Fluid Artist Watercolor Paper Block, 9 x 12 inches, 15 White Sheets, 140 lb (300 GSM) Hot Press Pad for Painting and Wet Media

I really like this paper and this will probably be my go-to brand for affordable blocks. I’m only halfway through this block so far but I’ve been experimenting with it as much as I can to see what it can and cant do.The paper is bounded only on 2 sides instead of most blocks which are bounded 3 full sides and most of the 4th. I, however, haven’t had to deal with much buckling. The paper does warp a small amount, as do most papers, but the warping is so minuscule a day under some books will straighten the page out.It absorbs water at a fairly slow pace. This is a plus or minus depending on how you paint. If you prefer faster drying times, you might want to invest in a hairdryer or something. I personally really like painting wet on wet so the fact that I can wet the paper, without it being soaking wet, and still have the paper damp by the time I’ve wet a large area fantastic. I have a few brands of paper that dry so fast I learned that I cannot do wet on wet backgrounds because it usually dries before I’ve finished wetting the whole area.This probably goes with the point mentioned above but I haven’t experienced peeling yet. A lot of my paintings will have 5-8 wet on wet layers but so far the paper here hasn’t peeled on me. Granted, I think a reason for it is because of it’s slower drying time, as I usually have to essentially soak many of my other papers in water to have it damp by the time paint is applied and like I said above I do not do that with this paper.Fun fact, washi tape will tear the paper. It seems kind of odd that I would think to tape the edges of a block since part of it’s gimmick is that I wouldn’t need to. However, I still like having a clean white boarder around a lot of my paintings. Usually I’ll use washi tape instead of regular masking tape because it’s much easier to remove and I’ve had less experiences with washi tape ripping or taking the paper with it. To my knowledge, this is the only paper I’ve managed to do that with so far. I’ve learned to either give up my white boarders or premeasure and pencil in a boarder whenever I work with this specific block.It takes graphite pencil very well. I’ve even spent a page seeing how it handles a full graphite drawing with blending and it didn’t really affect the absorbency or the texture (or in the case of hot press, add a texture) of the paper.Overall, I personally think this is a fantastic block. It works well with my personal painting preferences and it’s not so hard on my budget that I’d feel like I wasted money if I spent a page or two experimenting or worse yet, had to start a painting over. There’s obviously better blocks out there but that pretty much comes down to if the price is worth it to you or not.

I am really loving Hot Press watercolor paper. I use both cold press and hot press, but hot press has become my favorite. It is easy to lift color off to lighten areas. It drys fast and I use a UV proactive spray on the finished piece. This protects the finished piece from water accidentally spilling and ruining the art piece. My favorite it Krylon UV Archival. Satin