Watercolor on regular printer paper, 3.75″ x 2.75″
I was about to try sketching a portrait in watercolor, but then I noticed the light outside was very dark and blue. It was after sunset but there was enough light to see the shapes of trees and the hills behind them, so I sketched that instead with indigo watercolor.
Even regular printer paper can be used for watercolor, though it absorbs the paint quickly and can’t be worked much before it starts to tear so you have to work faster and more deliberately. At the very least, it can be a very inexpensive way to sketch out ideas or test what colors will look like next to each other or practice brushstrokes. A lot of artists, including myself, say they feel more confident when working with cheaper paper because they aren’t as worried that they’ll make a mistake and waste their materials. When using printer paper I feel like I can try anything and not worry.
Too Much White Paper 
I really enjoy the atmosphere in this – these trees and the whole landscape is vibrating and alive. AWesome
Thanks 🙂
The trees took awhile with all the little branches.
This sketch is fantastic, your colors, lines and shapes are super pleasing, and the trees are beautiful. I really like the added dimension that the warping in the paper adds to the composition, it’s kind of perfect for a winter forest at night 🙂
Thanks 🙂
I was about to crop it so only painted areas would be visible, but I liked how it looked with the edges of the paint and the wrinkled paper.
That’s so true. Expensive materials are so inhibiting. It’s a lovely piece
Thanks ^_^
I’m trying out watercolor on a sheet of cheap block printing paper right now and it’s working really well too. More durable, not as over absorbent, but still far cheaper than higher end watercolor paper. Water stays on it long enough to blend and to get at least a little granulation out of some paints. It’s the kind of paper you can play on. 🙂
I tend to use printmaking paper for watercolour too, it can give some very good results.