The Easiest Way to Stretch Watercolor Paper
Does your watercolor paper warp and buckle after a wet wash? Have you tried taping your paper to the table only to find that the tape doesn’t hold? Try stretching your paper!
One of the most valuable things I have learned about working in watercolor has nothing to do with the paint and everything to do with the paper. Without a uniform, flat surface to work on, the beauty of your brushstrokes is completely ruined. This can be enough for an aspiring watercolorist to give up the medium all together. Luckily, once you know how to stretch your paper properly, this won’t happen to you!
What you’ll need:
Watercolor paper (ideally 140 lb paper or more)
Gatorboard (dimensions must be slightly larger than your watercolor paper)
Large, flat paintbrush
Stapler with staples
container of clean water or spray bottle filled with clean water
heat tool or hair drier (optional)
I first learned to stretch my watercolor paper in an art classroom with a large sink and lots of open table space. Since then, I haven’t had a dedicated art sink in my home studio (hopefully this will change in the next few years!) and have learned how to stretch my paper a slightly different way at my workspace.
Clear your workspace so that you can fit your Gatorboard on the table. Gatorboard is available in a variety of sizes, but I have found that using a board that is just slightly larger than the paper you are working on to work best.
Remove a sheet of watercolor paper from your pad and place it upside down on the Gatorboard. The less textured side of your watercolor paper should now be facing up.
Using your spray bottle, spritz the paper so that the majority of your paper is wet. Using your flat brush, move the water across your paper in long brushstrokes. Cover the entire paper with an even wash of water, first horizontally, then again vertically. The surface of the paper should be wet and shiny and the paper will likely begin to curl and buckle.
Once you are finished painting an even wash of water on the back of the paper, flip it over on the Gatorboard. Repeat step #3 on the front (textured) side of the paper.
Now that you have a very wet wash of water on both sides of your paper, it should lie flat on the Gatorboard. Gently lift one edge of the paper and lay it back down on the Gatorboard to smooth any warping as much as possible. Once the paper is flat, staple each of the four corners to the Gatorboard. Staple close to the edge (roughly 1/4”) so as not to puncture the area you will be painting. Once the corners are secured, staple halfway between the corners along all edges. If you are working on a larger piece of paper, staple again between the corners and the halfway point so there are only 2”-3” between staples around the perimeter of the paper.
6. Once your paper is stapled to the Gatorboard, you can either wait for the paper to dry naturally (usually overnight) or you can use a heat tool or hair dryer to speed up the process. Since I always forget to stretch my paper ahead of time, I almost always use a heat tool. When you are drying you paper, move the heat tool across the page quickly and evenly so that all sections are drying at the same time. You should notice the any warping disappear at the tension in the paper fibers tightens. Once you think your paper is dry, let it cool. If it is cool or damp to the touch, it is not dry yet and needs another heatwave from your dryer. Repeat this process until the paper is bone-dry and no longer cool to the touch.
7. When your paper is bone-dry, it should be flat on the Gatorboard and ready for your to paint! Get to work creating something beautiful!
8. Once your painting is complete, let it dry completely while stapled to the Gatorboard to ensure that the paper will dry flat.
Stretching your watercolor paper is one of the easiest ways to gain control over where your water and pigment flow on the page. For travel, or if you don’t want to stretch your watercolor paper every time you paint, you can also purchase watercolor paper in blocks or work on heavier (300 lb) paper.