Best Paper For Graphite Portraits

Canson mi teintes canson ingres strathmore 500 series and fabriano tiziano are popular choices.

Best paper for graphite portraits. I used strathmore 300 series bristol board pads 9 x 12 smooth for this ink drawing. Thinner paper will tear easier and ruin your work. Printer copying paper generally has a weight of 20lbs 75 gsm. It will give you good results without breaking the bank.

Smooth paper is great for graphite but it doesn t hold charcoal or pastel as well as drawing paper with a rougher texture. Bienfang raritan heavyweight drawing paper i cannot get this paper to accept dark blacks they just seem to fall off. The best paper for graphite drawing should be over 80 lbs. The pencil drawing paper recommended in this video can be purchased from a link on my website here.

It s called charcoal or pastel paper. Either get two pads one in each size or just get the larger size and work on half the page for graphite drawings if you want to get conservative. I used strathmore 300 series bristol board pads 9 x 12 velum for this graphite drawing. A pressed paper will be even smoother than smooth the pressed or smooth bristol papers are the best for pencil drawings in which you need to blend the graphite to a very smooth look for drawing human skin etc.

Ink drawing day to day sketching. Again my recommendation is the same here. In video 2 of sarah becktel s graphite series see her tips for selecting the right paper for graphite. It will have the texture you want.

For graphite drawings with a moderate degree of realism a drawing paper like strathmore series 400 is a good place to begin. It does not hold graphite well at all. A good overall choice in my opinion is strathmore bristol smooth 400. Textured paper surface should be thought of as being a 3 dimensional surface with peaks and valleys not unlike a mountain chain.

Most drawing paper has a coarse texture and that will work against you. To achieve an even shade it is necessary to surround the peaks paper texture with graphite from all angles. Strathmore 400 series drawing or strathmore s 400 series bristol vellum surface paper is perfect for charcoal. Usually printing paper is too soft for pencil drawing and arches cover is no exception.

Canson mi teintes drawing paper this paper has a very pronounced laid texture.