Choosing the right drawing paper

Black?,White? Coloured? Tooth or no Tooth? It's worth taking the time to think about it before selecting your paper. Before you buy, ask yourself the right questions.

Is your medium Dry, Colour Or Wet

Dry Media, like charcoal is best suited to medium grain paper, such as Canson "C" à grain paper, so that it can adhere without interfering with the smoothness of your movement.

Colour Pencils or graphite pencils- can require a smooth surface, that is, a fine grain like Canson 1557 or Canson Imagine mixed media paper, so that it can spread easily and the pencils glide across the paper better.

Pen- pen and ink requires very smooth paper, like Canson Bristol as this paper is super smooth the nibs will be less prone to damage , Bristol also is bleed proof preventing the page on the other side being marked.

Should it be thick or Thin Paper?

If You will be doing a lot of erasing: make sure your paper is not too thin, to keep it from tearing at the slightest erasure. If overlaying various layers remember that your paper must be heavy enough to support your drawing material.

Is White or colour Paper Best ?

It all depends on your medium's covering capacity and the effects you are looking for.

• White Paper for charcoal and graphite drawings help you extend your range of tones from the whiteness of the paper to the dark gray of the drawing material. This gives you optimum contrast between shadow and light.
• Colour Paper is best for pastels and chalks, which have a high capacity of colour for coverage. This allows you to work the background colour into the tones in your drawing.