Customers and visitors to the gallery frequently ask me about the paper I use as a surface for painting. I use only 300 pound bright white, cold pressed paper. What does that mean?
Paper is sold by a number of classifications, the first of which is weight. When paper is sold in bulk it is sold by the ream. A ream is approximately 500 sheets of paper. The more the 500 sheets weigh, the heavier the paper. So, 300 pound paper is thicker and heavier than 150 pound paper – it is almost a 16th of an inch in thickness making it very stiff and stable. I use 300 pound because it tends not to buckle when wet (think of the cheap – 20 pound – paper used in your school art classes). Another quality assigned to paper is the surface quality (known as the tooth). It can be hot press (very smooth), cold press (medium texture, but generally uniform in tooth) or rough which can be very irregular in texture. The ‘bright white’ refers to the color of the paper. The natural color of paper is slightly warm and creamy in tone. Just recently, archival whiteners have been developed which allow the manufactures to create a pure white paper without using harmful chemicals.
My favorite paper is manufactured by Arches from France. The company has been in the paper manufacturing business for centuries.
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This is actually my preference as well. ^ ^
Arches is best, for sure! I also like the effect obtained when using Japanese papers which have a marvelous variety of substance and finishes.