Watercolor fruit

I am taking a watercolor class in order to improve my skills. Our week 2 assignment was a fruit still life. I'm fairly happy with the results. Normally painting a still life bores me to death, but I can see why it's a good exercise. And I must say, I have always read that using good paper makes a big difference, and I always sort of scoffed at that idea, but now I must admit I am a convert to Arches watercolor paper.