You don't see a lot of texture in that picture. In fact, it feels as if the surface were ironed. And that's quite literally what occurred (though via an industrial process).
Another sheet was 140lb Rough. As you can see in the following picture, the surface of the paper has a much greater texture than "hot press".
Finally, I purchased a sheet of 300lb Cold Press paper. This paper is much thicker. Though it's not Rough, the Cold Press at this thickness still feels about the same as Rough at 140lb paper.
The advantage of 300lb paper is that I can use it without needing to block the paper - even if I intend to use a heavy water wash. Otherwise without the blocking the paper tends to buckle and warp.
Another way to control the buckling and warping of the paper is to bind blocks of paper together with glue along all four edges. A small area along one side does not have glue. This allows the top sheet to be removed (with the back side of a knife - the blade side will cut the paper). Since all edges are glued, it means the page will return to a fairly flat shape once it dries on the block and is then removed from the block.
I may try some of the Arches watercolor paper blocks. But Arches paper is pretty expensive.
I've also fallen in love with Daler-Rowney The Langton Prestige watercolor paper blocks. I have used both Hot Press and Rough watercolor paper. I expect that Not (or Cold Press) paper will also be a great quality.
Though I have Strathmore watercolor paper blocks, I do not think that I will stick with those. That paper tends to crumble as you wash it and work the paint. It is much less forgiving. Worse, it is not 100% cotton, so will tend to degrade with time.
I may also try Fabriano Artistico watercolor paper blocks. The price appears to be similar to The Daler-Rowney paper.
I watched a video (below) on how to make your own watercolor canvas. This approach does two things. First, it stretches the paper to avoid buckling (how paper ripples when it gets wet). Second, it allows you to hang the watercolor painting as if it is a oil painting on a canvas.
By the way, if you do hang it as a canvas painting, without any glass or acrylic in front of it, you need to also spray a UV resistant fixative onto painting. But it's available from either Krylon or Golden. The Golden product has slightly better user ratings.
I think I will try this in the near future.
Well, I did try it. I'm very happy with the results. Here's the first blog entry that includes the source videos on doing a watercolor paper canvas:
The second blog entry shows the process of preparing to wrap the "paper canvas" around the stretcher bars:
http://fisher-findings.blogspot.com/2013/10/20131009-boldy-going-where-wait-what.html
The third blog entry shows the process of wrapping the "paper canvas" around the stretcher bars:
http://fisher-findings.blogspot.com/2013/10/20131009-completing-paper-canvas.html
And finally, the fourth blog entry shows a painting done on the "paper canvas":
http://fisher-findings.blogspot.com/2013/10/20131010-clematis_11.html
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