to the corners of the the water color paper. On a piece of watercolor paper that is 24 inches wide you can expect to have five staples across the top and another five across the bottom edge. The same is true of the left and right side edges.
Let the paper dry over night and it will be taught and ready to paint on. Stretching works best with high quality papers, 140 lb or better. Cheaper weights of paper will pull from the staples and tear.
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