Whether you’re drawing, painting, sketching, doodling, or collaging, paper is one of the most essential supplies required to start any creative endeavour. As much as other supplies, the surface on which you draw has an impact on your artistic accomplishment.

However, picking the right paper pad for the job can sometimes be overwhelming especially when you’re a newbie and starting from scratch. Moreover, there are many different types each corresponding to a different type of art. Since it can be confusing to distinguish between these paper pads, we created this guide to make it easier for you to select the ideal paper for your upcoming project.

Types of Art Papers

Take your artistic endeavours to the next level with creative art papers that will keep your artwork in good condition for a very long time. Always opt for an acid-free one as otherwise it may deteriorate or turn yellow over time, which would affect the image. Surface texture should also be taken into account, especially if you intend to deal with several coatings. Once the paper has been coated with colour, it is difficult to apply more layers of colour on top of it. Use paper with the proper tooth or texture to make the process easier.

Since the world of art paper types is so huge that you may get lost in the brands, textures, weights, and more, the following types are the basis for paper pads.

Drawing Papers

Drawing papers are a terrific option for drawing and finishing work. Again, the ideal media to employ with drawing paper are graphite, charcoal, dry monochromes, soft pastels, oil pastels, markers, and pen and ink. There are several series available for any level of artist (beginning to professional) and they feature smooth to medium surfaces.

Charcoal Papers

More than 100 years have passed since the invention of charcoal paper. It features a distinctive woven finish and is entirely comprised of cotton. Once more, the charcoal type offers the artist exquisite shading control and works well with charcoal, drawing chalks, monochromes, pastels, and graphite.

Even though charcoal art papers are incredibly thin and won’t absorb much water, some artists have in the past used sparingly applied ink, watercolour, and gouache. Different antique papers that resembled this lay paper were referred to as “woven paper”. It is well known that Ingres created beautiful woven paper drawings that perfectly caught this surface texture.

Sketchpads

Sketching papers are regarded as a lighter version of drawing papers because they are so similar to them. Drawing exercises, experiments with dry media, and quick sketches for final drawings on heavier, superior papers are all common uses for it. Sketchpads are a common tool used by artists for their fast sketches and studies. The greatest drawing tools for sketches on paper include coloured pencils, graphite, charcoal drawing chalks, monochrome chalks, and oil pencils.

Bristol Paper

A lot of businesses and institutions utilize this adaptable and widely used paper. Two or more sheets are glued together to form 2-ply, 3-ply, etc. sheets to achieve stiffness and strength and to produce a sheet with two equal useful sides. Bristol is the name given to these papers.

Bristol type has two different surface finishes: vellum, which has some bite, and smooth (plate). Smooth Bristol is ideal for intricate work with coloured pencils or graphite, airbrush, and pen and ink. Vellum is the best surface for using graphite, charcoal, airbrush, pastels, crayons, coloured pencils, and pen as well as ink.

Pastel Paper

Both of the sides of the pastel paper can be used because one has a recognizable shingled texture and the other is a little silkier. As the name implies, pastel paper is the ideal surface for pastels, charcoal, drawing chalks, monochromes, and coloured pencils. The softer side of the paper is used by the majority of coloured pencil painters. Artists will occasionally utilize even faint washes of watercolour as an underpainting.

Canvas Paper Pads

The canvas paper has a texture, and it is the ideal size to hold paint and oil on paper without gesso. It’s the perfect type to practice painting techniques on. Many classrooms use the canvas pad as a teaching tool. You can use graphite, coloured pencils, oils, acrylics, and painting mediums on it.

Watercolour Paper

The watercolour paper pads are among the types with the largest range of weights and surface textures. The three most common weights are 90 lb., 140 lb., and 300 lb., with the higher number being stiffer.

The 90 lb. and 140 lb. sheets should be stretched to another surface to prevent buckling while painting, however, the 300 lb. paper does not require stretching. The cold-pressed variety has some surface roughness or pebbling, the rough one has a very obvious surface texture or pebbling, and the hot-pressed paper is very smooth. Among the acceptable materials are graphite, watercolour, gouache, coloured and watercolour pencils, liquid acrylics, drawing chalks, and monochromes.

Mixed Media Paper

The mixed media surface is relatively new in the world of paper. A paper that could withstand the different media processes used by contemporary painters was a goal for manufacturers. The surface was designed to resemble watercolour in appearance while having a vellum drawing surface. Art can be created with a variety of materials, including graphite, coloured pencils, markers, acrylic, watercolour, gouache, pen and ink, charcoal, drawing chalks, monochromes, pastels, gel pens, fine liners, calligraphy inks, and a host of others.