How To Stretch Watercolor Paper Before Painting. Take your sheet out of the water, drain as much water from the sheet as you can and place it on a clean, sturdy board. I'm going to show you now how to prepare your water, your freshly stretched watercolor paper, as if you're going to use a critic like it's water color.
But the benefit of stretching your paper is the freedom to use as much water as you want, when you want. Place sketch or copy paper down on a clean surface. You can also use a damp sponge.
These white areas form some hard edges in your cloud shapes.
For stretching, you can soak the paper in the water for 10 to 15 minutes and put it on the flat board. There are two ways to stretch watercolour paper: If the sheet of watercolor paper is not perfectly smooth at this stage, it won't dry smooth. Do i need to stretch the watercolor paper before painting?