I didn’t have much left to go on this one, just putting in the branches and darkening things a bit. I will leave this as is for now. Perhaps I can do a bit more in the upper right to darken that and focus things further but I want to post it now as is.
My verdict so far on the Fluid paper is that it’s too smooth and after a while I feel as if I am wiping paint off as much as I am putting more on as I glaze. I should have handled this more directly anyway. The sky was quick and most compelling. I just wasn’t sure exactly how to get the fence and tree dark enough with enough variation without glazing. After awhile of it I got impatient and just tried to get it darker and darker since it was most interesting as a framing device.
That’s all for now. I have some new experiments to undertake shortly. Here it is.
Corey Aber 
I really like this, Corey. It sounds as though we are both experiencing the same thing with the Fluid block. Sometimes I feel that I have gone back to hotpress paper surfaces, and get a little discouraged when I see myself washing away old layers while trying to add new ones. Oh well–we’ll get it figured out!
I imagine the Fluid paper would be good for line and wash since you can draw pretty easily on it. Just not great for aggressive techniques. At least it is better than the other cheaper papers I have tried as sketch options. I think I will stick to sketchbooks for sketching and cotton paper for proper paintings. The moleskine watercolor and the stillman and Birn books seem to do better than the fluid paper for messing around.
I still haven’t experimented very broadly with papers. With this new Paint Out approaching, I am stretching some 400 series Utrecht coldpress paper on canvas stretchers to see how it does. I am also stretchng some D’Arches 140 lb hotpress papers on stretchers (haven’t done this since 2006). And of course, the D’Arches and Fluid blocks.