Painting the Same Landscape on Twinrocker Watercolor Paper

To warm up and get my watercolor juices flowing, before I painted on one of the three sheets of Fabriano handmade watercolor paper, I painted the landscape "High Creek Bank" on my own Twinrocker watercolor paper.  This was actually the first time I've ever painted the same subject on two different papers.  The two paintings weren't intended to look the same, but to be two individual interpretations of the same subject.

What I found was that the two handmade papers couldn't have been more different.  So let this be a lesson for us---all handmade papers are NOT alike.   The Fabriano watercolor paper was very soft and would not take any erasure of my initial drawing without abrading the paper fibers and making a dark mark when painting a wash on the area.  I actually had to abandon my first sheet and start over with no erasures of the pencil drawing.  The Twinrocker watercolor paper is very hard so it doesn't abrade and is very strong for any erasure or abuse from painting.  It's also very correctable so I could paint and lift paint when I wanted to remove or lighten an area.   And Twinrocker watercolor paper is surface (tub) sized with gelatin so it accepts watercolor washes easily.   However, after working with each paper and getting to know its characteristics, I certainly did enjoy painting on both of them.

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