Materials · Guide
Two papers that painters argue about constantly, and how to compare them under the conditions that matter to your work.
8 min read · Updated 24 October 2026
The choice between Arches vs Fabriano Artistico comes up constantly among painters who have outgrown student paper and are spending serious money for the first time. Both are 100% cotton. Both makers describe their paper as permanent under ISO 9706, the international standard for long-life paper. The question is not which one is premium and which is not. It is which one works the way you work.
This guide sets out what each maker publishes about its paper, explains which of those differences are likely to matter for washes, wet-in-wet, lifting and hot press work, and gives you a fair way to compare the two yourself.
PAPER
Arches Aquarelle
300gsm · cold pressed · cotton
UK
UK
US
PAPER
Fabriano Artistico
300gsm · cold pressed · cotton
UKUKUSPictured blocks differ in size. Choose matching weight, surface and format when comparing.
Ordering from the US? Read our Blick paper-buying guide for formats, shipping and collection.
At a glance
Arches Aquarelle Arches states that Aquarelle is sized to the core with natural gelatin, a process it describes as exclusive to the mill, so the sizing is part of the sheet, not only the surface. It is made on a cylinder mould and listed in 185, 300, 356, 640 and 850gsm, in cold pressed, hot pressed and rough, in natural white and bright white. Not every weight is made in every surface and format, so check the combination you need.
Fabriano Artistico Mould-made and 100% cotton. Fabriano describes it as having improved surface sizing and labels it Vegan Friendly. It is listed in 300gsm and 640gsm, in Traditional White and Extra White, both made without bleaches or optical brighteners.
Which paper suits you Neither, without a condition attached. The two are sized differently, so it is reasonable to expect them to handle water differently, but no specification tells you in advance which you will prefer. That depends on your water load, your pigments and the techniques you rely on.
On price Prices vary by retailer, size, weight and format, and change too often to quote here. Compare the same weight, surface and format when you check them.
On surfaces Arches offers three textures: cold pressed, hot pressed and rough. Fabriano’s current product page lists satin, soft grain, fine grain and coarse grain. Its 2021 product sheet separately lists hot pressed, cold pressed and rough, with soft pressed offered for Extra White. The sources do not directly map every name to the other list, so check the exact surface description when ordering.
What affects how a paper behaves
Paper behaviour changes with water load, brush size, pigment choice, drying time and room humidity. A result that holds for a loose, wet-in-wet sky may not hold for a dry-brush passage on rough. That is why a single impression, or a single painting, says little on its own.
Three construction variables do most of the work: how the sheet is sized, its weight, and its surface. Sizing controls how quickly water and pigment are absorbed. Weight affects how much water the sheet holds and how much it moves as it dries. Surface texture affects how a wash settles and how granulating pigments break up. The guide to sizing in watercolour paper explains the first of these in more detail.
If you compare the two papers yourself, a small, varied set of pigments shows more than a single colour. A useful set includes a granulating colour such as ultramarine (PB29), an earth colour such as burnt umber (PBr7), and a high-staining colour such as phthalo blue (PB15). These behave differently enough that a difference between the papers is more likely to show in at least one of them.
Flat washes: what sizing may change
For flat and graded washes, the practical question is how long the bead stays workable before the leading edge begins to dry. Absorbency is one of the main variables, and sizing is what controls it.
Arches states that its natural gelatin sizing penetrates the sheet rather than coating only the surface, and that Aquarelle can absorb a large amount of water with limited deformation. Fabriano describes Artistico as having improved surface sizing. These are the makers’ own descriptions, and they point to a genuine difference in construction. They do not, on their own, tell you how much longer either paper will stay workable under your brush.
Compare the same weight, because weight is another variable; a difference found at 300gsm may not repeat at 640gsm. Whether any of this matters depends on how large you paint and how quickly you work.
To compare them fairly, lay the same graded wash, with the same brush, pigment and water load, on matching sheets of each at the same weight and surface, and note how long each stays workable.
The question is not which one is premium and which is not. It is which one works the way you work.
Wet-in-wet: a more complex picture
Wet-in-wet is where differences in sizing, weight and surface are most likely to interact, and where it is most important to separate the variables rather than declare a winner.
When a second colour is dropped into a wet passage, how far it spreads, and whether blooms form cleanly or feather, depends on how much water the sheet is holding and how quickly it is absorbing it. Sizing that slows absorption can lengthen the working time. Paper weight may also affect drying and handling. The surface texture changes how the pigment travels and settles.
Fabriano lists more surfaces than Arches, including a soft pressed surface in Extra White, and the surface you choose can affect the outcome as much as the brand does. Compare like with like: the same weight, the closest matching surface and the same white.
For a fair comparison, wet two matching sheets evenly, drop the same second colour into each at the same moment, and repeat at the water load you normally use. If you rely on wet-in-wet for loose skies, soft foliage or wet backgrounds, this is the comparison most worth making before you commit to a full block.
Arches vs Fabriano Artistico: lifting
Lifting is where common wisdom most often misleads. The claim that one paper always lifts more easily than another is usually based on a single test with a single pigment, which proves very little.
Pigment matters as much as paper. Staining pigments, including many phthalocyanines, are generally harder to lift on any sheet. Many earth pigments lift more readily. Sizing affects how much pigment stays near the surface rather than settling into the fibres, which is why it is reasonable to expect papers sized in different ways to lift differently.
One variable worth naming: paper that has been wetted and dried several times can lift differently from paper that has been worked once. This matters most for painters who rework passages, or who paint in several sessions on the same area.
To compare lifting fairly, paint the same patch of each pigment on both papers, let them dry fully for the same length of time, then lift each once with the same damp brush and the same pressure. Repeat on a patch that has been rewetted and dried two or three times. Your result applies to those sheets, those paints and those conditions.
Our guide to choosing between common watercolour paper weights is worth reading alongside this one.
Hot press: a note
Both papers are made in a hot pressed surface. Arches lists hot pressed as one of its three textures. Fabriano describes its satin surface as hot pressed, and its product sheet lists hot pressed in both Traditional White and Extra White.
Hot pressed paper is smooth, so washes sit closer to the surface and brushwork, edges and any overworking show more clearly than on cold pressed. If you are moving to hot press for the first time, compare a sheet of each with the same controlled wash and a passage of fine drawing before choosing. The guide to hot press watercolour paper covers the surface in more detail.
The honest verdict
Arches is the clearer choice when weight range matters or when you specifically want traditional gelatin sizing. Fabriano Artistico is the clearer choice when vegan-friendly construction, its whites or its particular surface options matter.
Where the two overlap, especially at 300gsm and 640gsm, the published specifications cannot tell you which will produce the better wash, cleaner lift or longer working time under your brush.
Use the specifications to make the first cut. Use equivalent sample sheets to make the final decision. Arches wins some decisions; Fabriano wins others. Neither wins the whole comparison without your painting method attached.