Cheap Watercolor Paper Alternative for Beginners

I’ve read a lot of tips from experts that a good watercolor paper would really make a ton of difference in your painting. You may have expensive paints, but if you use them on poor quality paper, the results and the painting process may not be as satisfying especially if you’re still a beginner. That led me to think that generally, expensive art materials produce better results. This probably also caused me to hoard almost every new watercolor painting stuff that I saw. (Arts supplies section of National bookstores, Fully Booked and the likes are my candy land haha!)

Now, I have quite a collection of different sketch books and watercolor pads ranging from the cheapest Canson variant to the expensive Arches brand raved by professional artists. Unfortunately, I still can’t post some reviews (hopefully soon!) because actually, I still haven’t used most of them especially the more expensive ones. I know, what a shame!  But every time I try to start to paint and use them, I suddenly get intimidated and afraid thinking that I might just end up painting junk and waste the expensive pads.

I realized that I tend to produce better results if I paint spontaneously and relaxed without worrying about wasting the materials I’m using. And while I’m still trying to build my skills and “art” confidence, I recently tried to paint on a cheap Oslo paper for practice:

Painting using Sakura Koi watercolor, #8 and #1 synthetic brush and the old school Oslo Drawing paper.

The Oslo Drawing Paper that I used was made by Sterling Paper Products. I bought it at Office Warehouse at around ~Php20 for 20 sheets, a bit cheaper than the famous Corona Eggshell Drawing Paper brand which is also good by the way. Since Sterling’s Oslo paper is thinner than the ones made by Corona and way thinner than the normal watercolor paper, naturally, the paper will buckle at some parts if you use too much water. However, I was still quite amazed how it absorbed the Sakura Koi watercolor and produced vibrant results and color saturation even better than the Corona Eggshell Drawing Paper. Maybe because Sterling’s Oslo is extra white and bright than that of Corona’s. Also, I noticed that even though the paper is thin, it still held up well and I didn’t end up with holes using much water unlike the other cheap Oslo paper brands I’ve tried.

Cheap Oslo Paper can produce vibrant watercolor results too! Just don’t use too much water to prevent the thin paper from buckling.

Just because I’m craving for some ice cream…

Good results can boost the confidence of starters to encourage more painting. So if you’re like me who’s still intimidated to use the “real” materials, why not practice on this cheap paper alternative to warm up as you build your skillset. If the initial results are unsatisfactory, you can always try again. You won’t have to worry about wasting one peso per paper anyway. 🙂