So I discovered bristol paper at last (yeah, yeah... late trick) and I'm working on figuring out rendering with mixed media. Still not happy since I'm accustomed to rendering fully OR in tone mats... not both. With luck, I'll figure this out.
Kesin Locke is the lead character of my graphic-novel in progress.
Thanks very much. I think I may have stumbled upon a version of bristol board that may work better for me than the plate stuff. Fingers crossed for whatever's next!