best watercolor pads for artists [updated 2020]

Hi folks, i am your blog host Amanda, this time i have come up with a totally different product. The story behind is that my eldest daughter was fond of coloring from early childhood. Later on when she was in high school she took the courses related to drawing and arts. I had to frequently purchase watercolor pads for her. Her important concerns were about the quality of paper inside the watercolor pads. I have tried the watercolor pads by various brands and according to my own judgement and after reading tons of reviews i have shortlisted few pads that i liked the most.

When buying a good watercolor pad you should make sure that the clipboard or cardboard at the end of the watercolor pad is stable and sturdy to give you enough support while you draw. That also means that you don’t need to buy a separate drawing board. A good watercolor set and pad plays a vital role in converting your ideas into masterpieces. So I hope you will appreciate my selection.

1) Artist Series Watercolor Pad with 20 sheets

My first choice (also Amazon Choice) is watercolor pads by Canson brand which are popular for making acid free or pH neutral paper which results in long lasting art work and no fading at all after many many years. This also ensures that paper will not turn yellow after several years.

The paper used is 300 gsm which means that it is quite heavy and you can use it for making beautiful cards and still it can bend in any direction. Another benefit is that it absorbs water more quickly the reason is that the paper is cold pressed. This cold pressed paper is specially made in France and is quite popular in water color artists. This paper is also suitable for gouache and acrylic painting because of Montval quality paper used which can be washed repeatedly. Even if you use a zero size brush or 6 no brush you will be confident using this paper. The paper is not rough so you can develop beautiful textures.

Not only that these watercolor sheets are good for watercolor but they are very popular among artists who draw using pastels, markers, chalks,oil paints or charcoal. The binding of Canson pads is very durable. Even if you are a beginner or an experienced arts student this is a best choice. The double spiral binding is strong enough to keep your drawings safe for 30 years or even more. Due to this binding it is very easy to turn pages and not only adults but kids can also use them with ease.

2) ARTEZA watercolor pad with 32 sheets

The second best watercolor pads are from ARTEZA and these also contain cold pressed 300 gsm paper which is ideal for water coloring. The best thing about this type of paper is that one of its sides is textured. This textured paper is liked by some artists and also used in some printers for high quality prints. If you buy these from Amazon you can always return them without any questions asked if you are not satisfied with the quality. Each watercolor sheet can be easily removed from the watercolor pad as it is attached through glue. As the sheets are properly glued so they don’t move a lot while you draw and also you can stretch the paper to its full. Many watercolor artists complain that their drawings fade after few years, but this will not happen if you use ARTEZA watercolor sheets as they are totally acid free.

This watercolor pad can also be used as a journal, diary or for making illustrations. You can very easily remove the individual sheets so that you can frame your piece of art,

3) Bellofy watercolor Paper Pad with 50 sheets

The third and final watercolor pad i have chosen for my blog readers is from Beelofy which is a popular United States brand. These sheets are thick enough that they can be used for all sort if wet or mixed drawing medium techniques. Although the sheets weight 190 gsm which is lesser then our previous two choices but it is still not too less. Even if you use liquid tube watercolors or pan watercolors that come in the form of dry cakes, these sheets work equally good.

Many watercolor artists use the blooming color technique to mix colors. We have tested these sheets and they don’t give any issues and also the colors don’t bleed into each other. These sheets are also suitable for comic making and many comic and sketch making artists use these sheets. If you draw using pastel pencils you will notice that on these sheets all colors are equally distinguished and visible.

Conclusion

Thanks a lot for reading up to here. I have tried my best to present with the best watercolor pads in affordable price and without loss of quantity or weight of paper. All the pads i have mentioned have special recyclable paper which adds to your contribution towards a green and clean world.