Rescuing my painting with Arches paper

Many artists love Arches paper but some complain of flaws or other problems.. let me be clear: all watercolour papers one day or another misbehave! They are fabricated as Cold pressed, Not or Rough. I also use Saunders Waterford. One day I experienced a flaw with the latest.

What is a flaw? The paper is suddenly not taking the paint. It can be on a small surface or larger patch. It is very annoying when a painting is going very well. Somehow it is not possible to rescue. In my case, I will put it aside and use it for an Acrylic or abstract painting.

I have a collection of different papers… Arches, Saunders Waterford, Bockingford, Fabriano artistico. I love to experiment with all of them.

Arches is made in France. Before Brexit, I bought a roll, knowing prices would go up ..

The paper is beautiful, however it is quite of a sport to measure and cut a piece of paper from a roll. A large table is a must, with heavy books to hold the paper that tends to roll back. It needs to be immersed in water before stretching.

I have painted many still life and landscape with it.

At rest on the Thames

Tea Break

So what happened lately with my Arches paper?

A while ago, due to arthritis in one hand, I could no longer stretch the paper, I decided at the time to buy Blocks of Arches paper, as they are already stretched and glued. You use one sheet and when finished, you remove it to work on the one below. I bought two sizes. I had no problem with them until one day, when using the larger size, painting in wet on wet, the paper decided to separate from the block, followed by several pages.

Horrified I abandoned the painting.

I kept the block until last week when I decided to start another painting. All was going very well until the paper stated to buckle.

It is when I decided to remove it from the block, dampen it on the back of the paper, and stretch it.

Here was the result!!!

It had dreadfully gone wrong.

I asked advice to my friend artists. One artist suggested I could immerse it in water. The already painted areas would not lift.

It is what I was needing. A great info I want to share with you.

So below is the paper immersed for about 3 minutes.

I laid the paper on a wooden board I have used for many years, pinned it with staples.

Below is the result

A true miracle! This treatment on a strong paper did not disappoint. I am now ready to carry on with the work.

I must say, arches is one of the strongest paper. I can lift, erase work. It can withstand a lot!

The block I was using was bought on offer and I wonder why… however I had kept it for a while, so age might have plaid a part.