I have had the desire lately to use a larger brush (a #38 round) and just splash around in some juicy colors. I had been working on some small things, so when a friend came over to paint yesterday with this still life, I decided to do some watercolor on gessoed paper. Gesso is a canvas primer, and when watercolor paper is painted with it, it resists the water, causing the pigments to float on the surface until it has dried. It is very forgiving - the good news and the bad news. If you aren't happy with some part of the painting, you can just wipe it off and paint it again. However, when you go over an area with subsequent layers, the previous layers of pigment are disturbed or lifted.

It's a good way to use up paper you don't like, or even paint over old paintings you don't ever want to see again.