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I am an avid colorist. I use colored pencils to color. As a hobbyist, I didn't want to color in some of the books I had purchased because I was still learning so much and wanted to practice. I started to copy my books and after several different types and weights of paper, I ended up preferring this paper to any of the others I had tried. It was superior to the paper in the coloring books 99 percent of the time. I wanted a paper which you could erase where necessary without destroying all the tooth of the paper. While I now try to use only the Faber Castell box that lifts the pigment off the page, I also have a Tombow eraser and an electric one which allows me to erase a fine detail. I also wanted a paper that you could apply many layers of pencil to as a beginner I was always having to add color to get the desired result.
Recently I had a book which I did color in as I knew I wasn't crazy about the images and would never want to repeat them. That book had a slicker paper and I did like it both in terms of application of the pencil and the end result. So I purchased two other papers to compare to this one to see what difference the paper actually makes.
I purchased a really bright white paper of the same weight as this, the Hammermill Premium Color Copy 80 pound paper as well as the Exact Neehan Bristol Vellum in a 67 pound weight. This review compares the three papers for colored pencil purposes.
Keeping in mind that I am a hobbyist, not an artist, I colored the same page from Wild Soul book by Grazio Salvo. I used primarily the Lyra Rembrant polycolor oil pencil, with a few Tombow Irojitens and Prismacolor Verithins which are both wax based. I used the same pencil colors and tried to make everything the same in coloring the three different papers. I was truly surprised at the outcome.
In all but two areas this paper was hands down the best paper for colored pencils. The Hammermill was the brightest white. This paper jammed in my printer and the other two did not. Otherwise in all comparisons I would recommend this paper. In the photo showing all three, this paper is first, followed by the 67 pound Neeham Bristol Vellum, with the Hammermill paper shown last. I did identify the papers in the margin as well as drawing lines to show where I used different ways to blend.
Although the background had the same number of layers applied in a cross hatch with a single blue pencil, it appeared deeper and darker blue in this paper than in the other two. The Hammermill slick finished paper just didn't accept as many layers of color. (I actually added two more layers with that paper for a total of 8 layers!) There wasn't a huge difference between the 67 pound Bristol vellum and this bristol vellum so if money is a factor the 67 pound is obviously less expensive. As I look at the outcome on this paper I see numerous places where I should go back to adjust the color. With this heavier weight, I can easily do so.
In the background I also tried three different blending techniques, Gamisol, Caran d'Ache full blender pencil and a white colored Lyra pencil. The Gamisol (oderless mineral spirits) had the largest area in front of the women's head to the top of page. Because this paper is thicker I didn't have to worry as much about the liquid blender. It blended very well with this method on this paper. With the Hammermill, I ended up with a bunch of pigment on the end of my qtip, so instead of blending I was removing! The bottom corner under the tiger's nose was not blended at all. The area in front of the tiger's nose was blended with a white Lyra pencil. It did lighten the color slightly when blending. The best result was behind the women's head where I used a Caran 'd Ache full color blending pencil. This pencil actually feels like you are putting down wax while blending. The result was to eliminate the pencil lines and get a deep blended blue color, that fully saturated the paper.
While there were significant differences between the Bristol Vellum papers and the Hammermill papers, the difference between the two Bristol Vellum papers was fairly minimal. As this paper was my first and the other Bristol Vellum my third coloring of the same image I would expect improvement even in such a short rushed period of time. That was in fact the case, but the improvement had nothing to do with the paper only the person using the paper!
Even with the occasional jamming issue I really love this paper. I have copied over 450 pages to copy at this point. (I am on my second ream and about half of it is gone.) As I am making these copies to practice, I do copy on both sides of the paper. All three papers performed well in copying on both sides.
I would recommend you try a variety of papers if possible as much of this may be merely personal preference. From my point of view using this paper has only made me more critical of the paper used in most adult coloring books. For 250 sheets the price is very fair. This paper was less expensive than other identical paper made by other manufacturers. Without question this paper will be my first choice when coping images to color with colored pencil. (I would also think this paper would be preferable for wetter mediums, watercolor or marker, as it is thicker and will not bleed through as easily. Because it has more tooth or texture, I would think it would be better in that regard the slicker paper of equal weight.)
| Manufacturer | Sylvamo |
|---|---|
| Brand | Springhill |
| Item Weight | 7 pounds |
| Product Dimensions | 14 x 8.5 x 2.5 inches |
| Item model number | 015314R |
| Is Discontinued By Manufacturer | No |
| Color | 110lb |
| Material Type | Paper |
| Total Recycled Content Percentage | 10 |
| Post-Consumer Recycled Content Percentage | 10 |
| Number of Items | 1 |
| Size | 1 Ream | 250 Sheets |
| Sheet Size | 8.5 x 14 inch |
| Brightness Rating | 92 |
| Paper Weight | 110 |
| Paper Finish | Smooth |
| Manufacturer Part Number | 015314R |
