WATERCOLOR STICKS ON HAND MOLDED FRENCH PAPER

The last week has been frustrating. Nothing I worked on was any good. I have been playing around with this head and a few others that had this odd lighting trying to put them together in a single composition. I spent a few hours this afternoon playing with that and not sure I was very happy with any of them. The other frustration was not being very pleased with the small trials using the new Daniel Smith Watercolor Sticks that I had paid so much money for! I tried using them for mono printing...terrible. I tried using them in my Moleskin sketch book... no better than regular paints. I went into the studio and found a piece of watercolor paper I purchased in France while visiting this wonderful paper mill. There is no surface sizing so I coated it with 2 coats of diluted mat medium. The paper is hand molded and has a rough texture. I decided to try the new watercolor sticks on this surface. First I washed a pale gold tone over the paper to see how the paper would take paint. Then I drew the image on with the watercolor stick in Quin Burnt Orange. I didn't make any errors that needed correcting so don't know how easy that would be but the paint lifted easily at other stages. I used these paint sticks in every way I could think of: Dry drawing, wet drawing, scribbling, diluting with a brush etc. Finally, I think I am happy with this product. I think they have real potential for plein aire and travel supplies. The main advantage is that you can draw with them. There are only limited colors at this time. I did notice that Cheap Joe is developing a similar product. It was mentioned in the Summer Sale Catalog but no additional information and nothing shows up on their web site. Has anyone else tried these watercolor paint sticks? What have been your results?