I have one brand of multi media paper in pocket pad form I use for my Lyra work. It has become a little harder to find and the price has gone up. With a short trip on the horizon, I decided to explore other companies.

My usual pad has the dimensions of 3×5. I found a new company which was shaped different at 4×4. This company offered features my usual one did not (hard backed, choice of bright colors for cover and matching colored attached elastic to keep it shut when not in use and a built in book mark ribbon also of matching color).

Unless I am intentionally trying to challenge myself in a chop building exercise, I never use completely crappy paper. On the other hand, with pocket pads for regular sketching, it need not be of the highest quality since sometimes an entire pad will be used just for exercise which I will either gift or throw away.

My Lyra work is another story, those are always kept and the paper has to be of a fairly decent quality. Cheap paper will bubble from liquid, shred when I go to blend or just make everything run together. With this in mind I knew I could only go so “cheap” in my search.

I enjoyed the challenge of this new pad having different orientation size wise. In general it is more of a squat square where as usual pad more rectangular.

I first tried the paper with lyra. It seemed to require a slightly different touch which I didn’t mind. I had just finished a regular watercolor painting and still had paint in the palettes. Rather than dump them out, I decided to try watercolor in new pocket pad. My usual pad had never been great with watercolors.

To my surprise, the watercolor painting came out very good. Again, it required a different touch but I enjoyed myself. The main challenge for any artist is not fame but creating and then honing an individual voice.

Once this is done, you notice nuances in the creative process. Equipment flavors a piece. All equipment has its specific voice. The artist’s is ever present but the cadence will be effected. This is why Miles used specific horns just for ballads.

My painting using this paper has a slightly different sound to it than on the usual papers I use. It’s the inherent properties of the paper and the different touch they require.

I will switch back and forth between new pad and usual, pleased to have expanded my bag of tricks.

Watercolor & water soluble graphite pieces 4×4 inches:

This is the painting I had worked on. French cotton paper 7×5 I had started it election day. The next day not finished, I walked away from it until I could shake off the bad taste in my mouth.

“The Man Who Owns the World”