Stretching problem
I'm new at watercolour. I work in sketchbooks and on loose sheets. Now I want to stretch my paper on a board, but this keeps happening:
As you can see, as the paper shrinks, it simply tears the paper tape! I soak my paper in the bathtub. Did I leave it too long? I put it in there thinking I'll be back in 5 minutes and then forget about it for half an hour! Or is this white tape no good? Should I have bought the brown stuff,that cost two euros more? Is the paper too large (a bit 40 by 60 cm)? Or too old? My father had these very large sheets of watercolour paper, this is half of one)
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Just joined the forum. Some artists will use a natural sponge to wet the paper. I bought two large sponges on Amazon and just tear off a chunk. Wet the sponge and wipe. The sponge controls the water more. and you can also pick up excess water. Another thing. Several artists wet the front AND back of the paper. I tried this and it allows more time for that first wash before the paper dries. If you wet the front and back, there is no need to tape down. The paper lies flat on the board and does not bucle as much. When dry, the paper is very straight, but not perfect. You can tape it down then. I also use Painters Tape from the hardware store. Works better than most artist tape.