I've spent my so-called laughable art life doing pen and ink and graphite illustrations. Everything has always started by staring a plain sheet of white Strathmore smooth or its equivalent and at times it's been difficult.

I know, most of us started with that dreadful white sheet of binder paper that came with our elementary school notebooks, with its lines and resistance to corrections, but found that somewhat decent paper could be discovered in art class.

There was a time when elementary schools had at least rudimentary art classes.

I digress.

I ask you this. What if the paper were colored with a different hue? Say a nice beige or light blue? Not that cheap construction paper crap the schools gave everyone in the class with safety scissors so you could do horrid Halloween cut-outs, but something as fine as one could find in the white.

It is available in the better art stores.

It could be any color and if it fits your medium, can you see the better possibilities?

I've seen pastel work done on the colored paper you mention and the results have been stunning. Being a graphite artist, I guess I've never thought about the use of colored paper, but I have fused colored pencil into my work on occasion.

I have done work on a tan paper (for an art class) and I think a blue (or likewise color) would work fine..admittedly I prefer my graphite work to be on plain white. Pastels (in all forms) and charcoal can really shine on a colored paper.

I sometimes use Canson colored pastel paper.