Great idea to post them side to side for comparison. Comparing two different weights is apples to oranges. Arches (pronounced "arsh" has 140 pound, also. Thanks for taking the time to post this
I am just trying this paper for the first time. The front of the cold press page as it is seen when lifting the pad's cover is similar to the back of the Arches paper. Which side of the Hahnemuhle paper is correct to use?
I like Hahnemuhle a lot. I have never been a fan of Arches because the texture is too rough. It used to be the gold standard but now we have lots of papers of equal quality to choose from.
I believe Hahnemühle makes a drawing/pastel paper that might work for pastel/oil pencil. It’s called Skizze/Pastell 130gsm, 60lb paper, however I haven’t tried it myself. Arches Huille paper is advertised as working for both oil and oil pastels, but again I haven’t tried it before. I wouldn’t recommend using watercolor paper for oil pastel/pencil because it will likely have too much grain texture to get the results you may want
