The Origami Forum

I just tried folding Giang Dinh's cat with watercolour paper, fully dampened.

However the paper started disintergrating on me - basically lots of bits of furry fibre started rubbing off onto my fingers as I folded.

Is this normal for watercolour paper?

Or is this just my cheap watercolour paper (I wanted to try watercolour paper but they are expensive, so I bought some cheap Chinese made one from a book store to try first and see how well they fold)?

I like canson paper. I usually steal it from my wife It can take reasonable amount of water in and is sturdy after drying. It's also available in lots of colors.

yeah, as noted above, i think your problem is basically that, when ppl say "watercolor paper," they really mean canson's (which is the most readily available watercolor paper in the US).

I think many people are referring to Canson Mi-Teintes when they mention water color paper. As people have mentioned it is widely available, 60% cotton rag and is 160 GSM. It is sized with gelatin which makes it very good for wet folding and is why it dries very solid. I would recommend that you avoid Canson Ingres. Ingres is lighter weight (100 gsm) and I find it more difficult to work with

There are also a number of other nice papers from Strathmore, Canford, and other manufacturers.

That would explain a lot, as my experiments with actual water color paper have been problematic too. Mi-Tientes, though, is a whole different beast, and not in any way watercolor paper as far as I can tell!

im not so sure i would go that far, but yes Canson Mi-tientes is a very good general use fine art paper and is good for pastel, watercolor, acrylic, etc. It is marketed widely as suitable for watercolor and is generally in that section of your average art supply store. I should also mention that when I say I used canson I am always referring to Mi-Tientes unless i specifically mention something else. So i can confirm that it is excellent paper for wet folding, but others referring to canson may be referring to something else (i doubt it given the widespread availability of Mi-tientes, but they may also be referring to Ingres).

A few thoughts on Canson MT:
1) Canson MT will expand significantly when wet, if you are using a spot technique or wet shaping this will not be too severe. If you are wetting a full size sheet you may have 5% expansion with the grain direction
2) Canson MT is double sided, one side is smooth and the other side is textured, if that does not work for your purpose look to Canford papers (i like it less and find it susceptible to splits, but workable)
3) Casnon MT will take acrylic paint, ink or water color to color or tint the paper to create duo effects. I find that bleed to the opposite side with acrylic ink or watercolor is minimal and nonexistent with acrylic paint (paint needs at least a few days to fully cure)
4) Canson MT is available in massive rolls that you can cut into 5 ft squares. I find it difficult to work with, but if you have the need it is there and comes in white or black

Other excellent paper for wet folding with different effects include:
- Star Dream (text weight) by Cordenons - Offers metallic colors and a plastic like sheen to the finished piece. Available in most stationary stores as wedding invitation stock. Usually comes 8.5 x 11 but can be found in 12 x 12 and 28 x 40 sheets.
- Elephant hide - thinner and better for more complex models, but much more difficult to find without online ordering

fncll wrote:That would explain a lot, as my experiments with actual water color paper have been problematic too. Mi-Tientes, though, is a whole different beast, and not in any way watercolor paper as far as I can tell!

However it might be marketed, no watercolor artist I know (which isn't inconsiderable since I've been married to two of them) considers it a water color paper *because* of the nature of the sizing. It's neither here nor there, really, unless one is looking for good watercolor paper rather than good paper for wet folding. The point is that the paper that is explicitly labelled as watercolor paper rather than general purpose craft paper tends to behave as the OP observed.

Star Dream is great and Malachi--a member here, I think--sells pre-cut squares on Etsy which is handy, though limited in size by coming from (I think) only 8.5x11 sheets and not in the full range of colors.

EDIT: Your gallery has some amazing stuff...everyone should listen to you instead of me any day

i generally preferred canford over canson, only because it comes in larger sizes. most michael's and art stores i've seen only seem to carry canson... it's been a long time since i've seen canford.