Paul Rubens Watercolor Block, 140-lb Artist Quality Watercolor Paper Pad Acid-Free Cold Pressed, 50 Percent Cotton Rag, Sized 7.6 x 5.3 Inches, 20 Sheet

Thickness and quality of paper is perfect but it is a bit difficult to remove one sheet.

I figured it was worth a try to save some money but for an experienced watercolor painter I'm not sure it's worth the hassle for real work. I taped it off to get an edge to see what it would do and it ripped the top surface into the painting when I pulled the tape off. The cotton fiber just isn't binding well enough to the paper fibers to stop that from happening.My first try on this was a test but I can't imagine how frustrating it would be to have a perfectly balanced finished work and have the tape rip off chunks of a finished edge. If you are going to use this paper for real work, the blocks adhesive is good and will hold so don't tape it.It did blend the pigment really well into the fibers and the colors mixed together with no weird separation, lines or cauliflowers just like 100% Cotton. I was impressed by that.If you are a serious beginner who is striving to develop real working skills the great thing about this block would be having a realistic practice surface to learn how to control the medium. The greatest mistake people make when learning watercolor is using a product like Strathmore to start because a watercolor surface made of paper can't teach you how cotton behaves. This stuff behaves like cotton with pigments and water. Offers a great alternative to expensive cotton papers for learning.The buckling is a serious problem for being a block working wet in wet. I waited and watched for the paper to flatten out and shrink back to a flattened state. It took a long time and didn't get get very flat. I attached a picture where it was starting to dry. On a real cotton block, no matter who the manufacturer is it won't buckle as bad as this as it dries. It did flatten back out relatively well but it took about an hour and a half in a room with very dry air. When it's done you may have to iron the painting.As far as the complaints I read about the adhesive on the block, the complaints in my estimation are from people who don't normally use a block. I thought the adhesive was very good, I got the sheets off easily.This product will work very well for daily practice, serious learning, testing and color studies. It was inexpensive enough to give this block the job of sitting next to my paintings to test color results (instead of cutting up and using the backs of paintings I threw out). The absorption and spread of the pigment into the fibers was very close to 100% cotton.

Finally found the perfect watercolor paper for my love of painting as a casual amateur. Paint on the pad, no need to tear sheet off, does not sop through. Paper is thick, and texture nice, keeps color well. Just use a thin knife or old credit card to lift and slide the paper from pad at small opening . Great value for the price.

Paints well…

I really like that it keeps the paper in place. No more masking tape issues. I can paint all the way to the edge. It is easy to remove using my pallet knife when I am done. It doesn't bleed through to the next page. It is a joy to work with.