Can I use watercolor on Arches 88? Someone suggested it to me. I'm doing blotted line drawings with India ink and want to do some coloring (with watercolor). I've used hot press and cold press sheets, but want better absorption of the 88.

The Arches 88 is an un-sized paper, so any wet media will bleed leaving you very little control. Perhaps with the blotted line drawings this is the effect you'd like. However, the Arches 88 paper will act completely differently than the Hotpress and Coldpress sized watercolor papers that you've used in the past. If you're looking for a happy medium between the Arches 88 and a heavily sized watercolor paper, you might be interested in one of the following papers:

Stonehenge. https://legionpaper.com/stonehenge/
Rives BFK, https://legionpaper.com/rives-bfk/
Lenox 100, https://legionpaper.com/lenox-100/

We'd be happy to send you samples. Just send us your shipping address to info [at] legionpaper.com