What do you do when pricey paper goes bad?

Have you ever painted on watercolor paper only to have your colors look dull, speckled and all of the water just soaked right in? Well, then, you have experienced bad sizing. I am noticing more and more watercolor papers with bad sizing these days, or more accurately, that the sizing just doesn’t last as long as it used to. BTW if you would like a real-time tutorial of me painting this crab and working on the finicky paper you can find it in Critique Club.

In this video we will discuss:

• What is bad sizing?

• How to know if your watercolor sizing has gone bad.

• What you can do with poorly sized paper?

• What materials work best on it?

• The Pros and cons of poorly sized paper.

Supplies (affiliate links used)

• Albright Druer Watercolor Pencils: Blick or Amazon

• Derwent Inktense Blocks: Blick or Amazon

• Waterproof brush pen

• Liquitex clear gesso: Blick or Amazon (magic in a bottle!)

• I used Fluid 100 watercolor paper hot press for this project but I’m not sure I recommend it seeing how quickly the sizing deteriorated.

Have you experienced paper with bad sizing? I am hearing this (and witnessing it myself) more often these days. It’s just another supply they don’t make like they used to I guess. I hope this encourages you to use your supplies while they are still good so they don’t go to waste. I also wanted to add that sizing going bad AFTER you have painted a picture doesn’t matter, it will not affect the paint on the paper that is already there. It is only a problem if the sizing breaks down before you paint on it. I hope you found this useful! Happy crafting!