Watercolor paper, front and back

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I am often asked how to tell the front from the back of a sheet of paper when there is no watermark. For anyone using paper in blocks, this is not an issue—it’s obvious which side to paint on. But for those who use paper in sheets and cut it in advance, it’s necessary to later determine which side should be painted on. The same goes for anyone who removes paper from a block, for example to stretch it, before painting.

In this text, I’ll describe the difference between the front and back of a sheet of watercolor paper. I’ll also give a few tips on how to choose the right side when the sheet lacks other ways of identifying the front.

The description that follows applies only to high-quality watercolor papers. Cheap, machine-made papers can have radically different front and back sides. The manufacturing process is different, and the result is inferior for watercolor. The method used for high-quality watercolor papers is called mould-made: brands such as Arches, Fabriano Artistico, Saunders Waterford, or Bockingford, to name a few. Cheap watercolor papers are not covered in this text—only mould-made and handmade papers.

Mould Side and Felt Side

All watercolor papers have a front side, which is naturally the one intended for painting. The back, or mould side, of a mould-made paper has an imprint from the mould it was formed in. The mould consists of a cylinder that is submerged in a vat of pulp and slowly rotates, lifting the pulp from the vat. The front side, on the other hand, is pressed against a felt during a later stage in production and is therefore called the felt side. The felt side has the optimal surface for painting, while the mould side is considered the back of the paper and has inferior painting characteristics.

To illustrate the difference between the mould side and felt side, I use a sheet from Arches, which has a clearly defined front and back. Some other papers show less distinction, and some have an even more prominent mould pattern. I’ve increased the contrast in the photos so that the difference is easier to see.

Deckle Edge

If you buy full sheets of paper, they likely have what’s called a deckle edge—an irregular, thinner, slightly frayed and rough edge around the large sheet. This edge forms along the sides of the paper during the moulding process. Some good papers are made larger and later cut to their final size, so they don’t have a deckle edge. But a deckle edge is very common on mould-made papers, and all handmade papers have it.

On the underside of the paper, a clear impression of the mould’s edge forms during production. It’s visible on the back side as a more or less clear line just inside the deckle edge. Canson Heritage is a paper with a distinct mould edge—I use it here to illustrate this. All papers with a deckle edge have this line, but it’s not equally visible on all of them.

Choosing the Right Side

A few tips for choosing the correct side to paint on:

• Locate the front of a full sheet by looking at the watermark. If the watermark is right-side up, you’re looking at the front. Cut the paper and mark the back side of all the smaller sheets.
• If you’re removing paper from a block, the front side is the one facing up in the block. Detach the sheet and mark the back.
• Examine both sides to locate the mould side and the felt side. This is easier if you have side lighting. What you’re looking for is a faint pattern from the mould, usually a fine, fabric-like texture.
• Look at the deckle edge. If you see a line running parallel to and just inside the edge, that’s the back side of the paper.

Final Note

For most papers, painting on the back is not a problem. If you happen to choose the wrong side, it’s usually not critical to the outcome. In fact, there are papers where I prefer the back. Saunders Waterford, for instance, has a very prominent texture from the wool felt they use—so prominent that I find it distracting and often flip the paper over. However, there are also papers with very quite ugly backs or ones without surface sizing on the back; for these, you must use the correct front side.