Watercolor Paper Weights Explained

When you buy watercolor paper the first thing you should consider is its weight.

Watercolor paper weights explained.

For example the basis size or in other words the master sheet size of our watercolor papers is 22 x30. Paper weight in the us is stated in lbs. 190 gsm 90 lb or student grade 300 gsm 140 lb 356 gsm 260 lb and. One characteristic of all paper including paper meant for watercolor paintings is its weight.

And is determined by weighing 500 sheets a ream in the basis size of a particular paper. The pound per ream is a reference to what a ream of 500 sheets of paper would weigh. 1 measuring a ream of 500 sheets 22 x 30 in pounds lbs or 2 by measuring a single sheet in grams per square meter gsm or g m2. Standard watercolor paper weights.

90 pound paper is a student grade and is rather thin. Which is what we will be comparing in today s study. Weight indicates the quality and usually the price of the paper. The lighter the weight the more buckling and warping you will encounter the higher the weight the thicker the papers and less as a result less warping.

Watercolor paper is measured by how much it weighs per 500 sheets. The three standard watercolor paper weights are 90 140 and 300 pounds. The heavier the paper the more it weighs and the more water it will take without buckling. Typical weights for watercolor paper are.

The manufacturer weighs a ream of 500 sheets of paper in its uncut state and gives it a number to indicate the paper s weight. Light paper is anything less than 140 lb 300 gsm and heavy is 300 400 lb 600 850 gsm. The basic premise is the bigger the number the thicker the paper. The standard weights of machine made paper for artists are.

Watercolour paper is measured by the weight of 500 sheets of paper at imperial size 20 x 30 51 x 76 cm. The 4 basic weights of watercolor paper is 90lb 140lb 300lb and 400lb. Text paper on the other hand can vary from 50 to 100 pounds 74 to 148 g m 2 depending on the coating used white shimmer paper matte paper etc. Artists don t typically purchase 300 pounds of paper at a given time.