Digital BW, The Print

Hello everybody,
I'd like to share an information on the availability of the watercolour paper Arches Hot Press "bright white" in Europe. Unfortunately it's not available in Europe. It's produced in France, but shipped directly and exclusive to the US. I got this information personally and direct from Canson here in Germany (Canson is the owner of the Arches papers). What we can get here in Germany is only the variant Arches Hot Press "natural white". To many art supply shops in Germany the "bright white" variant is completely unknown. I just wanted to save anybody here in Europe from loosing time during the search for the bright variant. The background on this: Paul Roark has published an impressive amout of work on his carbon on cotton approach using Arches Hot Press "bright white" (thanks a lot for sharing your insights, Paul!). I tried to get this paper to follow Paul on his path. I did some test prints on the "natural white" variant, but soon switched to Fabriano Artistico Extra White Watercolor Paper, which may be an (at least available) alternative here in Europe.

Links:
1.) Here Canson shows both variants: http://de.canson.com/node/2959
2.) a source for "Fabriano Artistico Extra White" in the US:
http://www.dickblick.com/products/fabriano-artistico-extra-white-watercolor-paper/
3.) a source for "Fabriano Artistico Extra White" in Germany:
http://www.boesner.com/papiere/papiere/aquarellpapier/aquarellpapier-1

PS: If there's anybody in germany who's interested in importing some
Arches Hot Press "bright white" - perhaps we can team up?

Best wishes from Germany,
Thilo