How To Stretch & Mount Your Watercolor Paper

I often get questions about stretching and mounting watercolor paper, so I'll show you how I do it.

I always suggest stretching your watercolor paper to help keep the paper taut while you’re painting so that you don’t get raised areas when using a lot of water. This will allow you to have more control while painting. But every artist is different, so choosing to stretch your paper or not is up to you. 

Mount your watercolor paper on your board by stapling every two to three inches around the perimeter of the paper.

Wait for the paper to dry. Feel free to use a blow dryer to make the drying process quicker. If the paper feels cool to the touch at all, it is still wet. Be patient and let it dry completely.