Review: Arches Watercolor Paper Block

i've still not found paper that i can rely on for wet material. i dont have a decent way to soak/stretch paper here at home, so i'm left trying to find something that accepts watercolor without TOO much buckling and just learning to be okay with it for now.

so i was excited when the Arches watercolor blocks were on sale this spring! this should solve most of my troubles!

short answer: no. it does not.

how disappointing because i actually really like Arches paper and appreciate all of the surfaces whenever i've worked with them. and i really do like the quality of the paper on a sheet by sheet basis.

as a block though? it's terrible and not worth the money. it's not even worth the SALE cost which was still about $40.

why:

1. as with all blocks, you can only work on one thing at a time if you want to "stretch" your paper to keep from buckling. this is a major slow down, but not Arches' fault. it doesn't work for my process is all.

2. the adhesive surrounding the WHITE paper is BLACK. so when you take the paper off, you're left with black, scraggly pieces all around the edge of your paper. so what do you do then? pick it off? that would take hours; it's really stuck on there. trim it off? why should i lose surface area to paint on because they used black adhesive? use CLEAR or WHITE. whatever. just match the paper color, okay?

3. for an average user, at least every other page will probably get something soaked through from the top layer. so you buy 20 sheets but you only get 10 usable ones.

4. for a non-average user, like myself...i used 1 piece and it ruined EVERY OTHER PIECE on the block. it wrinkled each page and stained the top 4. for the money, arches should put a piece of blotting paper in between each "real" page to help, but i don't know that could even do it.

from now on, i'll stick with a regular, non stuck together paper. arches brand is really good, just avoid their watercolor blocks...and maybe ALL blocks entirely.