Art-N-Fly 100% Cotton Watercolor Paper Cylinder Mold 15 Sheets 140lb/300gsm Professional Grade

I really wanted to like this paper. Unfortunately that's not going to happen, at least not for painting with watercolor. It seems that the sizing is on the surface of the paper, so even though it is 100% rag paper the paint is floating on the sizing rather than being in contact with the paper. This means that washes slip and slide instead of settle in to the paper. Other wet in wet techniques don't work well on this paper either, and when the painting does dry it looks dull. Putting down a second layer routinely lifts the first layer of paint rather than allowing the second layer to, well, layer and produces undesirable results. I've done side by side comparison with Arches 140 lb. cold pressed paper and the difference is very noticeable. In the photo, the painting on the left is the Art-n-Fly paper, the right is Arches - both done with Mijello Mission Gold paint and using the same techniques. These are both first washes.I understand that for those just starting out, as well as those who are hobbyists, the price of paper can add up quickly. Unfortunately, if you are trying to learn or improve your painting on inferior paper you can get very frustrated because your results are not what you had hoped for. It happened to me. When I finally decided to use only rag paper (I've been using Arches) I couldn't believe the difference. Now with this paper I find that frustration coming back, but now I know it's the paper and not me.I will keep this paper and use it for other applications (colored pencil or pastels), but not for watercolor.

I am an intermediate painter of gouache and watercolor and I am enjoying this reasonably priced paper. It rewets and lifts well. I would buy it again.

Can you see in the photo provided the line on the front of the block cover? Its an indent which theres actually 2 side by side about an inch apart. The one dent is almost right on top of the silver stripe on the cover so it's hard to distinguish its appearance. It has indented 5 sheets of the paper. I tried using a warm iron and a a damp cloth to warm through to make the indented area swell to make it less apparent. I'm upset as I was quite excited to find a decent paper that wont cost me so much as the most popular watercolor paper does. If I cut these sheets down they will be almost exactly 8 x 12 inches. It isnt the end of my world of course. I'm just curious as to how it might have happened. Looks like something gripped it there and left the indentation. I tried the paint on it and it absorbs it quite nicely.

This paper is good quality and affordable. It isn’t Arches but then neither is the price! It’s great to use for practice without breaking the bank. The packaging is great..... cardboard is used on all four corners to protect the block during shipping.

For me, the paper was too soft, too directly absorbent, not leaving enough time to adjust the strokes or to lift paint later.

I’m only a watercolor beginner, but I have a high opinion of this paper. I honestly can’t see the difference between this and the other paper I paid almost twice as much for. This will suit my needs just fine, for now. I also think it’s wonderful that it’s bound on 2 sides to help control warping. With me, as a beginner, I’m still attempting to control the amount of water and paint and this is a quick solution for small paintings.

This is decent paper for watercolor painting. It isn't the best but its good for beginners or people who are on a budget. Overall I do not regret buying it.

Quality is as good as much more expensive 100% cotton papers.Just buy it, you won't regret it!

This paper is nearly perfect. I've had to stretch it for wet on wet, but it is well behaved unstretched for people who don't throw gallons of water at their paintings. That said, not all pigments will lift well, but scrubbing can often solve this problem. If your paint style includes a fair amount of lifting, you will have to stretch this paper, and then expect that the full range of lifting will not be attainable. This is high quality, cotton roller mold pad watercolour paper that can easily be the only paper you use, but will probably end up being a practice paper if you can afford the next step up to the highest quality papers. If you've been painting on cheap watercolour pads, the increase in possibilities with this affordable, near-top of the line product will blow your mind. It really is very well behaved and will have most beginning and intermediate aquarellists doubling down on their art.

I am a complete beginner in watercolour painting, and I purchased this paper because of an artist's video that recommended high-quality cotton paper as more important than the quality of your paints for a beginner (since trying to paint on poor quality paper can ruin your experience and be discouraging). This pad looked like good value for the size, and I'll probably cut several sheets into four pieces to practice smaller pictures on before trying something full size.I have not yet tried painting on it, but the quality seems very good. It's thick and nicely textured, and has a slight scent reminiscent of handmade paper. The sheets are glued together along both of the long edges and need to be carefully separated.The pad arrived quickly and well-packaged, with cardboard protectors on the corners of the pad. The only issue with these was that two of them were stuck to the pad and a little more difficult to remove, and they left some brown paper attached to the glue on the pad's edges. I'm not sure how to remove this without damaging the edge of the paper. I used a thin scrapbooking tool to separate the first sheet, and it has a small bit of brown showing on one corner... this isn't a real issue for me as a beginner, but may be important to know for someone who plans to sell their work.I am excited to try out my new paints on this paper! :)

I am an intermediate watercolour painter and have had difficulties getting paper in the last few months. My go to paper is a strathmore 500 series and I think this paper outshines it. It feels thicker and has a nice texture that aids in grabbing the pigment. I have tried it wet on dry and get wonderful results when painting fur. Wet on wet takes a bit of practice on this paper as it can buckle slightly, I think that if they had glued all 4 sides the way Arches paper does it may have helped. I love the 9 x 12 size and would love to see it in larger sizes. And what can I say about the price !!!!!!! $17.99 CAD for 15 sheets is the best price ever.This paper is great for doing both finished work to frame as well as an initial trial for larger paintings. For the cost you don't feel bad if you mess up a project. That said because it is thicker paper I was able to lift out dark paynes grey without damaging the paper.If you buy the paper I hope you enjoy using it as much as I do.

I’ve been using higher end cellulose watercolour paper for years and have recently stepped up my watercolour activities. I’ve become frustrated at not being able to achieve the results I see in so many Instagram process videos so decided to try some 100% cotton paper to see if it made that big a difference. I’m on a budget and as much as I’d like it, I couldn’t justify something like Arches so was looking for an alternative that was at least better than cellulose.Really pleased I tried this paper - instantly saw a difference in how the paper handled both water and pigment. Feel like I have much more control now to mimic techniques I see online. Although the paper is more expensive than cellulose, I was throwing out so much of the cellulose paintings for things that just went wrong, it’ll probably be cheaper in the long run to use this. Would be good to see this in a larger size though!

I liked it, works as I would expect cotton paper to work, would be good for beginners to try without breaking the bank, I have been using it mostly for warmup exercises and play time, mostly because of size, great size for take along, but my favourite paper is still fabriano artistico