What stretcher do you use for the full size watercolor papers?

Answer 1

You need to choose a good quality rigid wood panel that is at least 6 inches wider and taller than your paper. You'll need a good thick panel that will not warp when it gets wet.

To stretch your watercolor paper, you need to completely wet it unti lit is soaking wet. Completely submerging your paper in a tub of warm water will do this nicely. You can then use a clean, dry towel to towel off excess water, but your paper should still be very wet. Center your wet paper on your stretching board, then use watercolor tape to secure the paper to the board. As your paper dries, it will shrink, but the tape should hold it firm and your paper is now "stretched."

The theory is that your paper WAS as wet as it could possibly be, expanding as far as it possibly will. At that point is when you taped it down. As it dried, it would have shrunk, but your tape kept the paper at is expanded size. When you paint on your paper now, after it is dried, no matter how much water you put on it, it will not warp, bend or buckle since it has already been to it's maximum size during the stretching process.

Answer 2

If you use 300 pound paper, then you can using masking tape to tape the edges to a board. In other words, you don't need to stretch.

If you use 140 lb, you can still tape it, but it will buckle some. You can get by without stretching in this case. It there are buckles you want to remove, you can turn it over, place a thin (cotton is best) cloth on it and iron them out. Don't have the heat too hot, though.

If you want to stretch the 140 pound, put it in a tub of clean warm water (as suggested above) for about 1/2 hours. Put it out, let the water run off. Drop in on a board, and staple it to the board (a staple gun is best), about 1/4" in from the edge. Space the staples round the edges about 3-4" apart. Let it dry or start painting wet-in-wet immediately. Let it dry thoroughly before you do other painting moves, that is let the wet-in-wet work dry thoroughly.

Other artists wet the full sheet on both sides, thoroughly, and clip it at the corners with strong large clips, then start painting, adjusting the paper (pulling it outwards) as they go, to remove buckles and wrinkles, repositioning the clips to hold it in the new position.

Answer 3

With watercolor paper you simply tape the outside edge to a smooth board, wet it down and either start working while it's wet or wait until it dries, and then start. Wetting the paper is what stretches it.