Drawing paper review: Fabriano Classico 5

Hello lovely people. Time for another drawing paper review! This time it’s a pad from fancy Fabriano. And WHEW does it seem like a contrast to the last review (W&N cartridge paper, which I loved.) This Classico 5 used to be my fav, but how things change…

Fabriano Classico 5 details

Source: Jackson’s art online

Brand: Fabriano (Italian paper producer that dates back to 1264)

Description: off-white 300gsm, mould-made, 50% cotton, surface-sized, acid-free, hot press (smooth finish) watercolour paper. Apparently the Royal Society of Botanical Artists thinks it’s the Best Shit

Price: £12.70 for 25 A5 sheets in a spiral pad (spendy)

TL;DR review: I’ve used this paper for a while, and although I love it because it’s comfortable like an old shoe... The surface falls apart like my bad fucking knitting; too damn fast if we’re being rly honest. It holds colour well and feels just the right smoothness to draw on. But sadly, it can’t take as much layering or pencil detailing as I really need. *Sigh.* Maybe it’s time to accept that Legion Stonehenge fine art paper is my new bestest fav?

Drawing paper review: Global Fluid cold press

Hello lovely ppl, time for another drawing paper review! This time it’s the cold press paper from Global’s Fluid range. I tried the hot press and didn’t like it at all - at least not for colour pencils (review here.) I’ve used Global papers for other kinds of work though, so I wanted to give them another try with a different finish. These reviews are about how I find using paper for Faber Castell polychromos colour pencils, with occasional graphite in there. So as always; your mileage may vary depending on the medium you use.

Global fluid cold press

Source: Jackson’s art

Description: 300gsm cold press watercolour paper in blocks gummed at 2 edges. Doesn’t specify cotton content so I’m assuming it’s a wood pulp paper

Price: £7.70 for 15 sheets, 8 x 8 inches (midrange-ish, could be worse)

TL;DR review: meh, feels like a cold press basically. If that sounds obvious…  I tried this paper because the hot press in the same brand was too smooth for my oil-based pencils, which slid about too much. I was hoping their cold press might also be smoother than average. But nope, it’s just a regular level of cold press roughness - so it’s like drawing on a fucking cheese grater if you use colour pencils. If you like a rough finish though, this paper was alright, & it held up to layering… It’s just not for me

Drawing paper review: Winsor and Newton cartridge paper (smooth)

Hello lovely people, welcome to my next paper review. This time it’s Winsor and Newton (W&N) cartridge paper in smooth surface finish, both 130gsm & 220gsm. I already use this paper, but I hadn’t really sat down and thought about why until I wrote about an insect drawing I made for my Patreon folks. So, with apols to patrons who’ve had some of this review before; I was actually pretty fucking impressed when I looked at the performance of this drawing surface!

Windsor & Newton Smooth Cartridge Paper 130 & 220gsm (off-white)

Source: Jackson’s art online

Description: smooth finish, doesn’t say acid free so assume it’s not, 220gsm (the moth) or 130gsm (the frog) cartridge paper, intended for pencil and pen

Price: £4.20 for 25 sheets A5 (affordable)

TL;DR review: My main message is that this paper is chuffing good value for something that held up well to all the shit I threw at it. However... It’s not labelled acid free acid-free so I wouldn’t use it for commission work, but it’s a great all-rounder for dry media. Loveloveloved it for colour pencil. It also coped with small amounts of wet media such as brush pen ink, and it was fine with graphite and fine liners. It doesn’t crease too easily, so it’s good for drawing while traveling - but I wish they did it in a hardback journal, because my cardboard-backed gummed pad got a bit battered along the way

Drawing paper review: County Stationery small blank postcards

Hello lovely people, here is my next paper review. TL;DR review first, then the the full review & WIPS. This time it’s a weird one - I don’t think cheap blank postcards are usually considered up there with archival paper on the whole. But I’m testing them for a specific purpose, and they were actually surprisingly good to draw on!

Source: local post office

Brand: County Stationery - which I guess is own-brand equivalent?

Description: smooth surface 9 x 14 cm / 3.5 x 5.5 inch blank postcards, sold at post offices. No real description on the packet so I have no idea if it’s acid free (v. much doubt it) or whatever. Could be made from fucking ground up bunny-rabbits for all I know (but I hope not, bc I’m vegetarian.)

Price: £0.99 for pack of 25 (cheap as chips)

TL;DR review: I wanted to know if it was possible to draw something detailed with twiddly bits on a postcard, and ship it successfully without it being damaged. I didn’t actually expect it to work, but not only were these super-cheap postcards easy to draw on… The drawing below survived being mailed to the US from the UK without an envelope. That’s only N=1, but a good start. My only complaint is that the paper is a bit too smooth and slippery when it comes to layering colours.

Drawing paper review: Bockingford & Global Fluid hot press 300gsm papers

Hello lovely people, here’s the latest paper reviews. This time it’s Bockingford Hot Press 300 gsm, a watercolour paper I’m testing for mixed media drawing in ink/gouache and pencil. I’m also going to briefly discuss Global Fluid hot press paper... It’s one I use for ink and painting, but I disliked so much for colour pencil, I didn’t finish the test drawing! For completeness though, I wrote up the deets & TL;DR review for it. Also shameless self-promotion, subscribe to my Patreon for more bugs and art supplies content ^_^

TL;DR reviews for anyone just passing through...

Bockingford hot press TL;DR I’m sure this is a great watercolour paper, but that’s not what this review is about. Gonna be honest; didn’t fkn like it for colour pencil drawing *at all.* Too spongey, and the surface gave way too quickly under the pencil point. This is def one to leave to the watercolourists.

Global fluid hot press TL;DR I love using this paper for making ink and/or watercolour patterns, often then drawing over them with graphite pencil. So I figured I’d give it a try for colour pencil. BIG MISTAKE NOPE NOPE NOPE. This paper is too slippery & unforgiving for polychromos colour pencil. Zero tooth even by hot press standards - not even the merest fucken whisper of texture. I didn’t finish a drawing on it. Skipped the tests, bleh. Saving this just for ink/paint from now on.

More detailed review/tests...

Drawing paper review: Legion Stonehenge fine art paper, white

Macrauzata moth drawn in polychromos pencils on Stonehenge fine art paper

Hello lovely people. Towards the end of making my Insecta Deck artwork, I had some paper nightmares when the manufacturer of my preferred drawing paper made some changes… And they weren’t good changes, they were very fucking bad ones. So after managing to pull enough paper together to finish Insecta, I’m now testing alternative brands, and I'm gonna share my findings here. I’ll put a TL;DR review near the top of each post for anyone who’s just passing through.

[Note: I’m moving all my blog posts over to here from my old site so if it feels like you’ve seen this before… That’s probably why!]

STONEHENGE FINE ART PAPER

Source: Jackson’s art online

Description: acid-free smooth/vellum finish 100% cotton paper, 250 gsm (mmmm weighty.) Specifically aimed at drawing media. I used the standard white, but it’s also available in warm white and several other colours

Price: £13.40 for 15 8x8 inch sheets (at the spendy end, but could be worse)

Blue tack test: 3 out of 3, no tearing.

Shading test: perfect score, no surface damage after 8 colours. (Details of how that test goes are here)

TL;DR review: fucking excellent if you use colour pencils. Try it, you won’t regret it. Haven’t tried for graphite or mixed media yet, but will update here as and when. [UPDATE May-2022: this paper is also great for drawing in graphite and in colour pencil over watercolour - see some polychromos drawing over paint here. I’m still using this paper for everything I can afford to. Perma-fave]...

Paper Nightmares (is not my new band name...)

[Note: I’m moving all my blog posts over to Tumblr from my old site so if it feels like you’ve seen this before... That’s probably why!]

Imagine you’re an artist working primarily in pencils on paper. You’re 42 illustrations into a 60-illustration print project. And suddenly, the paper from the brand you’re using plummets in quality. That paper now sucks. You’re stuck trying to find a new brand that gives comparable results to your former-fav, so you can finish the project. That would suck right?

Yes. Yes it does suck...