Some of the big names in the watercolor paper business are Arches, Bienfang, Canson, Strathmore, Winsor and Newton, Whatman, Fabriano, and T.H. Saunders. Good paper is essential to watercolor painting – don’t try and skimp here. The better quality papers will be marked as being made from rag or 100% cotton and will be pH neutral or they may say Acid Free.
Sizing or Gelatin:
All watercolor paper is sized. That means that the fibers that make the paper are treated with a gelatin to make them less absorbent. If they were not, it would be like trying to paint on a cloth napkin. Gelatin for many years was made from animal products, more recently they are made from synthetic ingredients. Some papers have the sizing mixed right in to the mixture with the fiber, this is called gelatin permeated. This means every single fiber is treated evenly. Other art papers have the sizing painted on after the sheets are manufactured. This means that the surface is sized, but the fibers in the middle are not. So, be careful when you scrub on sheets that are made with this technique…the paper will not be able to take as much ‘abuse’.