Canson Montval and Fabriano 1264 Watercolor Sketchbooks

A close look and comparison of Fabriano 1264 and Canson Montval watercolor papers - I wanted to compare mid-priced mid-range wood pulp papers for watercolor practice, casual painting, and watercolor studies, or painting for fun and expression in a portable art journal or sketchbook.


NOT SPONSORED: I have no relationship with Canson, Blick, Savoir-faire, Fabriano or any of the companies I might mention in this video, it's just my opinion on how these papers might serve the way I happen to paint . I bought these materials and was not supplied anything for this video.


I wanted to share my results because I know that a cotton paper is not a realistic study paper for a lot of watercolorists - it gets quite expensive. This said, it's true that for certain kinds of watercolor painting, it really is necessary to use cotton papers - and actually it winds up being less expensive than going through lots of sheets of wood pulp paper that simply won't ever give certain effects.


I do believe that a healthy practice includes scratch paper, study paper, paper that digitizes well, as well as archival, long-lasting cotton papers, and that there is no material in the world so good that it's as good as actual pressure-free practice.


I hope this is helpful, and I'd love to know if you've used either of these papers or have a preference yourself. I use a lot of XL for work that gets scanned and for illustration, and I'm thinking I may switch to the Montval for this kind of thing, as it gives the paint a little more of a toehold for layering.