JaeHaruArt

Holy moly~ : o

So, I recently purchased 4 different kinds of papers specifically for acrylic paints and I won't ramble about them all but like ALL new papers they underwent the full treatment and got a cross-media sheet made with the first page to test their compatibility with all the medias I dabble in to see what all I can use on that surface if I feel like it and out of ALL the types of papers I own (which honestly is too many to list now) the Strathmore 400 Acrylic Paper pad I just bought has an insane level of compatibiity with almost EVERYTHING (dry and wet media) and makes a seriously OP multimedia surface! >: o

It's literally the first paper/surface I've found in about 2 years of testing out multiple types, including mixed media pads and bristol pads, that works and works WELL with THAT MANY types of things. I'm insanely impressed and didn't think it could be done.

For anyone interested in a breakdown of what all has been tested on it so far it's compatible with Alcohol Markers (Sharpie, Blick Studio, Prismacolor Premier), Acrylic Paint Markers (2 brands tested), Colored Pencil (wax-based Prismacolor Premier, burnishes nicely), Chalk Pastel Pencil, Graphite (blends and erases cleanly), Drawing Chalks (Prang Pastello, Prang Ambrite and Crayola Drawing Chalk), Full coats of Acrylic paint with a dry brush, and mixed with 50% water to test water compatibility on the paper since it's so soooo important to keep the surface wet when painting with acrylics in order to blend them at all), Watercolor, and Gouache (though I tend not to count Gouache because it's cheating and looks good and works on everything. It's too OP of a paint lol)

I've yet to test my oil paints or oil pastels on it but I'm looking forward to it since it seems like it'll handle those well too at this point and linen is often a recommended surface for oils.

For those interested in the paper specs it's a 246lb, 400 gsm heavyweight with a linen finish. And it well out-performed the Strathmore 500 Heavyweight mixed media paper which had feathering around the edges with the Prismacolor Brand Alcohol Markers, worse results with watercolor, bad support for acrylic paint and acrylic paint markers and just water in general, and bad support with oil pastel. The 500 Heavyweight had a higher 350lb, 570 gsm and was 100% cotton, so I was honestly expecting it to perform way better with wet media and paints than it actually did. But yeah, if you're looking for an actual mixed media paper that handles and handles mixed media WELL, I would def recommend grabbing a small pad of this for like $5 and giving it a try. It's what I've been expecting to find in a mixed media paper for years now.

Traditional Media Paper Reviews by Brand:

Strathmore 500 mixed media sheet (vellum). 500 series by this brand is supposed to be their best artist grade according to them. Not cheap. If you want to try it out yourself, I'd save your money and look for a different one. Tested the basics on it this morning because it arrived. Failed being a good paper for pencil/graphite, chalk pastel, oil pastel, and alcohol ink. Was okay enough with acrylic paint markers and acrylic water-based paints but you can't add any water or do any blending because the paper starts to degrade immediately. Not heavy enough to handle it. Not sure what other media this is marketed for. Pretty disappointed. Guess I'll be using this with some acrylic marker doodles and flat paintings here and there. Didn't buckle or warp at all under the paint. Def avoid any gouache or watercolor with this one. Works fine for airbrushing.

Strathmore 500 Charcoal Paper is okay with graphite and charcoal but wouldn't be my first choice. I still get easier and cleaner blending with a blending stump on Blick Fabriano Hot Press Watercolor Paper. That paper is also really good at solid smooth looking coverage with colored pencil. I use it with alcohol markers and colored pencil and it makes them look the same to the point that you can't which is which. It does give a slight feathered edge with both pencil and marker though so keep that in mind.

Strathmore 500 Heavyweight Mixed Media Pad: Again so their professional artist grade line and again seems to really only be well suited for acrylic paintings but able to handle water loads much better with a hefty g/m of 500. Probably suitable with watercolor and other wet mediums. Works well with oil pastel and mixing with oil too.

Strathmore 300 Marker Pad: It's awesome and I would recommend it. Nice clean and crisp lines. Doesn't darken the ink too much compared to how badly it will darken on regular paper when it comes to alcohol markers. Really good marker paper for alcohol markers imo if you want solid uniform color and clean crisp lines and edges. Acrylic markers work fine on it too. Great pad and not too pricey.

Strathmore 300 Bristol (smooth): I got this specifically for colored pencil. Though it's "smooth" there's still tooth to the paper, and texture. This is probably good if you're doing a lot of layering with pencil. I'm not and I'm not a huge fan of grainyness. Again I can get more solid, smooth and even shades on the Blick Fabriano watercolor pad without having to press down super hard and honestly I prefer that. Not a bad paper for colored pencil though and was able to layer really nicely on it. Just took more time and effort. Shows a lot of stroke lines with acrylic paint markers. Works well enough with alcohol markers. Not the sharpest edges but doesn't darken the color too badly. Not the best with graphite. Seems to really hold on to the strokes and not want to blend them out fully or fully erase. Pretty bad with oil pastel and does weird things with uneven texturing. Also not 100% smooth. You will see texture with everything. Handles acrylic paint fine and water and you can get pretty even coverage with minimal to no brush strokes.

UART Premium Sanded Pastel Paper 600 Grade: NGL this is great for soft and chalk pastel. Soaks up the excess dust like a breeze and eats the crap out of the stick so you get really solid even coverage almost immediatly also blends incredibly well. Soooooo ridiculously expensive though like wtf. I would go for a higher grit than 600 grade maybe 800 grade instead for an even smoother look and blending if you want to fork up the cash for it though. Reminds me a lot of practicing pastel on automotive wet/dry sandpaper. Very rough surface texture.

LEGION Heavyweight Yupo Pad: I got this for markers and acrylic paint. It's not good for... anything so far as far as I can tell. It's REALLY INTERESTING with acrylic paint but you can't actually paint with it. But you can get some really abstract and detailed designs pretty easily by putting some paint down and then dabbing it off with the brush tip or other tools. It's.... interesting.... maybe it's amazing with inks and watercolor. I don't know 'cause I don't have any to try on it atm. I wouldn't recommend it though.

Blick Fabriano Watercolor Paper (Hot Press): What can I say, this is one of my all time favorite papers. airbrushing on it is really smooth and has a slight shiny finish. Though it feathers the edges a bit for alcohol markers it's otherwise great with them and it's AMAZING with colored pencil it makes them LOOK like alcohol marker does and you don't have to use as much pressure to get there. It's not great with acrylic paint and pills really easily and you'll need flow improver and a softer brush to reduce brush strokes. Pills (degrades) with acrylic paint markers too. It's not great with pastels. It's great with graphite and using a mechanical pencil and blending stump is one of my go-to's with this paper it blends really easily and nicely and erases well. It blends pencil better than charcoal and chalk pastel. As an artist that loves using alcohol markers and colored pencils and graphite though it's an amazing all-in-1 for me.

HP Everyday Glossy Business Paper (designed for laser printers): I got this because I wanted a glssy paper and thought it would show alcohol markers and inks true to their color. It very much does. It also shows brush strokes like crazy, unfortunately. Been using it for airbrushing and it actually looks insanely smooth with that. Honestly really sucks with everything else. Unless you'r traditionally airbrushing I wouldn't buy it.

Blick Premium Colored Art Paper (black): Wanted a black paper so I got this. Use it with white chalkboard chalk and blending stumps to do value studies. Grainy texture really shows up with chalk and soft pastel. Works great with acrylic paint markers and really makes them pop and vibrant though. Not high enough g/m to handle acrylic paint and wrinkles a bit which is a shame. I wouldn't really use it with colored pencil because those are semi-transparent and it's black. Also the slight grainyness and the stray pencil dust is REALLY obvious if/when it smudges. Haven't tried it with airbrushing but did partly pick it up to try with that too.

Crash course on what you're looking for and what g/m2 for anyone who might not know: gms or g/m2 is most important and usually listed on the bottom of the paper next to the weight. Dry media papers typically have a 92-98 number range listed. This let's you know the paper is thick enough to handle that but not anything higher. Marker papers are usually 120 g/m or higher to be able to hold the ink well and not bleed through. 300 to 500+ are good for wet medias like acrylic paints, watercolor, gouche, and are thick and absorbant enough (usually) to handle the paint and the water without tearing, pilling (degrading), wrinkling or extremely warping, though warping is more common with the heavy load of watercolor. So yeah, depending on what you do, or want to do, make sure you're grabbing the right numbers for it and you'll have a much better time.

That's the end of my reviews on what I've tried so far. : 3