Paper Recommendations For Pen & Ink Drawing

[@CristinaPijuanCasis]

Really enjoyed your class in Drawing Textures and Details in Pen & Ink! I learned a lot about the concepts of hatching, how and when to apply the rules (or break them!) and found the tips and recommendations very valuable! Thank you!

[@mkompan]

So glad you enjoyed the workshop, Cristina!

[@EuropaPhoenix]

Even though they are hard to find in my country, I love the Strathmore Toned Gray 400 series sketchbooks. The paper is perfect for ink drawings with a fountain pen or a brush pen. The paper doesn't like watercolour, but touches of colour pencils (including white pencils), white ink and washes of diluted ink work very well.

[@mkompan]

I like those sketchbooks very much, but the value is a little too dark to use with black ink alone, and requires white ink to get a full range of value.

[@jacobmach3740]

I do love the arches cold press. Wish i could order it in bulk or find discounts on it like you can with Stonehenge.

[@mkompan]

It's not cheap in the US either. But I'm sure other less expensive brands of cold-press paper will work well for this purpose.

[@jacobmach3740]

​@mkompan Absolutely. I find "student grade" is often on sale and Absolutely is fine for ink and a light wash. I've also enjoyed the Royal Talens rembrandt toned pads. Lot of fun for incorporating white ink.

[@marjanbakhtiarikish6433]

Awesome, Thanks so much! It's really a challenge to find just the right paper for pen and ink drawings...especially the Old Master way!

[@mkompan]

My pleasure! Glad you found this useful to you.

[@dross2036]

Do you have any thoughts about Rives BFK? I have a pile of it and can't make up my mind about whether or not I like it for pen/ink and watercolor. Thank you. I look forward to each new video.

[@mkompan]

Sorry, it’s been awhile since I’ve used Reeves BFK. I believe I enjoyed it for dry media, but it didn’t take ink or washes very well, being super absorbent.

[@colossusX1]

Looking to mix soft pastel and fountain pen drawing. Would pastel paper work?

[@mkompan]

@@colossusX1 Pastel paper is very abrasive and might damage your pen. However a good textured toned paper like the Mi-tientes series by Canson takes both very well. Also I have a video where I tone white paper with soft pastels and then work over it in ink. The technique works quite well.

[@amats3]

Just wanted to thank you again for your recommendations for: the Delacroix memoirs, which I finished and for the custom ground fude which I’ve been using for the past year. Both are excellent! Thank you!

[@mkompan]

@@amats3 you’re very welcome. I’m so you enjoyed Delacroix’s journal. It’s a book that deserves to be better known.

[@thekevermelho]

That illustration at the beginning reminds me of Mr Gena :) Thanks for this review

[@mkompan]

You know your Soviet culture. :) Krokodil Gena was an essential part of my childhood, but I think this illustration (done decades ago) was inspired by a poem by Korney Chukovsky about a cigarette smoking, Turkish speaking crocodile.

[@thekevermelho]

@@mkompan thank you 🙏 very kind from you to share this

[@mkompan]

@@thekevermelho You're very welcome!

[@sharonkatz4451]

Hi Marc, I'm wondering about Canson's Field Drawing Book. The paper is cream coloured, similar to the Talens Creations paper. And similar in weight (147 gsm). Have you tried it? Thanks so much again for hugely helpful videos.

[@mkompan]

Hi Sharon. Sorry, haven’t encountered this sketchbook. Will look for it in the stores. And you’re very welcome, as always!

[@sharonkatz4451]

Thanks very much for this Marc, it's very helpful. Do you have a favourite modestly priced paper for practicing pen and ink techniques? I'm going through reams of paper right now learning the skills. Thanks!

[@mkompan]

@@sharonkatz4451 you’re welcome Sharon. Many regular sketchbook papers work just fine with pen and ink, provide you’re not too heavy handed. For example, I often use a Canson Universal Sketch sketchbook in my workshops.

[@Luminareo]

I appreciate how you keep this grounded by referencing the materials of the old masters. I don't suppose you have any recommendations on ultra-budget paper? Or maybe pen and ink just means you have to provide a certain quality paper.

[@Kliffot]

Try Wenzhou paper for ultra budget

[@mkompan]

Often even very inexpensive paper works with pen and ink, but I don't have specific ultra-budget recommendations for you. I think it's a question of trying a few cheap papers to see if they work for you.

[@Art_culture_livin]

In India there is a bran call Jk Excel bond copier paper - which is 100 gsm , a rim of 500 cost around 8- 10 USD , SO Good for writing and nice option for sketching , no feathering at all , if you could get one then please try .

[@mkompan]

That might be hard to obtain here in the US. But I find that inexpensive copier paper often works just fine for pen and ink, so long as the pen is not too wet writing.

[@ichirofakename]

1. Mostly I use bristol board or hot press, having tried many softer and rougher papers, which I find useful for me less often. I'm glad to learn about the dip pen paper, Bordon & Riley. Is my guess right, that you are using "Paris Paper"? If it stands up to smaller nibs, then I need to try it. 2. It's counter-intuitive but demonstrably true that you can get an evener-looking result with a rougher paper.

[@mkompan]

1. Yes that’s Paris paper made by Borden and Riley. It’s good stuff, and yes very good for those ultra pointy nibs that would catch on anything with even a touch of texture. 2. This is definitely true for washes, where the texture holds the wash in place as it dries. However, lines on rougher paper are rougher, but as this video argues, that’s not a bad thing.

[@ichirofakename]

@@mkompan Yes, it is washes where rough paper looks surprisingly even. Good clarification.

[@katyakompaneyets7982]

Хороший Крокодил, Крокодил Крокодилович.

[@mkompan]

Папиросы курил. По-турецки говорил, -

[@InxVice]

I like ivory colored paper. If I use white paper then I plan on using Bristol vellum, smooth Bristol, or kokuyo zara Zara/sara Sara notebooks since I don’t have any watercolor paper because I have these already.🫠 I’ll get stonehedge later I guess.👁️🫦👁️🤷🏾‍♀️

[@mkompan]

I like beige colored paper too. Softer than working on pure white, and you can still get decent contrast.

[@Taka_Takata]

An interesting idea for those who have reached a good level on harder papers... Just to make sure: Mark recommends the regular Stonehenge, the 250gsm that's uncoated and comes in several colors, called "vellum-like" when bought in sheets? As for "Arches Cover", it seems to be the English name of "Velin d'Arches" or simply "Velin (printmaking paper)", right? Available in 200gsm and 250gsm? European prices for both brands are quite similar now. I'll try them when my FP skills will be all right on HP, after exhausting my reserve of Fabriano Artistico and Saunders Waterford HP -both old-school white- and after trying all the papers in the Hahnemüle sampler.

[@mkompan]

Thanks for the clarification for my European viewers! I'm actually making the opposite argument here, that working on textured, softer and off-white surfaces is easier than working on the hard papers, which will allow you to build your skill-level From my perspective, there's no need to need first reach a certain degree of skill on harder papers before trying something else. And yes, you can make fast marks on Stonehenge paper, but the advantage of it is that it slows you down, forcing you to be a little more methodical--which is also good for learning.