Strathmore 500 Series Watercolor Travel Journal, Cold Press, 5" x 8", 20 pages, White

This is a great budget paper that I use quite often. I use it for detailed paintings and it does really well with them. You can paint lots of layers without harming the paper at all. This is my go-to paper when I paint detailed watercolor paintings.

Perfect size, great for water colors

When I first got into watercolor painting, I experimented with all sorts of watercolor paper including this, Strathmore 140-205 Ready Cut Watercolor, Cold Press, 5" x 7", White, 25 Sheets. I liked 'em, but I didn't really realize how good they are.A few years down the road with lots of experience with watercolors, I can really appreciate this paper. It's 100% cotton, and after talking to the folks at Strathmore a while back, I discovered it's also vegan. Yay, Strathmore! It holds paint well, it absorbs liquid at the perfect rate, the sizing is ideal for wet washes and dry brush techniques. Paints look great on this paper, and it never gets in the way of what I'm doing, which some paper does.You may already know that Strathmore's 100 series is their entry level paper, then there's the 200 series, 300 series and 400 series, and this - their 500 series - is their highest quality watercolor paper series. And you can tell the difference.So I'm happy I came back to these 5x7 series 500 sheets. I think I'll order some bigger Strathmore 500 paper, too. Good stuff! I'd say it's good for every level of watercolor painter.

I had high hopes for these papers especially since it is from Strathmore, which by the way they have such amazing products, so I was excited about this product. I am fairly happy with this purchase! I purchased a 5x7 size set and although it is smaller than I am used to I ended up liking the proportions anyway (I am aware there are other sizes but I wanted to try to draw on a smaller scale for a change). The paper was able to hold lots of washes; however, the paper did bulk just a tad bit even when it was taped down. The bulking is not terrible, like I said before it is very minimual, in fact it was easy to flatten with a little back and forth warping so it was not a big deal breaker. Just like most cold press watercolor paper there is texture on both sides. One side has a more uniform dotted harsh texture while the other side had a mild tooth to it. So it was pretty cool to be able to choose a side. My paints also stayed wet on the paper for a fair amount of time for me to work with blending and such. I also loved sketching on this paper. If you sketch every lightly it is almost hard to notice the lines when you paint over them. I adore this feature only because I would prefer to have line-less drawings ordrawings where the line art is not muddled by the graphite. Overall, great product. I think I will be using this paper more for my personal sketch and practice drawings. I think this product is perfect for any type of experience watercolorist and I highly recommend it.

It's very nice, smooth, and obviously well-made. I'll save it for special watercolor projects and use the cheaper stuff that I already have for practicing.

UPDATE:After a couple failures trying to get my washes the way they looked during my test swatches, I discovered that this paper has two distinct sides. It's not easy to tell them apart, but one is definitely smoother (more like hot press) than the other. I found that using the rougher (more like cold press) side gives me smoorther washes with fewer streaks and blotches. So try both and see which one works best for you. The smoother side might work better for certain types of paintings than the other, so now I like this paper even more because it has turned out to be so versatile!I'm slipping into watercolor from the world of watercolor pencils and adult coloring books, and have tried various student and artist grade papers. This is currently my favorite. It says it's hot press but it has a lovely texture that makes my washes look much more interesting. If I'm working from a coloring book, I like to print the page onto better paper. I've been using Bee Super Deluxe Sketch Paper https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00JRR2D2A/ref=oh_aui_search_detailpage?ie=UTF8&psc=1 for over a year, and just love it for colored pencil and watercolor pencil. But it isn't robust enough for straight watercolor. As I said, I've tried several brands, most at the same weight as this paper (140#) and tried to print on all of them. It never worked. So imagine my shock today when I was able to print a picture I downloaded onto this Strathmore paper! You'd think all 140# papers would behave the same, but apparently not. So this is now my go-to paper and the best of both worlds for me. I sometimes see it for less on other sites, but since I have Prime I will probably keep buying it here.