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Flattening Watercolor Bristol Board
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7 posts in this topic

Recently bought several pieces of art from a dealer, but all arrived warped, either from transit or they started out that way. Any tips for flattening out the watercolor Bristol aside from putting a heavy book on it, using an iron, or sending it to a professional restorer (egads) as the dealer suggested?

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II don't have any other solutions/ideas, but for what it's worth, I've successfully used the iron method before on a gouache illustration that was on a very wavy piece of heavy watercolor paper.  Basically I lightly misted the back/verso so that it was just barely damp, laid a layer of paper towels over it, ironed it flat on a low heat setting, then sandwiched it between some heavy books (changing the paper towels out every few hours).

The process worked great and completely flattened the piece.  I'll admit though that this was a fairly low value piece of art and even then the pucker factor was really high.  I don't know if I would have the courage to try it on something of higher value.

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If you keep your art in Itoyas, if you insert it with your other art, it'll flatten over time.  If it's a pencil piece, maybe put some tracing paper or vellum over it to alleviate any smudging.

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Take a photo and share it here. Depending on the amount of water used on the board it may never be perfectly flat. Even with ages and ages of “flattening”. Water expands paper fibers. Nature of using watercolor on watercolor paper.  Frequently comes with that kind of art. But the amount of waviness will vary. But the tried and true answer is stick it in a portfolio or the like, and leave it under something heavy for 6 months. I get you don’t want that answer, but it is the correct one.

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On 1/15/2021 at 5:26 AM, ShallowDan said:

II don't have any other solutions/ideas, but for what it's worth, I've successfully used the iron method before on a gouache illustration that was on a very wavy piece of heavy watercolor paper.  Basically I lightly misted the back/verso so that it was just barely damp, laid a layer of paper towels over it, ironed it flat on a low heat setting, then sandwiched it between some heavy books (changing the paper towels out every few hours).

The process worked great and completely flattened the piece.  I'll admit though that this was a fairly low value piece of art and even then the pucker factor was really high.  I don't know if I would have the courage to try it on something of higher value.

I’ll second this. If you Google/YouTube there are lots of demos. Good, thick watercolor paper can take quite a lot of water but err on the side of less. Heavy books after and repeat the process many times - eventually it will flatten. Your second challenge is to maintain the new shape. Over time, without pressure, the paper will likely return to the warped state. Good luck! 

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On 1/15/2021 at 7:26 AM, ShallowDan said:

II don't have any other solutions/ideas, but for what it's worth, I've successfully used the iron method before on a gouache illustration that was on a very wavy piece of heavy watercolor paper.  Basically I lightly misted the back/verso so that it was just barely damp, laid a layer of paper towels over it, ironed it flat on a low heat setting, then sandwiched it between some heavy books (changing the paper towels out every few hours).

The process worked great and completely flattened the piece.  I'll admit though that this was a fairly low value piece of art and even then the pucker factor was really high.  I don't know if I would have the courage to try it on something of higher value.

This would def work, but the original poster specifically said Bristol, unless he is just mistaken.

 

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