Arches Watercolor Paper Block, Hot Press, 7.9" x 7.9", 140 pound

The first two paintings done on this block were fine (wedding then graduation) but the third started buckling three days ago and I have to turn it over and weight it down overnight so I can paint the next day. Someone else said they had this problem with Arches Hot Press block 9 x 12, but I had no issues with that and you can check my review there. Very disappointed as I purchase what I believe to be a quality product for my commissions. Not sure what to do now.

I've purchased Arches watercolor blocks in various sizes for years. When I was teaching, they were part of the curriculum, even though I would still demonstrate stretching paper so that the students would have an understanding of both methods. Bound on all four sides with a small "slit" to release the paper when the painting is finished, the surface will bubble up slightly when wet, but return to its flat stage when dry. Good for all stages of watercolor painting- wet in wet, wet on dry or glazing. Great product, and highly recommended.

The paper and supplies were shipped in time for my art class. They were as described and in perfect condition

Great paper for artists

I love the ease of purchase of this fine staple.

The sides of this block are black and the first page is black, so I assumed the paper was black, and I ordered white. I prepared to return it but when I released the top (black piece) it was revealed that the paper is, in fact, white so I cancelled the return.

This product is portable for outdoor or indoor landscape or portrait painting. It absorbs, blends, takes to warm and cool colors, is acid free for long life without fading, and the perfect addition to my paper stash. It is available in blocks of different sizes or pads for papers that can be cut to desired size. I’m first going to use my 9” x 12” pad for ZOOM Landscape Painting.

Quick delivery of an excellent product

Please note this is an Arches block (glued on four sides), you remove the sheet after you have finished the painting by very carefully breaking the glue sealed edges. personally I use something like a bank card which is less likely to damage the paper underneath (keep it flat) but if you are careful you can slide a flat knife across the edges, there is a gap in the glued edges at the top of the block where you inset your knife or card to slide around the seal. you get to practice a little on the black protective sheet at the front of the block when it arrives (don't be alarmed when you see the black paper when you open it).Blocks are great to paint on as you don't need to stretch the paper beforehand but please note if you use a lot of wet in wet and saturated washes you will still get buckling, you then need to allow it to dry completely and usually it will dry pretty flat but may take a while. Blocks will never be as effective as stretching paper properly though so if you do use a lot of wet in wet it may be better to buy sheets or pads,which work out a lot less expensive than blocks anyway but you'll have the same high quality paper, you'll just need to stretch it.I have tried MANY different watercolour papers over the years but Arches are the best by far (IMO), I still use other brand papers for different techniques, watercolour studies/sketches and work where I am experimenting, purely because of the price but when I have done a lot of preliminary work and am ready to take the plunge, hoping to create something special, I will usually opt for a high quality 100% cotton paper and you can't get better than Arches.If you use masking fluid or tape in your watercolour painting, this paper will save you from the nightmare of spending hours on a piece only to ruin it when removing the tape/fluid, personally I have never damaged the paper with tape or fluid (and I use them a lot). Of course the quality of the paint you use will also contribute greatly to the results you get so it goes without saying you should only use Artists quality watercolour paints when using premium cotton paper.Word of warning; once you try it, nothing else will compare.Photo attached of one of my paintings on Arches paper

Sorry, jumped the gun on this one, and I can’t delete my old review! Please can someone from Amazon delete this for me. Thank you so much! The paper isn’t black, at all, just on the cover sheet. I feel very silly, and apologise for leaving such a catty review! The paper is very nice. That will teach me to wait until I have all the facts, in the future... !

I tried this block looking for an alternative to stretching. It failed. Also it says it is ‘grain fin’ look at the second photo attached. Ok the light is from a very oblique angle, but that looks pretty coarse to me. But that is not the real issue for me. Anyway, it’s back to stretching paper for me. I will use this block for experimenting etc.

Although expensive for such a small pad, I thought I'd give it a go, I did find it to be very good takes water colour well, dip pen and ink also good and it should be for the price, I would like to buy the large pads that they have, but that is just to expensive over a £100 for 20 sweets. Maybe one day all in all very good paper. Just to much money

Image looks bigger didn't realise size . Lovely stunning archers paper the best small tho. Alot reviews on here don't actually realise it's black glue all way around and the first page is black u have to take off first sheet n then u see the white sheets 😀