Rough Watercolour Paper

Rough Watercolour Paper — Bold Texture for Expressive, Gestural Painting

Rough watercolour paper has the most heavily textured surface of all watercolour papers, with pronounced bumps and grooves that give your painting a dramatic, tactile quality. Paint settles into the troughs and sits on the peaks, creating natural granulation, sparkling highlights, and a sense of energy that is impossible to achieve on smoother surfaces.

How Rough Paper Is Made

Rough paper gains its texture when pressed between sheets of heavily textured felt during the drying process. Handmade papers like Khadi can also be left to dry naturally, creating a less uniform but wonderfully characterful surface unique to each sheet.

Who Is Rough Paper For?

• Loose, expressive painters — the texture encourages gestural, spontaneous brushwork and a painterly finish
• Landscape artists — perfect for capturing the texture of foliage, water, stone, and sky
• Dry brush technique — a drier brush skims the peaks of the surface, leaving the white paper showing through for sparkling, luminous effects
• Sgraffito artists — the pronounced texture responds beautifully to scratching and mark-making techniques

Brands We Stock in Rough

• Arches — the gold standard rough surface, 100% cotton, made in France since 1492
• Bockingford — British-made rough paper with a distinctive, naturally textured surface from St Cuthberts Mill
• Khadi — handmade 100% cotton paper from India, each sheet unique with an organic, irregular texture

Not sure if rough is right for your style? Contact us — we're happy to advise.