Using Tempera Paint and Heavy Paper to Practice

In a workshop I attended (which I have mentioned before), we used tempera paint on heavy stock paper.  There was a good assortment of colors.  I decided to go out and get some tempera paint and work on it at home for practice.  I have 15 colors.  I am using Bristol heavy stock paper which is about $30 for 20 sheets.  The paints are about $4 each.  It’s a great way to experiment and for me, it feels less binding than having a canvas in front of me.  Even though I can always paint over a canvas, the pressure is still there.  Sometimes the colors I use require that I paint over the canvas in black paint, and I have more of a difficult time figuring out which colors to use on a black background.  Do you find this to be the case too?  So anyway, with the paper I can start moving in one direction and totally change it using “creative destruction,” a technique I was taught at the workshop in lieu of just throwing the paper away.  It’s a great experiment and I highly recommend it for those of you who don’t have the luxury of buying or making an endless supply of canvases.