Stretching watercolor paper is an important part of watercolor painting. Though you'd more likely have heard of stretching canvases for oil painting, stretching watercolour paper is just as important to ensure a good rendition of your work, as stretching gives you a completely flat area to paint on. Following the application of water color paint, the painting will dry flat and evenly. There is also less risk of wet paint flowing to other areas of painting. Warping can affect any watercolour paper with a weight of less than 300gsm, depending on how much water is absorbed during the painting process.

The Simplest Stretching Method
There are many ways to stretch watercolor paper. The first and simplest one is to submerge the paper in a bathtub or basin filled with lukewarm water up to 6 inches deep. Submerge it in a sliding movement and soak for around 10 minutes. Then grab the paper out by holding one corner and support it as the water keeps dripping. Next lay flat the paper on a board, smooth it and remove excess water with a sponge. You can then stretch the paper gently; flipping the paper a few times can help to stretch it.

Stretching with Stretcher Bars
Another method, and a more complicated but more efficient one, is using canvas stretcher bars. You will need a standard size stretcher bar on which your paper will overlap on all sides at about 2 to 3 inches. Then square off the frame and soak the paper, blotting the excess water from the edges and the surface of the paper. Overlap the stretcher bar on the top with the damp paper's top edge at 2 to 3 inches. Then staple the paper down the top edge between one and one and a half inches. You can also staple the paper after folding around the back of the stretcher bar. Carry on this process, by fixing the left edge of the paper and then the right and finally the bottom edge. As it dries, lay the stretched paper flat and after it has dried, remove the staples or cut the paper from the frame.

Stretching With Water Soluble Glue
Yet another method is to use starch-based, wheat-based or gum-based water soluble glue. This involves soaking the paper and blotting off the excess water. After you've placed the paper on another board, apply the adhesive in a strip of 3 to 4 inches on the inside edge of your mounting board's pencil outline. Then lay the paper you've blotted on the mounting board, being careful to keep it within the marked borders. Next, keep the board flat and allow the paper to dry. After you've finished your painting, cut it off the board. The Butcher's Tape method is another common way to stretch watercolor paper.

Consistently stretching watercolor paper will help your painting exude an air of professionalism and produce pleasing aesthetic qualities. There are short and simple as well as elaborate methods to stretch your watercolor paper. Choose the one that suits you the best bearing in mind that the method which you choose to stretch your water colour paper will have an influence on your finished painting.