Bee Paper 6" x 9" Watercolor Paper Pack, 140lb, 50 Sheets

This is my favorite watercolor paper. For people who are having problems: please note there is a FRONT and a BACK side to this paper. The back is not well "sized" meaning it will not absorb watercolors properly and the colors will look more dull and dingy on top of spreading out oddly. I hate how hard this paper is to tell which side is the correct side, but the pack I received worked very well on ONE side. This 140# version of bee paper can handle a generous wet wash of paint without pilling or overly buckling. Tape the edges and I get no buckling. Its so cheap I feel like I can practice without being scared of wasting paper. My colors look more vibrant and I can achieve better effects with the paints than I can on less quality papers. I almost said cheaper papers, but this paper is actually quite cheap and somehow still high quality. Most paper at this price point is not 100% cotton rag. I recommend it for professional and beginner alike. I especially find granulating paints in a wet wash really go wild on this paper, which is ideal for special effects. I do not use the "lifting" method for shading, and I would not recommend this paper for that. Legion's Stonehenge Aqua or Arches papers have a much more durable surface that can handle scrubbing. The bee paper is better for basic techniques and true colors with very little surprises. Sometimes other brands do weird things, like my Strathmore 500 makes colors speckle or granulate differently than my Bee paper. I've used this paper for acrylic painting with much success. I was able to use it for heavy pours of paint as well by using masking tape and adhering the paper to any firm board/panel/tray. I poured my acrylic onto it and waited for it to dry before removing the tape. Once dry it was only very slightly wavy/bent, which was easily fixed by sitting the painting under a stack of books overnight. Great versatility here for such an inexpensive paper.

I love this paper. As a beginner/intermediate watercolor painter, this is my favorite paper for practice. It's a heavy, 100% cotton paper, so it behaves much better than a wood pulp paper when using wet techniques. For a cold process paper, the texture isn't too rough, which is good for control, but it still has enough to grab the pigment. The 6x9 size is perfect for beginners, as I find making smaller pieces to be lower pressure. And I don't feel like I'm wasting a bunch of money if I don't like what I painted. I love how affordable it is and that it comes in giant packages of 50 sheets. I highly recommend this paper for watercolor work.

UPDATE: After going to make a swatch card for a watercolor palette, I realized while drawing out lines in a grid for the colors, that the paper was unfortunately cut on a slant. I thought it was just cut weirdly on the grain and tricking my eyes into making it seem like it was cut on a slant, but it actually was cut on a slant. I've attached a new image of a piece of the paper put into a paper trimmer where you can see it gradually sloping up. I'm not sure if I just got a bad batch or what, but it's a shame because it's still a pretty decent paper otherwise. :( I feel as though my 4 star rating is a bit more justified now though; previously it was just because it seemed like something heavy was left on them and they got dents, but now it's mainly because mine were cut poorly. ORIGINAL REVIEW: Up until now I've only ever used wood pulp watercolor paper, so this is my first time using a cotton paper. I wasn't sure if I wanted to spend the money just yet when I'm still pretty inexperienced with watercolor, but I think the price is well worth it for how many sheets you get! Cotton definitely makes a world of difference when it comes to watercolor, even with cheaper, student- and artist-grade paints. For reference, I used Arteza watercolors for my testing. I believe they are considered artist-grade. The paints flow really well for wet-on-wet compared to wood pulp. They layer nicely without lifting up the paint below it. They also blend pretty well on the paper itself! Streakiness from the brush is virtually gone with cotton paper. I also tested a few different metallic paints (also Arteza) to see how they flowed on this kind of paper, and they also performed well! Normally, with wood pulp paper, I'd have a pretty decent amount of streakiness and it'd dry unevenly, leaving a thicker amount in some places compared to others because of pooling. I also wanted to see if they stuck to this kind of paper any better than wood pulp paper by rewetting and lifting them and it doesn't seem like they do, but that's just the nature of the metallic watercolor paints and not a fault of the paper. Oh well! Unfortunately, I had to give this 4 stars instead of 5 because my pack of paper seemed like it had something heavy sitting on it, and it dented about 8 sheets of the paper. They can be my practice sheets, I guess.

This is incredible quality watercolor paper for its price point, and is now my go-to for swatching and drafts. Its a good weight and doesn't buckle as much as many other similar papers. It would work great for painting holiday cards or for an art journal. Ngl, it doesn't quite compare to the top cotton rag papers. The sizing works well for a few washes, even a light, quickly removed coat of resist, but expect some tearing/staining with colored resist that stays on too long. And the size doesn't hold up to even a gentle scrub unfortunately. Even still, watercolors move beautifully over this paper, so I will be using this as my primary test paper going forward. Great product.

This is decent watercolor paper! 100% cotton and it acts like it. For the price, I think Bee watercolor paper in their sketchbooks or these loose sheets is great. This size is perfect for making cards.

I’ve been meaning to write a review on this watercolor paper. I’m new to watercolor so I bought it last year to practice painting using watercolor and I’ve read from Artists on YouTube that this brand is decent for beginners and it’s also less expensive compare to other professional brands. What I like about it: -IT DOESN’T CURL. For me, it’s a lot better than Arches. After practicing enough, I also bought Arches Watercolor so I’d see the difference between this and Arches. To my surprise, this brand outperformed Arches! I had high hopes with Arches because I’ve heard many great things about it and it’s also more expensive but when I finally tried it, it curled so bad. But I didn’t experience it with this brand. -ABSORBS WATER PRETTY WELL. Since I am a beginner, I have wet my paper couple of times but surprisingly, this paper absorbs it pretty well and my watercolor paints go on smoothly. Please watch my time lapse videos. -GREAT FOR MIXED MEDIA ARTS. I’ve used this paper with gouache, acrylics and pens. Overall, I love this watercolor paper! It exceeds my expectations and it’s less expensive. It’s great for beginners and professionals. Please watch my time lapse videos on YouTube to see how I used it for my paintings.

I been using a sketchbook for my watercolor drawings for the longest time, and what made me not want to try watercolor paper is because it was too expensive for me to invest in. I watercolor a lot and going through a pad of watercolor papers (which tends to be like a few sheets) is going to be very expensive to continue buying over time. I happened to go to an art store one day and noticed these loose sheets and read some reviews on them. I was sold instantly. I actually like the size of paper. I tend to draw a bit big not super large but big enough to fit the page. I tend to draw around that size so the paper was perfect for me. I also like the small texture the paper has. One side has a bit of tooth to it whereas the other side still has texture but it is slightly smoother. It is nice to have the option on which side you would prefer. I have never really used actual watercolor paper before (sad I know) so I was a bit afraid how it would affect my skills since watercolor paper is different than other papers I have used, but luckily it was very easy to adjust. I do not draw backgrounds so I tend to fill the background with a solid color and it did not warp any drawings whatsoever (then again I did tape the sides down to prevent it, but still impressed). I also layer a lot of colors over and over again and the paper did not tear. Overall, great purchase. Like seriously, $15 for a stack of 50 high quality sheets of watercolor paper, it cannot get any better than that. I definitely recommend giving this a shot. Although I have never really tried 'professional' papers like arches or anything like that, but I am not lying when I say it was a dream to work with this paper.

TLDR: Positives: cheap, cotton paper that handles water better than wood pulp, lots of paper to learn from or do full pieces, and just a good paper to try for the price. Negatives: Light sizing making water absorption fast, wet in wet not good on this paper, and paper hold on to paint making it not so good for lifting. Bought this pack of paper quite a while ago. Held off on making a review till I got a feel for it. There are some good qualities to this paper and some not for me. So the positives in this paper is the price. You get fifty sheets that you can make studies or practice technique. You get a good amount to test out or to do full pieces. The price of fifty 9x5 sheets make this economical to learn on. Also, this paper is cotton so you can try out some effects. Cotton is better at more evenly distributing color and bringing out brilliance. ( Although sometime saturation has to do with how white the paper can be as well as how it sits on it.) So all in all this is a great value. I would recommend this to people learning watercolor. My tip would be to try other papers as well to see what stick with you because not every paper is going to work with how you paint. However, trying this paper and experimenting with it is a good deal. So you know all that's great with it I would just suggest in just a couple of negatives in my opinion. This paper feels like it isn't sized or maybe just lightly. My reasoning is that the paper dries faster than my other papers. It's hard to keep it wet for the way I work or to apply the wet on wet technique. Also the paper holds on the paint and it doesn't flow as easy. I find it happening even with my non staining colors. This makes it more difficult to lift up paint within reason. So this paper is more of a wet on dry technique paper in my eyes. There is nothing wrong with this kind of paper. It's awesome but once you know how you work or want to experiment this information could help. Or I hope this helps. The more you experiment the better you get.

Ich hab dieses Papier auf Grund einer Empfehlung gekauft und bin nicht enttäuscht. Ich kaufe es immer in der größe die ca DinA5 ist (50er Pack) - die Maße scheinen amerikanisch zu sein, aber das stört mich nicht besonders. Ich verwende das Papier für kleine Bilder oder auch als Papier um Farben zu testen, etc., damit ich nicht das ganz teuere dafür "verschwende" Ich würde sagen es ist nicht die gleiche Qualität wie z.B. Arches, aber ganz nah dran.

Le papier est entre le grain fin et satiné, employé avec des couleurs "Artist" Daler Rowney, il restitue avec fidélité ces dernières. 14/05/25 Il est aussi excellent avec du Winsor et Newton. Travail dans l'humide. Il réagit bien mais gondole assez vite si trop d'eau, donc bien prévoir l'ordonnancement des couches. J'ai remarqué qu'il était vraiment long à sécher naturellement, après des "essais" sans prétention, le lendemain, la feuille à repris ses formes. Il supporte quelques repentis aussi. Travail dans le sec. Rien à dire c'est tout simplement parfait. Mes conclusions, papier étonnant, découvert grâce à Manu de Youtube, excellent rapport qualité prix, permet à peu de frais de s'exercer, de peindre sur du 100% coton. Devant bien avouer, qu'après avoir utilisé quelques feuilles, je n'ai pas hésité à en recommander 50 de plus. Bien je recommande.

I'm happy with this paper, I'm learning to paint water color. This is a more economical way to paint while learning. I love having the size sheet that I want.

Great paper at a great price

This paper was suggested to me on YT by a popular watercolor artist I follow. I was so happy to find it in Canada at a good price. I love using it for card stock or a second round of my paintings. I’m a beginner-medium watercolor painter at best. It works well with wet on wet and simple practice painting. You won’t be disappointed.