Watercolor Paper Showdown: Which One is Best for You? 

I prefer hot press because I often desire the faster drying time, I typically work in layers and wet-in-damp rather than wet-in-wet when I do portraits, so I want things to dry quicker. I also find it works better with coloured pencils, which I like to use for touch ups and small details, but the texture of cold press makes it hard to get even coverage on the paper, even with a very sharp pencil.

I completely agree with your analysis - I love cold pressed paper for paintings where I use a lot of wet in wet or granulating colours. For my urban art like house portraits, especially when I use ink outlines before adding watercolour (or for watercolour pencils) I prefer hot pressed paper. It’s part of the charm of watercolours to match paper and materials with a certain style or subject!

Very interesting comparison, Anna! I do all techniques on hot press with good results. I disagree a bit that paper brand doesn't matter for high quality papers. I find a lot of differences with hot press Arches, Fabriano, Saunders Waterford and others. I tried out a handful of HP paper to find the one that suited me. That said, I do like CP too on occasion. Love your work!!

I prefer cold pressed as well! I use a lot of granulating paints in my work which is much more evenly dispersed on the cold pressed texture. I also find that glazing works better for me on the CP surface! The pigment sinks in and lifts less in my experience.

I love hot press, because i love botanical art, detailed. To me the colors are more vibrant in hot press paper.

Hi Anna😊 your work is beautiful 🤩. I'm in the minority by switching to hot press. The texture in cold press was always pushing the tip of the brush aside. Yes there is a learning curve when switching.😅

Susan Harrison-Tustain is a world renowned watercolor artist, and she uses hot pressed paper almost exclusively. She has developed some amazing and yet very simple techniques for priming the paper before actually going in with the pigment, so none of the issues which people have with HP paper will happen. She demonstrates her techniques here on RU-vid as a guest on a wonderful Australian RU-vid channel called Color in Your Life, and has her own channel @The Art of Susan Harrison-Tustain. ❤

I agree with you, and it's very important to compare both type of papers! Well, I prefer to work on cold pressed paper, because of the wet on wet technique, and wet on dry too. I had try the hot pressed paper...and I do a landscape, and I didn't feel comfort for the artwork. But, It's good to know the different way to use them😊

Gorgeous - not sure if you've done one before, but I think it would also be good to do a demo of student-grade cellulose-blend paper versus 100% cotton. I think a lot of beginners get discouraged and think they're terrible at watercolor because they try to follow techniques being demonstrated on 100% cotton paper on student-grade paper. I like both kinds of watercolor paper. I enjoy cold press for my more detailed, intentional paintings as I use wet-in-wet a LOT. I like hot press as my travel sketchbook paper because it handles ink and graphite well, and water-soluble media well (like watercolor colored pencils, Caran d'Ache Neocolor II pastels, etc.) Basically it supports whatever medium I'm in the mood for while I'm out and about. Sometimes I just want to draw in ink, but sometimes I want to add wet washes to what I'm working on, and 100% cotton hot press paper supports a variety of mediums very well. Of course you can draw in ink and graphite on cold press paper, too, but the heavy tooth/texture of the paper tends to make ink and graphite look extremely sketchy - not smooth at all.

Thank you for making this video stating so well and clearly the differences between the two types of paper. I've been painting on-and-off for a couple of years and have always used cold pressed, as I was instructed. I've never used hot pressed, but now I know the difference between the two. Very helpful. Thank you!

I would like to try hot press again. But cold press will always be my favorite. 😊

When I do use hp paper ox gall becomes valuable and it stays wet longer. I find adding some drops to my clean water helps with charging. I do prefer cp but I have both since I use the hp for other media. Thank you!😊

This has explained so much to me, as a beginner. Thank you so much. I have been using hot pressed but will be trying cold pressed now.

I prefer cold press for the same reason you do. I love wet on wet techniques. I also don’t find finer detail overly difficult on cold press either and I do like to add a lot of detail to my paintings. I love your tutorials. Thank you ❤

Hi Anna, I’m looking forward to your next Skillshare class! I prefer cold press for watercolor but like to use hot press for gouache and colored pencils. Haven’t tried rough yet but imagine it would be nice for landscapes.

Great information, thanks for the info and illustration. I wish I had seen this video when I went crazy buying watercolor supplies. I’m pretty new, when I decided I wanted to paint, I went to Michael’s and purchased what they had. I then heard Arches was good so went to Amazon and purchased several blocks in different sizes of you guessed it, hot press. I didn’t know that there was a difference until recently. I couldn’t understand why mine didn’t spread correctly. I kept adding more water on brush and then color wasn’t as vibrant…ugh! I I guess I should start painting landscapes with the remainder of paper🙄

Thank you for all this valuable information - I have a hot press pad of Arches, and I had no idea of what to expect using it with watercolor. So a big thank you for what to expect while using it. The orchid flower is beautiful- it is always a pleasure to see your work .

I prefer hot press as I prefer the smooth finish as it also works well with ink.

Thank you, I'm impressed by learning more about watercolour paper

I prefer Saunders HP for botanical but CP is good for landscapes.

I use both but your discussion has helped me understand why I have problems with one or the other for certain projects ❣️

Daaaamn! I already have a new sketchbook and is hot presssed. And now I know that i need and prefer more the cold one 😂 Thank you for this video. Is very usefull.

Thank you so much !! Very helpful !!

I am very much impressed Your presentation ❤

I like hot press paper, but for smaller works only. If I want to go larger, I always go with cold press paper for exactly the reason you specified (drying time). Stretching hot press paper does help with drying time a bit, but not enough for me to feel like I didn't have to scramble to finish my washes. So, I stopped using it for larger pictures. Thanks for posting this video. Both of your orchids are beautiful!

O love your tutorials!! Can you please make a tutorial on Virgin Mary ?

Anna, do you ever paint bearded Iris flowers? My relative grows prize winning frilly ones. She would like me to paint them for her to hang on her wall. I don’t even know where to start with them, they are so frilly. In the botanical art class I am in, the recommendation is to use hot pressed paper. I don’t feel like I have as much control over the paint using it. But it does scan better.

How about adding a watercolor medium that extend the drying time? Have you tried that?

This was REALLY good information! I started painting 4 years ago and I bought hot press paper not knowing there was a cold press and a rough choice. I struggled with blending and my paintings looked tight and overworked. I subsequently learned about cold press and my painting experience was so much more fun and the end product looked better to me. I am definitely a cold press 100% cotton gal.✨

Your Artworks are Mind Blowing❤🎉

I love cold pressed the best!

I am just learning water colour and started experimenting with different papers. I liked the cold press so far. I liked the finish of the hot presx but fou d it hard to work with and as i have arthritis i think i will stick with cold press. Havent tried rough yet. Thanks for the comparison, love your work.

Hot press looks better but is much more difficult to work on. The smoothness and vibrancy on hot press is unmatched but cold press is so much easier to work on. Your hot press flower looks like it was painted on glass whereas the cold press looks more textured and muted.

I much prefer cold press for all the reasons you list.

Team cold press forevs💜

I love the look of realistic florals on hot press, with a skilled painter. That painter is not me, yet. I mostly use cold press but my goal is to get skilled enough for hot press. I have reattempted hot press recently. Getting better but still a long way off.

At the moment I am using Hot Pressed paper, it was uneasy at the first try but I am happy to draw and painting on it. This video is a nice experiment. Thanks 😊

Water control is the basic difference. I am not a fan of hot pressed paper because I can't manage the water/pigment ratio. It is a new skill set I have to learn.

I use both, but much prefer the Hot Press paper. I love getting tiny details in where I want them and cold press just won’t do that easily. I wish hot press wasn’t as thirsty as it is, but it’s a fair exchange for the detail work imo. You kept stating that cold press is more vibrant, but looking at the final results showed the opposite. Is there a reason for that? Much love and thanks for making this wonderful video!

Благодаря! 🙏 🥰 Любов от България 💖

Under portrait? I love faces…

If it possible to keep Hot Pressed paper wet longer by using watercolour media, say QOR, Cold Press is still better?

Could you please paint a toucan? Love your paintings❤❤

interesting

Cold CB press is a texture I’m not yet comfortable with it yet. What do you use for portraits?

Hi Anna, do you prefer cold pressed paper when painting with gouache as well? Also, if you ever used mixed media where you layer colored pencils or pens on top of paint does that affect your preference for cold pressed paper?

Do you always use 140 lb paper, or do you also use 300 lb? Curious cause I just got a 300 lb Arches block and that doesn't buckle even a little that I've noticed so far. Seems the 140 lb block doesn't either. Is that an accurate observation? And I'm a cold press kinda person, love the washability.

Another great video. Like most of your followers I prefer hot pressed but every once in a while hot pressed is just the ticket :)

As always Anna, your videos are so helpful! I can't wait to share this on my favorite watercolor blog that I follow. Thank you so much for sharing for free on RU-vid for us beginners.

I like hotpress smoothness but I wish it operated like coldpress. As usual, I admire your work and you inspire me to explore the medium and strengthen my skills. I bought several Escoda Versatil brushes and the travel set but hands down, the Reserva is the best! Is there another brand that is equal to the Reserva??? Thanks for all the help you provide us fledgling artists 🫶