When I first started learning about watercolors and probably when you started learning watercolors you probably only were taught about painting on a sheet of white watercolor paper. Nowadays with all the advancements in art supplies, there are a lot of other surfaces you can now use to do a watercolor painting on. Below I am going to list as many different surfaces that I know. There probably are more but these are the ones I know about.
WHITE WATERCOLOR PAPER
Plain white
watercolor paper comes in sheets, blocks, and pads. the paper mainly comes in 140lb or 300lb thickness and come with 3 different type surfaces... Cold Press, Hot Press, and Rough.
Every maker of watercolor paper has a little different feel. Some makers size the paper inside and on the surface. Some may only do the surface. All in all, the white paper has been the staple of all watercolorist around the world.
STONEHENGE AQUA BLACK
The company Legion that had created
Stonehenge Aqua white watercolor paper last year, this year came out with the first ever
black watercolor paper. There have been a lot of black papers on the marked but never a watercolor paper that is sized within and on the surface and made with 100% cotton
YUPO PAPER
Yupo is a Synthetic Paper and is extruded from polypropylene pellets.
Yupo is a plastic sheet of material that you can paint on. It is very slick and doesn't absorb the watercolor so it pretty much sits on top of the paper which bring out the vibrancy in the watercolor. There have been many artists that have taken this paper and painted amazing painting
on it.
TERRASKIN
TerraSkin is a paper made from stone. It is a very thin paper but I have seen many artists create great wash effects on it. The paper is smooth and also doesn't absorb as much as paper which leaves the color much more intense when sitting on the surface of the paper.
BRISTOL BOARD
Bristol board is a paper that was used a lot for keyliners to paste-up ads to be photographed for publications... that was before the computer. Now many artist love doing watercolors on this paper because it acts like hot press which is very smooth but paint also sits on top and doesn't absorb very much so the colors stay vibrant.
AMPERSAND AQUABORD
This is not a paper but an
Aquabord Hardboard painted with a surface paint that absorbs watercolors and gives the watercolorist a whole new feel and texture. Many paint on this surface with watercolors and then spray the painting with a varnish after it is finished and then framed without glass.
WATERCOLOR CANVAS
I believe there are a few companies that make
watercolor canvases for the use of watercolors on canvas. I believe they apply a watercolor type absorbent gesso that accepts watercolor. Watercolorist that work on canvas don't need glass since they cover the painting with a clear poly medium to protect the watercolor.
ABSORBENT GROUND
Many paint companies make an
absorbent ground type gesso for watercolorist that want to make their own surface paintable. You can pretty much paint this absorbent ground on any clean hard surface and then paint with watercolor over that surface. I have painted many tabletops with this absorbent ground.
