Can I paint on the underside of a sheet of watercolour paper?

At St Cuthberts Mill, our skilful papermakers create sheets where both sides can successfully be used to paint with Bockingford®, Saunders Waterford® or Millford watercolour papers. The papermakers strive to produce paper where they minimise any differences between the top and bottom of the sheets using their papermaking expertise.

So, yes you can use both sides of the sheet to paint!

What is the best side of the paper to paint on?

As papermakers, we consider the top side to be the superior side, although we try to minimise any differences. Bockingford®, Saunders Waterford® and Millford sheets are all packed to have this side uppermost. With pads, blocks and spirals made at St Cuthberts Mill, the pad is always made to have the top side uppermost.

However, it is artistically personal preference which side an artist prefers to paint on.

What are the different sides of a watercolour sheet called?

With ‘Mould Made’ paper they are called the ‘felt side’ for the top and ‘mould side’ for the bottom (the equivalent with standard Fourdrinier made paper is ‘top side’ for the top, and ‘wire side’ for the bottom). St Cuthberts Mill uses a rotating cylinder mould to form the fibres into paper. There is a fine wire mesh that covers the cylinder mould, and it is this mesh where the water drains through leaving the fibres behind to form the paper. The cylinder mould lends its name to the underside of the sheet, the ‘mould side’, as it’s the side in contact with the wire mesh. On very close inspection, the wire mesh can also give the underside of the sheet a slightly more regular texture, as the square mesh pattern is sometimes slightly present.

The top side of the sheet is called the ‘felt side’, it is the side uppermost when the paper is created and the first thing it comes in contact with is the natural woollen felts used to create the surface texture (giving the name ‘felt side’). The surface texture of the sheet comes from the weave of the natural woollen felts, to give the paper its pleasant random surface finish.

Can I paint on both sides of the sheet?

The ‘felt side’ (the top side) is considered to be the superior painting side and the one that is packed uppermost with sheets of paper. With pads/blocks/spirals these are made with the ‘felt side’ presented at the top by St Cuthberts Mill. The surface texture is also the most random, and considered the more beautiful looking side of the sheet. That said, the St Cuthberts Mill papermakers have used their expertise to make the ‘mould side’ (the underside) as indistinguishable as possible, making it purely personal preference, meaning you can paint on both sides of the sheet.

To learn more about surface textures at St Cuthberts Mill
https://www.stcuthbertsmill.com/advice-centre/?id=1001
 

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