The one thing that always slowed me down in my creative process with watercolour painting was of course the dreaded stretching of paper.

(Addendum @ 21 March 2026 - I have just found out from a fellow painter that this techniques will also work on heavier weight paper too so please disregard my comment saying that it will only work with 90lb paper!))

Watercolour paper comes in 3 types:

1 Hot Pressed - a very smooth surface almost like Bristol paper/cartridge paper
2 Cold Pressed (also known as “NOT” as in not hot pressed! LOL)
3 Rough

Then there are the weights - typically going from 90lbs (200gsm - grams per square metre) to 140lbs (300gsm) and then 300lbs (640gsm). There are variations but these are the most popular and easily obtainable weights.

My watercolour papers of choice are Arches 90lb Hot Pressed and Fabriano Artistico 90lbs Hot Pressed. They are both made of 100% cotton rag and not wood pulp. This means you are painting on fabric and boy does the paint look good on that!
For those who don’t know watercolour paper is usually placed in a water bath for a few minutes and then pulled out by one corner allowing the excess water to drain off.

It is then whipped quickly onto an awaiting piece of plywood cut larger than the paper to allow for brown lickable gummed tape to be adhered to all sides. This has to be done fast as the paper will buckle and cockle and airbubbles will try to get under and stay there much to your annoyance.

Usually smoothing them out with the back of your hands whilst wielding pre-licked brown tape to pin it down does the trick. But sometimes not and the paper contracting as it dries out will merrily peel and crack away from your brown tape leaving you with a part cockled and ruined piece of expensive watercolour paper onto which you will cry.

I always pre-measured my gummed tape and placed it in readiness at the edges of the sticking board. It was a nightmare. If someone has a better way of stretching 140lb and heavier paper I would like to hear from you. That said there is the Ken Bromley stretcher and Gatorboard but I can’t get on with them. You might though.

Anyway - as luck would have it I got into using 90lbs paper as due to its fineness and translucency it shows watercolour paints off to best effect - especially for florals.

Then I found out that by placing a finished painting that had first been allowed to dry and then sprayed finely with water between two sheets of paper and flattened that it would rid me of the need to stretch!
So - here is how you do it. It will not be effective with 140lb and heavier paper but only with 90lb paper).
Please click on the images to bring them up nice and big.

Your painting will be flat within about 2 hours but for complete success and for all the moisture to be completely pressed out and absorbed I would lave it overnight. Also - After a few hours you can change the sandwich papers for new fresh and dry ones. Thus ensuring your painting is as flat as a pancake and dry come the morning.

Good bye gummed tape!