Hi Donato,

The largest single ply strathmore paper I've found in my area is 23" x 29", but I need larger! Have you found larger paper, and if so, is this a special order item? Or, do you tile stuff together?

Strathmore makes the paper in a 30" x 40" sheet. I get it at Pearl Paint and New York Central Art Supply here in the city. I know Alan Pollack has mail ordered it so maybe he can help you out there. (Pearl probable also has it in their catalog.)

I noticed that when I saturated the paper, it seemed to expand a little-is this normal? I guess it's kind of like a sponge, so it makes sense.

Yes this is normal. Actually the paper tends to expand in one direction more than another (~1% on the long direction and ~4-5% in width), I think its from the way it was rolled out in manufacturing. I like to use the larger sheets and cut them in half and have the expansion go top to bottom instead of side to side (facial/body distortions look better elongated than wide. Real people vary too much in body types to make a difference anyway...

Just how smooth do you sand the matte medium down? I sanded what I thought was pretty smooth, but I did end up with some visible brush striations once I started painting. It's not normally something that bothers me, but I was wondering how glassy you try and get the surface.

I paint with those small striations as well. The best way to avoid them is to thin down the medium. Make it very milky and use a soft brush to spread it out, and keep spreading it as it dries to help reduce down the ridges that form. My friend and Science Fiction illustrator Steve Youll used to make his masonite as smooth as glass..I'm not kidding! Sanding and wetsanding. You might try the later with ultra fine paper (~ 400- 600 grit).

One thing that was very different for me when I started painting on this was that the paint seemed to grip less. I expect it was the smoothness of the surface. Do you use anything to give the medium any sort of tooth, or do you just let the paint build layers until it gets opaque?

I actually start very opaque and then place transparent layers on top. Both to cover the drawing/copy fully and also to quickly establish my values. It's easy to adjust color once the value composition is worked out. As for it gripping, I haven't know how to paint on panel any other way...! I've heard from others using just linseed oil as a medium that they've had trouble. Not a problem here, my glazing medium provides plenty of 'tooth'.

Have fun!