This previous weekend, I decided that I should sit down and relax.

After "Inktober" so many artists are worn thin and possibly suffering from art block. Not me, thankfully. I set aside the ink, the markers and the pens, and picked up some watercolor paints I probably hadn't touched in a year, and dusted off a small roll of paper that had been given to me by a previous instructor.

Carefully unrolling the unruly paper, I cut out a section and went to soak it in the sink in order to help it unfurl, as well as to stretch it. That's when it happened.

I had no idea whatsoever of what was going on, half of the paper was behaving as it normally would, but the other side was as soggy as a damp paper towel. The water had run all the way through. Until that day I didn't know what, exactly, it meant for watercolor paper to be "sized," and I certainly didn't know that it could expire.

Now, before you go worrying that your child's sketchbook will be ruined in a few years, or that that cheap paper pad you picked up from the art supply store is running out of time, let me explain a little:

Internal sizing is something usually only implemented by the more expensive brands. Student brands such as Strathmore and Canson, among others, don't internally size their papers. Also, if the painting is already finished and the paper has dried, the sizing expiring is not going to affect anything.

To put it simply, when a manufacturer internally sizes paper, that means they arrange the grain in a way that controls the buckling of the paper once water is applied. To do so, it controls the interaction of the water with the paper, making sure that the fibers aren't flooded. Now, I don't know how or why the sizing goes bad (probably deterioration of the internal fibers) but, the fact that I didn't know that it even could is a little upsetting.

It's important to know your materials, especially for works that intended to be sold or displayed. Research the "lightfastness" and opacity levels, sizing, cold press vs hot press, and even granulation, in reference to the supplies you work with. And while everything I just told you about applies mainly to watercolor, I am certain there are similar things for almost every medium.

They don't teach you these things in school, guys.

So, not knowing what was going on at the time, I continued to go on and struggle with the simple painting. It wasn't very big, only 4x7" or so, but the paper decided it wanted to be a bowl. It also decided that it wanted the entire expired section to be blue.

Much white gouache was sacrificed to the paint gods that day.