Arches Watercolor Block, Cold Press 10X14

The paper itself is great. I love arches especially when I’m looking for a really atmospheric sky look. My negative is how the paper smells. It smells like it’s been in a smokers house... rancid smell of smoke. It’s almost unbearable. As soon as the paper is wet, the smoke smell gets right into my nose. It’s horrible. I’m almost considering throwing the pad away because of it.

Arches paper is thirsty, holds a lot of water, and it takes a lot of brush work without breaking down, or warping. It is much higher in quality when compared with wood fiber paper. I wont go back to paper of lesser quality. Thankyou Arches!

This pad was a little smaller than I wanted, but the quality is great.

If you want to do good work you must have good tools. And that means this paper!

Recently I began using Derwents Inktense pencils. You activate them with water and they change into the most intense ink colors. I used to work with paint instead of pencils. I had always preferred Arches ROUGH version when I worked in paint. Changing to the Inktense Pencils changed that preference. They do not like the rough version. So I bought one block in the cold press (this one) and another in the hot press. So far, out of the three, this one emerges as the winner. When the pencils are activated by water, they bloom nicely and the work becomes a very vivid watercolor. I had less success with the hot press. The colors do not bloom and run at all. They stay exactly where you put them when you activate them with water. The colors simply become vivid. I like the way watercolor blurs and blooms--all the distinctive markings we associate with watercolor. In sum, this paper is the best choice if you switch to water soluble pencils instead of paint. I never even considered switching from Arches watercolor block to another product. Ive used it for decades and it is the best. I had to switch from paint to pencils because of health problems with mobility (age 68). I am next going to try water soluble oil pastels on the paper. I am expecting this one will also be the winner but I could be wrong. The key thing to remember is that the materials you choose as your paint will affect the paper choice. If you switched painting materials, like I did, there seems little choice but to try all three types, just like I did.

Always predictably good

To paint watercolor landscapes.

It was exactly what I was looking for...

Arrived quick. Product as described. Nice! Love it. Thank you.

The best watercolor paper out there for the most people .