Drawing paper basics is our subject today. Why paper basics? Because there are a lot of different types and brands of paper on the market today.
In this post, I want to focus on three different surface textures.
Drawing Paper Basics – Surface Texture
Smooth Papers
Smooth papers are papers that have very little tooth. Some of them may appear to have little or no tooth at all. Popular brands are Rising Stonehenge, and the Strathmore 400 series.
Smooth papers are ideal for fine detail and ease of color application. If you like to create colored pencil drawings that have no paper showing through the finished drawing, smooth papers will probably help you the most. Many of them are available in colors.
Most come in pads, rolls, or sheets, and are easy to find in most art supply stores or online. If you like buying paper in pads, make sure to compare it to the full sheet versions of the same type of paper. There are sometimes small differences.
Bristol board is also a smooth surface drawing support. It comes in a vellum surface or regular surface. The regular surface has a bit more tooth than the vellum, but both are very versatile. I used Bristol paper with a regular (smooth) surface for this drawing.
Among the smooth papers, I’ve had the best success with Bristol paper or boards, Rising Stonehenge, and a recycled art paper called Strathmore Artagain. Artagain is made from 30% recycled material mixed with fiber, so no matter what color you buy, there is a pattern in the paper. It’s quite sturdy, but very smooth. It takes the least amount of layers of the papers I use most often, but it’s great for use with multiple layers of color applied with very light pressure.
It’s also wonderful for sketching or simple drawings because the visible texture provides built-in visual interest.
One note on Bristol Papers
They are not all the same. I prefer Bienfang Bristol Vellum. It’s very smooth.
But I have seen other Bristol papers that have a bit more surface texture than Bienfang. So if you like Bristol paper, it may be worth your time to try the different brands.
Medium Tooth Papers
Medium tooth papers are drawing papers that are neither smooth nor rough. Most were developed for other types of dry medium such as charcoal and pastel. Strathmore 500 series paper is one such paper. Others are Canson Mi-Teintes and Daler-Rowney Murano Textured Fine Art Papers.
These papers have enough tooth to grab and hold onto color quickly and easily. They also can take a lot of layering and most of them can stand a good deal of rough handling and medium to heavy pressure color application.
But they’re still smooth enough to allow you to create high levels of detail if that’s what you want to do.
I use medium tooth papers more often than I used to. The paper I’ve used most is Canson Mi-Teintes. It’s a nice, sturdy paper (98 lb), so it takes color very well. This portrait is on Steel Grey Canson Mi-Teintes.
Textured Papers
Many textured, or coarse grained, papers that are suitable for colored pencil work are available. Popular brands are Ampersand Pastelbord, Art Spectrum Colourfix Coated Pastel Paper, Canson Mi-Teintes Touch Sanded Papers and Boards, Clairefontaine Pastelmat, and UArt Sanded Pastel Paper. I used UArt sanded pastel paper for this landscape.
You can lay down tons of color and get very painterly drawings quite easily. These papers are hard on pencils—they eat them for lunch!—but if you love the looser look, they’re well worth trying.
BONUS! Mount the paper on a rigid support, and frame your colored pencil drawings without glass, just like an oil painting. Some of the papers listed above come in a panel form.
Many of them also come in colors and some in various “grits” or levels of coarseness.
Those are the Basics of Drawing Paper
What I’ve described above is the very basic basics. There are a variety of textures within each of these three categories. For example, UArt paper is more gritty than Pastelmat. Pastelmat is more gritty than Colourfix.
The same is true for smooth papers and medium tooth papers.
But even though I’ve barely skimmed the surface on this complex and broad subject, you hopefully have enough information on drawing paper basics to make your own decisions.
And that’s what you’ll have to do, because there is no one-size-fits-all paper that works for every artist all the time.
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I’ve tried a few kinds of papers, including Strathmore Bristol Vellum, Stonehenge, and Fabriano 140 lb. Hot Press Watercolor paper, all of which I like. I also have some Mi Tientes black pastel paper, 98 lb., and Strathmore Toned Gray, 80 lb. to try out. I so appreciate your reviews.
Vickie,
I’m glad to be of assistance!
Carrie
I have just started out with colored pencils and am using Canson Mixed Media paper. I don’t know if this paper is considered rough or medium. It does have some tooth to it so I know it can’t be considered smooth. I’ve noticed that after a few layers, it doesn’t seem to want to take any more color. Any opinion on this inexpensive paper?
Cee,
I can’t speak personally about Canson Mixed Media paper, but in looking at the description of it on Dick Blick, I would conclude that the paper is most likely too smooth to accept very many layers of colored pencil. It also appears to be sized so it’s less absorbent and can be used with wet media. That may also be working against you.
However, the description also says it has a smooth side and a rougher side. If you’re using the smoother side, try a drawing on the rougher side and see if that helps.
I’m using Canson Mi-Teintes for some of my work. It’s designed for Pastel, so the front has quite a bit of texture. The back is much smoother, and is great for colored pencil. You might want to give that a try and see how it compares to the mixed media paper.
I hope that helps.
Carrie
Please what’s ur opinion on the smoothness of borden Riley’s vellum finished paper.
Kehinde,
I’m not familiar with that paper, so I looked up Borden & Riley, then looked specifically at the vellum finish drawing papers. Without working on them myself, I can’t do more than say that most Bristol papers are suitable for colored pencil, but you need to be aware that they’re usually so smooth, they will take a limited number of layers. You can do highly detailed work on them, but the more layers you do, the more difficult it becomes to make new color stick to what’s already on the paper.
I like the idea that they offer cloth-bound pads. That’s not something that’s offered very much in the states anymore.
Have you use this paper or are you wanting to try it?
Carrie
I know this isn’t a paper type surface but have you ever tried suede mat board with colored pencil? I have done three animal portraits on it and it works really well. I believe it was Gemma Gyling that had tutorials on that, which I did. Would love to see what you could do on suede mat board with a horse picture. Bet it would be very pretty. I did a dog and a cat on the suede mat board from a tutorial and then did a red panda on my own for my daughter. Loved the surface!
Hi Carrie,love your email on what papers to use,i can’t beleive you like Mi Tientes,how differant we all are ,i must have used a differant weight because you said you used the back of it for a picture,the Mi Tientes i used the back of mine and it was Honeycombed yuck. I love smooth i must admit. If anyone is interested in working on Suede Matboard (it is used in framing) it is wonderful for Animals,great Fur,their is an Artist in Australia.NSW Karen Hull email address is http://www.karenhullart.com Karen is aMaster at Pencil Work an can never help you enough do yourself a favour and check her website out.Happy Crafting Toni.
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Hi Carrie,
I’m finding your article and the discussion that follows very informative. You mentioned in one answer that a paper with sizing is less absorbent. What is sizing with regard to paper and how do you know if there is sizing in paper? Is this more important for water colour than coloured paper?
Marlene,
Thank you for reading and commenting. I’m glad to have answered some of your questions about paper.
Sizing is added to make paper more water-resistant. The paper doesn’t absorb as much moisture or pigment, so watercolors and inks stay brighter and lines stay crisper. It’s less important for papers used for dry media. Sizing also can affect a paper’s archival qualities. The sizing can be added while the paper is being made (internal sizing) or after the paper is dried (external sizing.)
To find out if a paper has sizing, you’ll have to do a little research. If you buy online, check the technical information.
I know that this is an older post, but I am just wondering whether the bristol vellum would still be smooth enough to get smooth shading. I read somewhere that it is like cold-pressed watercolour but this seems unlikely. I am looking for something smoother than even hot-pressed. I create very detailed pencil sketches and like a smooth surface for the detail. I used to use Strathmore 300 but don’t remember which one I used as it has been a while. This time I am looking to use the 400 series, but deciding on which to get.
Rachel,
Thank you for your question and comment.
Bristol is very smooth and is great for shading smooth color. It’s not at all like cold-press watercolor paper, which has more texture. I’ve used both and found it very difficult to draw smooth color on the cold press watercolor paper. It’s not impossible, but it does take more effort.
I don’t have any personal experience with the Strathmore papers, so can’t advise you there.
However, if you’re looking for an extremely smooth surface, you might try drafting films. That’s about as smooth a surface as you can get.