I have so many people asking the question why? ho! Why should I stretch my paper. There are a few reasons why and I will go through them in bullet form.

1, If you are using 140LB weight paper or less ( the paper weight will be shown on the front of your pad) when you add water, the paper will start to cockle. The reason being that the paper is stretching as the water is applied. Think of it like a stretchy jumper, its not very stable and when water is applied the shape can become distorted.

2, If you stretch your paper onto a board, it can help when you are playing with the paint , tipping your board to help paint run etc.

If the paper is not fastened down the paper can rip or distort whilst we play and move the paper about , some people don’t stretch their paper and that’s their choice, but after long and tried experience I always stretch with paper 140LB or less

Hope you enjoy this little video i made for you I thought it would be a bit easier to see what I do rather than try to explain it all.

Painting from the heart