A friend gave me some sample sheets of TerraSkin -- the environmentally friendly "paper" made from mineral powder and nontoxic resin -- and I decided to try a loose watercolor on it. The subject is a farm building from a photograph I had taken somewhere on the road between Red Hook and Hudson, NY, earlier in the year.

As many other artist-bloggers have noted, it's not easy to erase pencil lines on this surface. I do like the way the watercolor puddles on it (and granulates -- probably picking up a bit of the mineral dust -- if you work into it a lot, as in the sky). It forces me to give up control, which is a Good Thing For Me! :) Lately I've been looking again at the watercolors of Hopper and Homer and Sargent, trying to see (and paint) simpler shapes and values.