Is All 140# Watercolor Paper Equal??

We did a clearout of Dad's art supplies a few years back since he no longer uses them.  I was gifted with several blocks of watercolor paper and never had a problem with his eclectic choices....Arches, Canson Montval until I used a small pad of Strathmore 400 series...

I bet you recognize this cover...known to those of us who like me who LOVE a Michaels coupon!!

Been painting alot of skies lately...and I used the arches, I used my pile of Kilimanjaro, available from Cheap Joes and I used Dad's old Strathmore...small size for practice and in a convenient block no taping needed!!  Score!!!

I painted the same sky scene twice...once on Kilimanjaro and once on Strathmore..same colors...the Strathmore was paler...not a problem in a sky unless you want a luscious sun rise or sunset BUT still a problem.

This one is done on Kilimanjaro Cold Press 140# sold by Cheap Joes.

This is the old 140# Strathmore Cold Press...NOT all cotton..the sky in the second one is alot paler even though I used the same mix of watercolor and water.  I don't know if you can see it in the photos but when you compare them in person the Strathmore colors are just paler compared to the Kilimanjaro paper.

I looked everywhere on line to find out what was causing the lighter colors.  Turns out Strathmore 400 series is NOT all cotton...I never could find exactly what is in it. You have to buy the 500 series paper to get handmade deckled edge paper like the Kilimanjaro or Arches.

Stay tuned for Part 2:  Is  All 140# Watercolor Paper Equal??