How Gelatine is Used to Size Watercolour Paper — A Lesser-Known Use

Paper seems to be becoming less important as we move further into the digital age, but various art forms still rely on applying one physical material to another. One of these is watercolour painting.

Watercolour painting, as an art form, has been around pretty much since the early humans mixed coloured clay with water to decorate the rocks around them. Today, a watercolour artist chooses their paints and paper very carefully.

We have recently been learning about the watercolour paper that is carefully crafted by Two Rivers Paper Company, who use our gelatine to size their paper.

Photo: Zoe Collis Sizing paper at Two Rivers Paper company. Zoe is one of a select few qualified hand papermakers in the UK.

Two Rivers Paper Company is one of the last traditional handmade paper mills in England, and the paper they produce is highly regarded by many artists.
Kate Lynch writes, “I can vouch for the paper, it is beautiful to work on. I have used it as part of a bookmaking project and for drawing and painting and it is robust, forgiving and beautiful.”

So where does our gelatine fit in?

Once the craftspeople at Two Rivers have made a sheet of paper (from a blend of cotton and linen), it needs to be sized to make it less absorbent.
Traditionally, this handmade paper would have been coated in a rabbit skin glue, but they are now coating it in a liquid made from our gelatine.
They have told us that they are really pleased to have found our product as it is so clean and doesn’t smell. They say that it is so much nicer to work with,and works well both for their needs and those of their customers.
The sizing process strengthens the paper, allowing the artist to push paint around on the sheet or even remove it. The paint is not drawn into the paper, so the pigment dries to a sharp, brilliant finish.

Photo: Zoe Collis sizing sheets of paper at the Two Rivers Paper Company

You can see more about their process of making paper on their page:https://www.tworiverspaper.com/the-paper/

If you’re interested, you can read updates, learn more about paper-making, and see some artwork created using the paper, on Two Rivers Paper Company’s social media
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All Images are by kind permission of the Two Rivers Paper Company. Photographs taken by Carmel King. Main photo is of Jim Patterson owner of Two Rivers Paper company sizing paper at their East Quay workshop.