Best Papers and Surfaces For Colored Pencils

The surface on which you create a colored pencil drawing is just as important as the quality of pencil you choose to use. And in this video, I'm gonna share with you my favorite surfaces slash papers for colored pencil drawing. Hello there, everyone. Matt here with the virtualinstructor.com and in this video, I'm gonna share with you my favorite surfaces for creating drawings with colored pencils. Now I've had quite a bit of experience drawing with colored pencils and I love colored pencils. Colored pencils are one of my favorite drawing mediums to work with. And I've found some pretty exciting surfaces over the years and they all have their advantages and disadvantages, obviously. In this video, I'm gonna share with you each one of those surfaces and I'm gonna share with you the advantages and disadvantages of each one of those surfaces along with the unique characteristics of each one of those surfaces. So let's go ahead and get started. Now the first paper I'm gonna share with you is Bristol paper. Now this is specifically the vellum surface. Bristol paper comes in other surfaces other than vellum and those are smoother surfaces. Bristol paper, even with the vellum surface, is relatively smooth. But the vellum surface does have a little bit of tooth or texture associated with it so it is capable of accepting multiple applications of colored pencils but it's still limited because of the overall smoothness of the paper. Now this paper is a little bit heavy. It's very similar to cardstock but its rigidity makes it a great surface for working with colored pencils as well. Now the advantages to using this paper is, first of all, it's easy to find. You can find Bristol paper with the vellum surface just about anywhere at any art store. It's, of course, easy to order online as well and it's relatively inexpensive. Now it's easy to develop, find details quickly with this paper because there's not a lot of tooth associated with it. It doesn't really require multiple layers to create a smooth application of colored pencils on the surface. So it's really easy to develop, find details. But this is also a disadvantage because you're limited by how many layers you can actually apply to the surface because the tooth is not as pronounced as some of the other papers that we'll take a look at. Now another disadvantage to the Bristol paper with the vellum surface is that it comes in white only or at least I've only seen it in white, meaning that you're gonna have to push the values darker. So when we work on a toned surface, we can kind of start in the middle of the value scale and push the range of value outward from there. But when we start with white, we're basically starting on one end of the value scale and we have to push the values darker. Now the second surface that I love to work with with colored pencils is Canson Mitton's pastel paper. Now even though this paper is called pastel paper, it is a wonderful surface for colored pencils. This paper features two distinct sides. One side is a little bit heavier in texture compared to the other side, but both sides have ample texture or tooth for multiple layered applications of colored pencil. This paper is easy to find and it comes in a variety of different colors. So if you wanna allow that color to show through some of your colored pencil applications, or if you just want some of that color to be your background, this is a major advantage. As I mentioned, this paper comes in two distinct sides or it has two distinct sides associated with it. One side has a very heavy tooth, which will require multiple layered applications of colored pencils to fill in the tooth. The other side has a less pronounced tooth, but it's still enough texture to accept multiple layered applications of colored pencils. And in fact, this paper encourages layering. So if layering is something that you're not really used to with colored pencils, then this paper might be a good paper to get introduced to to start that layering process. One of the disadvantages though, is that the texture may be too heavy for some folks. Some folks might want a little bit more of a relaxed tooth or texture or a smoother surface to work on with colored pencils, because this paper does have a heavy tooth or texture. But I absolutely love Canson Mitton's Pastel Paper. Now the third paper that's absolutely fantastic for colored pencil drawing is Pastel Matte Paper by Claire Fontaine. Now this paper is a very interesting paper. It has a heavy tooth that doesn't really seem like it has a heavy tooth or heavy texture. It's almost like fine grit sandpaper. And this paper definitely encourages layering. It is a great surface for use with other media like soft pastels, specifically soft pastels. Again, this paper is called Pastel Matte Paper, but even though it's called Pastel Matte Paper, it's still great for colored pencils. But if you wanna use soft pastels in conjunction with the colored pencils, then this is a great surface for that. This paper comes in a variety of colors. So you have that middle value to start with, of course, and that's going to encourage a full range of value in your drawings. This paper is heavy and it is a high quality paper. But because of that, it's gonna be expensive. In fact, compared to the other papers, this is probably the most expensive paper on the list. And it is hard to get in some locations. For where I am in the world, I do have to order it online and it does take quite a while to get to where I am. This is a heavy tooth surface, as I mentioned before, so it will require frequent sharpening of the colored pencils if you work with it. But I absolutely love Pastel Matte Paper, especially when I'm combining it with a pastel media like soft pastels or even pan pastels. Number four on the list is definitely one of my favorites and that is Stonehenge Paper. Now Stonehenge Paper is a soft paper, but it does feature a fairly heavy tooth. So you can easily create multiple layered applications on the surface, which again is so important to building up that depth and color that you want in your colored pencil drawings. It is 100% cotton, so it's really soft. And as I mentioned, there's plenty of tooth for layering. It's available as large sheets and smaller pads. Of course, if you want to create larger colored pencil drawings, you've got that option. It's probably my favorite surface for colored pencil drawing. It's pretty high on the list. And it's great for using other drawing mediums such as graphite. So if you're interested in creating graphite drawings and colored pencil drawings, Stonehenge Paper might be a paper for both graphite applications and colored pencil applications. Some of the disadvantages for this paper are it is expensive and it may be harder to find. You may have to order this paper online. It may not be available at your local art store. And it's limited in colors. I've only found different versions of white. So warm white, polar white, which is a cooler white. So you are limited as far as color choices go. But I absolutely love Stonehenge Paper. Now, one of the major disadvantages to using colored pencils that you may have noticed is that they can be extremely difficult to erase. But this next paper on the list takes care of that problem for us. And that next paper is Duralar Paper, which is a Mylar surface. Now, this paper is unique on this list because it has a very, very smooth surface. So the tooth of this paper is very, very weak. And that means that it's gonna be very difficult to create multiple layered applications. There is a limit to how many layers you can apply to the surface. So you really have to think about your color choices when you're using this paper. But of course, the major advantage is that this paper is very easy to remove colored pencils from it. You can erase from the surface and you can even use tools like the slice tool to remove the colored pencil from the surface. Almost like there has never been colored pencils applied to the surface at all. It's really fantastic for that. So it is unique among the other papers because all of the other papers, none of them have that characteristic of that easy erasability and removability from the surface. This paper is also semi-translucent, meaning that tracing and transferring images is pretty easy. Now, one of the disadvantages of this paper, of course, is the smooth tooth or texture. It can only handle a few layers on the surface, but that disadvantage may be outweighed by the advantage of erasing, which is a completely unique aspect of this paper. All right, number seven on this list is somewhat of a bonus paper because you do have to use it with another medium to get the most out of it. And the paper I'm referring to is marker paper. So again, this is a paper that doesn't have anything with colored pencils in the name, but it's actually a pretty good surface for colored pencils if, and that's a big if, you are using it alongside alcohol-based markers. So this paper is great for using with alcohol-based markers. You can apply the alcohol-based markers as a base, which will cover large areas of the surface quickly, which of course saves time because colored pencil drawing is a time-intensive activity, but when we combine it with markers, we save quite a bit of time. The disadvantage, of course, is that this paper is super smooth. So layers are limited, but when you're using them in conjunction with markers, this isn't really a big deal. So again, marker paper is a surface that you might consider that you might not have considered before, but again, it's dependent on using it with markers in order to get the most out of it with colored pencils. So there you have it. Those are my favorite surfaces for working with colored pencils. If you have a favorite, you can leave it in the comments below. And if you enjoyed this video, why don't you give it a like? And if you're new to the channel, why not click the subscribe button and click on the notification bell so you're notified when new videos like this one are posted. And if you wanna take your drawing and painting skills to another level, there is a membership program over at thevirtualinstructor.com, which includes a variety of drawing and painting courses on a variety of subject matter. We have several courses on colored pencil drawing specifically. There's also weekly live lessons, which are all recorded and stored in our vaults. You can go back and watch all of those. We have many live lesson series devoted to colored pencil drawing. The membership program also includes weekly critiques as part of the members' minute and a year-long curriculum for visual arts teachers. If you wanna learn more about our program or start your free trial, I'll leave a link in the description below. You can check it out. And if you wanna check out three of our course videos and eBooks for free, I'll leave a link in the description below this video for that as well. Thanks again for watching this video. Hope you enjoyed it. Hope you were able to pick up a couple of things here and there. And as always, I wish you all the very best in your artistic success.