Canson Artist Series Watercolor Paper, Wirebound Pad, 5.5×8.5 inches, 20 Sheets (140lb/300g) – Artist Paper for Adults and Students – Watercolors, Mixed Media, Markers and Art Journaling

I thought I would love Canson paper..I’m poor, it’s cheap..match made in heaven, right? I wish but this is the 3rd different paper type I have bought from Canson brand and it will be the last. Canson XL watercolor paper is pretty bad but it does have its uses (practicing brush strokes, scrap paper, color swatching and mixing) so it’s a great buy as far as practice paper so I thought this must be a real step up. Unfortunately it’s not enough to justify the price difference between the Canson Montval and the XL. The paper quality for the Montval seems slightly better but for me, the difference isn’t worth it. Unless it’s 100% cotton paper, you don’t want to do finished pieces on it anyway. For the same price though, I can get a Strathmore mixed media pad in an 8.5×11 that is 100% cotton so not only can I do all of the previously mentioned things but also practice actual painting, wet on wet and have the results be closer to what they are supposed to be. I couldn’t do effective wet on wet with this paper and it is more expensive with 10 fewer sheets than the identically sized XL watercolor books. I’m currently using the Montval notebook for color mixing charts and it’s fine for that purpose. The other Canson book I bought was a Bristol paper notebook and while it was okay, I wouldn’t be purchasing it again either (but that’s less about my requirements than any issue with the paper itself)