Watercolor BAOHONG Academy Acid Free Textured Review

Baohong watercolor paper is amazing! Academy pads are great if you are just starting out with control, washing, etc. Cold-pressed pods are very textured. So if you don't need a lot of tines, just get a smoother type. I believe there is an intermediate type before hot pressing. If you need more professional paper, they also sell a range of pads for the more experienced watercolourist.

This watercolor pad is a high quality product. I tried it as recommended and was pleasantly surprised. I usually draw on Arches paper. Although some characteristics of this product are different (e.g. tooth structure pattern and paper color), the quality appears to be on par. The hue of the paper is slightly colder than Arches. The texture is slightly different from cold pressed sheets.

I like pads but they are expensive compared to pads. Looking for something more affordable than Arches, I found this brand from Baohong and decided to give it a try. I was positively surprised! The paper holds the dried paint well but allows you to remove the wet paint. For example, I applied a heavily pigmented stroke with a dry brush, and after it dried, the dry brush stroke did NOT move, even after multiple attempts at re-wetting and swiping. The paper really stuck to it. With intentional…