Strathmore Medium Drawing Paper Review | Testing Drawing Paper For Colored Pencils

In this Strathmore medium drawing paper review, and testing drawing paper for colored pencils, I talk about pro's and con's of the drawing paper for colored pencils and graphite, with my recommendations. In this review I talk about why I use Strathmore medium drawing paper for a portion of my colored pencil and graphite drawings, as well as some of the disadvantages of using it for drawing fur. I am not sponsored by Strathmore for this video, this is just an honest review because I've been using this paper for many years with both my graphite and colored pencil drawings, with little issues besides rare instances of paper tearing. So I've been testing this drawing paper out for a long time, not just once or twice.
I feel like this paper has been very great for beginning colored pencil drawings, as it is very affordable and holds lots of layers, and I will say as much as I like it and use it, it doesn't work the best for needing to use tape for your drawings. That hasn't stopped me from using it though, and in the end it is up to you to decide what paper you would like to use for your drawings.
⏩ (VIDEO) What you need to know to begin colored pencils: • Beginning Colored Penc...
⏩ (VIDEO) Learn to draw a horse with colored pencils: • Drawing A Horse With C...
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[@scootermom1791]

I'm blown away by your artwork! It's hard to believe all of your drawings are done in colored pencil...they look so vibrant and real! The peacock and eagle look like they're photographs...not drawings. Incredible!

[@EveHarveyArt]

Your videos are always so professionally done and its definitely going to help a lot of people. I use clairefontaine paper and its awesome! It was great seeing you draw too youre honestly so talented! Hope you had a great Christmas and let's hope next year will be better than 2020 hehe

[@jessicamatheneyfineart]

Awe thank you! Hope you had a great Christmas as well. ☺️ I hear pastelmat is really great, I have some Uart paper to try out which is very similar. How long have you been using pastelmat? What do you like about it?

[@DeboraExum]

Thanks for the review. There are so many papers out there that's it's difficult to know which one to buy. I have this one along with several others, but I've noticed that I tend to choose this one most often.

[@jessicamatheneyfineart]

Yes there sure are lots of different papers! The medium textured paper just can't be beat with giving you the maximum potential of layers with colored pencils.

[@LisaIngArt]

Awesome and beautiful dog portrait drawing !! This is amazing ! So nice and great sharing !! Big like for this creative work this is impressive :)

[@jessicamatheneyfineart]

Thanks, appreciate the compliment. ;)

[@NaomiCoutureArt]

Great review of this paper. I have a pad of it. I’m used to drawing on hot pressed watercolor paper. I also found I had a harder time blending things out. I may go back and try this paper again after this review as I was using it when I first started out. 😃

[@jessicamatheneyfineart]

Thank you! Is it the hot pressed watercolor paper you had a harder time blending things out with, or the medium drawing paper? I haven’t tried hot pressed watercolor paper, maybe I should some day just to see how it does. 😆

[@NaomiCoutureArt]

@@jessicamatheneyfineart I had a harder time with the drawing paper. But I am going to try it again as I still have the paper.

[@jessicamatheneyfineart]

@@NaomiCoutureArt It can take a bit more colored pencil to blend when using burnish blending, but using solvent to blend with works best for more textured paper because it works the pigments into all the tooth of the paper. So you should definitely give it another go and see how you like it again. 😄

[@lesliemischel1159]

I love this paper. At this point I’ve only used graphite but after seeing you using colored pencil, I’ll have to give it a try. Thank you 😊

[@jessicamatheneyfineart]

You're welcome!

[@david111davies]

you can buy large rolls of the heavier version of this for way cheaper than buying several of the pads over time. But of course paper rolls are hard to ever get back to perfectly flat.

[@waywardcreativity431]

Wow... I knew there were different kinds of paper but I had no idea... I really need to do more research. Thank you so much for your help!

[@jessicamatheneyfineart]

You're welcome! Colored pencils behave like a different medium depending on the paper you use, experimenting around with different paper types is fun. :)

[@EnjoyDrawingwithMary]

Beautiful drawings Jessica and I love your paper review! 😍 👏👏👏👍😊 Have a nice day and have a great holidays 😊 ❤️

[@jessicamatheneyfineart]

Thank you so much 😀 Have a wonderful day as well!

[@EnjoyDrawingwithMary]

@@jessicamatheneyfineart thank you!

[@lucymacdonald644]

A good tip I learnt for a clean tape lift is the following: use a low tack tape. I am using the 3M medical care tape ( the type you can use for wrapping lint around a wound). When you go to lift the tape use a craft heat tool or hairdryer on the warm setting and slowly aim this at the tape in the area you are about to lift. Move along the tape at the same rate as you lift the tape. I did this on some watercolour paper which tended to tear its top layer along the edges. I was so surprised at how well it worked. It must be that the heat softens the adhesive so making it easier to move off the paper. There was no adhesive residue in my experience. I haven't tried it with drawing paper.

[@jessicamatheneyfineart]

That's such a great tip, thanks for sharing!

[@vdostarr]

My favorite tip I got from Dr. Rocke Art is to stick the (masking/painter’s) tape to your shirt a few times so it loses some stickiness & then it’s way easier to peel up without any damage to the paper

[@tthomas184]

A tip I learned is lay out the tape on another surface first, then lift. Each time you lift will reduce the tack. Repeat till tape has the tack you want, then apply it.

[@jessicamatheneyfineart]

Thanks for the tip!

[@Ducttapecrafts99]

Subscribed. I’m still a beginner at art but coloured pencil is already my favourite medium to work with. Although I’m not nearly as good as you or some of the other artists out there 😅

[@jessicamatheneyfineart]

That’s great, glad you’re enjoying the medium so much! And thank you for watching my video. 😁

[@romanticoart1699]

What a nice drawing you did.💖👍🏻👍🏻

[@jessicamatheneyfineart]

Thank you. 🙂

[@mikeo759]

I'd love to hear your thoughts on Stonehenge and Pastelmat. Pastelmat took some getting used to for me, but it's crazy fun to work with once I understood its properties.

[@jessicamatheneyfineart]

What about pastelmat do you like the most? I have some Uart paper, which is the cheaper equivalent to pastelmat, I just haven’t gotten around to testing it out yet. I plan to soon though. I’ve seen other artists using pastel mat almost like pastels, and it definitely looks like a lot of fun.

[@mikeo759]

@@jessicamatheneyfineart It's the amount of layers you are able to stack on it and how well it holds up before losing its texture if drawn with a light touch. I've been blending dry using a stump or acid free swab. But it does hold up really well to OMS. My only issue with OMS is how it darkens areas I use to blend with it until it dries. Because of how many layers it can take it even allows applying lights over darks to some extent, but I still use Brush and Pencil Titanium for bright highlights. It took some getting used to- as I typically like a really flat hot press water color paper like Arches or Fabriano Artisco where it's the total opposite of how much pigment it takes. Your skill level is better than mine and I'd love your take on Pastelmat.

[@jessicamatheneyfineart]

@Deejay d It’s interesting how each and every artist has their own opinions about lots of different things, especially paper. Most artists I’ve come across have said the opposite of your perspectives on paper. I also know that we all differ on our preferences of longevity and affordability with the products we use, and to each their own. I base my statement on the UArt paper from Jason Morgan who has tested it and it behaves nearly exactly the same as pastelmat despite the fact that they are different in their manufacturing and materials. I haven’t used it yet, but when I do I will form my own thoughts about it. Thanks for the tips. 😄

[@smencosdepasol]

Hi, have you try watercolor pencils? cuz they use little water just to activate them. thx

[@DhritishreeBhuyan]

Really stunning work. I loved this. Keep going. Stay connected.

[@jessicamatheneyfineart]

Thanks!

[@paigeme886]

Thank you so much! This is so helpful. I just watched your review of their Colored pencil paper too! May I ask, does the coloured pencil paper have more tooth? And do you find that colours are less vibrant and more difficult to blend on the on the smoother side of this paper? Thank you so much again! Love your in-depth reviews!

[@jessicamatheneyfineart]

Both kinds of papers have a medium surface and are exactly the same, the only difference is that the colored pencil paper is white and a little bit thicker, and the drawing paper is a slight cream color and just a little less thick than the colored pencil paper. For blending, the the smooth side works great, it feels similar to Bristol vellum, you will only be able to get so many layers before it won’t take anymore.

[@paigeme886]

@@jessicamatheneyfineart thank you so much for replying! Im really unsure as i heard that the coloured pencil paper is quite different and others haven't had much success with it. Are you sure it feels the same to draw on? thank you so much again

[@ModelShipLog]

great review! thanks for sharing

[@jessicamatheneyfineart]

Thanks for watching!

[@Joshis]

This is so good!

[@jessicamatheneyfineart]

Thanks. :)

[@jumanas4012]

my fav. ❤

[@ansh4587]

I must say this paper is really really good for those ppl who love using charcoals it’s like it literally made for doing chArcoal art

[@_m1lkypurin]

What paper surface would u recommend if I use alcohol based markers and oil based colored pencils at one drawing?

[@jessicamatheneyfineart]

I would use bristol vellum.

[@_m1lkypurin]

@@jessicamatheneyfineart okay thank you!

[@weilart2584]

May I know this paper suit for wax color pencil or not? Like prismacolor

[@jessicamatheneyfineart]

This paper is good for any colored pencil type, how you blend your colored pencils is where it matters. If you burnish blend this paper will be a little more time consuming to fill in all the crevices, if you blend with solvents there are no issues.

[@QueenViolet8]

Wow such a realistic drawing I want to pet the Cute 🥰 dog 🐶

[@jessicamatheneyfineart]

Thanks so much!

[@rtb03791]

I've got this paper can you use prisma coloured pencils on it

[@jessicamatheneyfineart]

You can use any colored pencils on it, just keep in mind that this is a more textured paper, so will take some work to get the colored pencil through all the grooves of the paper. It is best to use solvent to blend with when using this paper.

[@daniloarts588]

thank you maam

[@jessicamatheneyfineart]

You're welcome!

[@daniloarts588]

@@jessicamatheneyfineart im anew artist hope you’ll see my artwork too .thanks a lot

[@leontemur8595]

how big is the A5 one in inches ?

[@jessicamatheneyfineart]

I'm not sure exactly what you mean by your question, but an A5 size is 8.3 x 5.8 inches. The closes size of these drawing pads to an A5 size is a 6x8 inch.

[@leontemur8595]

@@jessicamatheneyfineart thank you

[@lhvs5432]

Does it work for markers ?

[@jessicamatheneyfineart]

Markers need smooth papers, so I wouldn't recommend this paper for them.

[@lhvs5432]

@@jessicamatheneyfineart oh thanks , is there any other drawing paper u recommend for markers ?

[@trovearts9509]

Very helpful. SERIOUS thanks for sharing this. I'm CONSTANTLY trying out new papers OFTEN with disappointment.

[@jessicamatheneyfineart]

Glad it was helpful!