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In years past, I used Crescent 114 and 115 watercolor board and liked its ease of use (no stretching)and its great watercolor paintability. I was worried, though, about its longevity because the backing wasn't acid free. I ran out of my supply recently and purchased the now-available 5115 hot press version, which DOES have an acid-free backing. I love the hot press surface and how well watercolor flows on it. The colors stay vivid and clean. I paint fast and this surface was perfect for the way I paint. I used this watercolor board the first time this past weekend when I painted outdoors at a local home-tour event. It worked beautifully, and as a bonus, was easily mattable by just laying an acid-free precut mat on top and putting both in a clear bag for display and sale. No additional backing was necessary because of the watercolor board's thickness and rigidity. Even though it's thick, it's not overly heavy, so weight wasn't a problem. I give a wholehearted thumbs up for the new Crescent watercolor board. I'm glad it's available in large sizes.

I did not like painting on this board. I found reworking the paint very difficult and the colors tended to just float on the surface making washes difficult. The wash would tend to pick up the color laid down first. I ended up using pencil over my watercolor to get definition and depth, so the final work turned out OK, but I won't use this board again.

Crescent WC Board No. 5112 I have used Crescent wc. boards for nearly thirty years. I prefer the stiffness of a board to paper because I can lean it against the wall and study the work from a distance and the problem of buckling and sagging, common with humidity changes in paper, when it is framed is eliminated. At times a board will warp with use. This can be corrected by facing it down on a clean surface and applying a small amount of water on the entire back of the work and then weighting and allowing it to dry.(Too much water will cause it to warp the other way and this is a much more difficult problem to correct.) Better to have to do it twice than have it warp the other way. Water color boards work best with a fairly dry technique. Too much water can cause some delamination. I have also used No. 5117, a rougher surface which makes detail work a little more difficult. One complaint I have about the premium boards is that they are a little flimsy. (thin)

I love working on the 5112 cold press surface. It never warps and holds up well when using frisket or erasers. I never have a problem with color washes or holding the color and detail. The heavy board also makes framing much easier.