St Cuthberts Mill : Stretching Watercolour Paper Without a Bathtub by Edo Hannema

Stretching watercolour paper to a board is an excellent way to ensure your paper remains taut, so large washes of water don’t buckle the sheet. Standard methods to stretch paper involve using a bathtub or a large tray to soak the sheet. But it is still possible to stretch paper without these items, using tips shared by our Dutch ambassador Edo Hannema.

Edo’s passion for painting expansive skies and calm waters play a dominant role in his paintings and involves using lots of water, so he likes to keep his paper tightly stretched to a board.

Cornwall Landscape by Edo Hannema on Millford

How to stretch watercolour paper (without a bathtub)

Step-by-step instructions:

• Use a quarter imperial sheet 38cm x 28cm (15”x11”) sheet of watercolour paper. Lay the paper flat on a clean surface that importantly can resist water.

• Using a soft hake brush, use clean water to wet the paper, by brushing the sheet on both sides at least three times. Flooding the paper with water, so it is thoroughly wet.

• Leave the paper to sit for 5 to 10 minutes, giving the fibres inside the sheet time to swell.

• Measure strips of gummed tape ready to stick to the papers edges.

• Very carefully pick up and place the paper on a dry board. Now the paper is wet the surface is fragile and can easily mark.

• With an absorbent piece of kitchen roll, lightly dry the edges of paper ready to apply the gummed tape.

• Wet the gummed tape with a damp sponge (not too wet, but wet enough!) and smooth onto the papers edges and board.

• Leave the paper to dry naturally overnight. As the paper dries the fibres contract, but the gummed tape holds the sheet in its ‘stretched’ position, giving you a tight painting surface that will stay flat even when flooded with large wet washes.

• After your painting has dried, remove the painting from the board by carefully cutting around the edges. Be very careful of your fingers.

Watch the video:

Bonus tip from Edo - How to remove gummed tape from the board

Once the painting is removed, you are left with the gummed tape stuck to the board

• Cut or pull off the remaining watercolour strips.

• With the tape stuck to the board, soak with a wet sponge and leave for 5 minutes. Repeat!

• Loosen the tape with a palette knife or similar.

• Wipe down the board. It is now ready for the next painting!

Watch the video:

Edo uses Bockingford, Saunders Waterford and Millford paper, and changes the type of paper he uses depending on the primary techniques he is applying for the composition.

To learn more about traditional stretching techniques using a water tray or bathtub, see the article on our website.