8 Review/test Saunders Waterford 300 lb cold press, high white watercolor paper

Saunders Waterford is a sumptuous, luxurious paper. Whil etheir rough is know to be the roughest of the rough textures (on par with Lanaquarelle rough), I found their cold press to have a very subtle texture, much smoother than Arches cold press. Arches is a good point of comparison for this paper, as they both have quite a high degree of surface sizing, though the sizing on Waterford is superior, in my opinion to Arches.
It was the ultimate paper for glazing, matching and perhaps exceed Hahnemüle, and it takes a heck of a lot more work (punishment) than Arches. Glazes never muddy or pill, even after six layers, and even very delicate glazes hold up.
Its downfall is that, although it does lift, with a lot of work, it is the least easy to lift paper of all tested, except Stonehenge Aqua, which to my thinking is a second rate paper overall.
Deliberate blooms are also tricky to manage. Like Arches, this slow drying paper demands pinpoint precision timing as to when to lay down a drop of water to achieve defined-edge cauliflower bloom effects. Too soon, and the blooms dissipate, too late (by just a few seconds!) and the water sits on top without pushing any pigment around. But I was able to achieve some decent blooms, and for its glazing prowess and ease of working colors back in over dry-ish brushstrokes to blend after the fact, it reigns pretty much supreme, well maybe it's a three-way tie between Waterford, Hahnemühle and Lanaquarelle.

More testing to come.

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