I usually like to mount paper on board before I start painting as this allows me to stretch it in the process of mounting it. But you might have a few watercolor paintings on paper, that are already done and that you would like to mount on paper. Here is how to do it.

Lily Pads on One Mile Lake has been painted on paper that had been previously mounted on board. Click here to  see pictures of that technique: Mounting watercolor paper on board.

How to mount a watercolor painting on board

This time I had a few already painted watercolors on paper that I thought would look good once mounted on board and varnished. Here are the steps I took:

The first step is to find a board that is the same size of the painting. For some of the watercolors I had to order some custom sized boards as they were not fitting into the standard sizes or I would have had to cut too much of the painting to make it fit. Now I am going to give more though to the size of what I paint before to make sure it will fit standard sizes.

Then I did trim the sides of the painting to make it easier to place on the board for the next steps.

 I am spreading heavy body gel medium with a stiff brush all over the board, paying specific attention to the sides and the corners of the board.

I am a Blick Art Materials affiliate and I receive a small compensation for sales. That does not effect in any way the cost of the purchaser’s order but it helps me keeping the content of this blog free.

Golden Acrylic Mediums Range of consistency from pourable to moldable, with various levels of finish and transparency. Create glazes, extend paints, build texture, change finishes. Gel types: Soft, Regular, Heavy, Extra Heavy, and Pumice.

Heavy body gel medium is better than the liquid kind because the paper won’t get too wet and that reduces the risks of the paper buckling. Liquid gel also tend to be absorbed very fast by the wood of the panel and that might result in areas of your paper that won’t adhere to the board.

I am then centering the painting on the board being very careful that no medium goes on top of the painting.

The next step is important as you want to avoid the formation of air bubbles.

Then I am using a brayer roll to evenly fix the paper to the board and to remove potential air bubbles. I am also being very careful that the brayer stays clean and that no medium goes on top of the painting.

I am a Blick Art Materials affiliate and I receive a small compensation for sales. That does not effect in any way the cost of the purchaser’s order but it helps me keeping the content of this blog free.

Speedball Hard Rubber Brayers A hard synthetic rubber roller (80 durometer) makes these brayers ideal for light carving or gluing applications, and excellent for rolling down print surfaces. – Deluxe Brayers

I am leaving the painting to dry overnight. I added some weight in each corner to make sure they won’t lift while drying. ( In case you are wondering the paper weights are big river rocks that I did cover with crochet).

The corners of the painting are the areas that are most susceptible to lift off after the medium had dried.

The next day everything has dried, now I need to trim the excess paper on the sides.

I am using a cutter to do so.

If the sides are not straight enough after trimming, I sometimes use a sander to finish them. Next step will be fixing the watercolor and varnishing it. I did detail that process in the following post: How to finish and display your paintings on paper : A few options