Fp Sketch Pad Paper

[Poetman]

There's quite a lot of threads about legal pads, luxury stationery, and printer paper, but has anyone tried alternative paper sources like sketch pads? I was looking at one recently and wondering if they are more economical than high-end stationery and take well to fountain pens. Anyone else have experience with sketch pads, artist journals, or the like?

[Pickwick]

Sketching pads suitable for ink drawing is usually a heavy weight paper, and not really suitable for use as stationery. One of the best papers I have found for letter writing as an example, is Wausau 32lb. This does take ink very well. I found these paper on eBay in Gray and Ivory. There is also white obtainable. I bought these for $12.00 with free shipping. 20lb HP Bright white is also a good writing paper.

Edited October 6, 2014 by Pickwick

[mhguda]

I've tried several school sketch pads and found them very FP friendly, and also relatively light weight. Most of those had very little in the way of identification, sorry. But one that comes to mind is a Bazic sketch pad, size somewhat larger than A4, made in China, that was a very pleasant surprise. It's got a pencil drawing of horses on the cover, and 40 sheets, for about 2 USD equivalent.

 

ETA I found something very much like my pad here:

Edited October 6, 2014 by mhguda

[SallyLyn]

Might also want to check into the -FPN's PEN ART GALLERY (Forum: The Write Stuff) and search for threads on papers.

[inkstainedruth]

I've tried several school sketch pads and found them very FP friendly, and also relatively light weight. Most of those had very little in the way of identification, sorry. But one that comes to mind is a Bazic sketch pad, size somewhat larger than A4, made in China, that was a very pleasant surprise. It's got a pencil drawing of horses on the cover, and 40 sheets, for about 2 USD equivalent.

 

ETA I found something very much like my pad here:

YIKES! Is that really the price of those pads? Seriously? Back when I was in college that was the price I paid for a whole pack 25 sheets -- of large (24" x 30", IIRC) sheets of paper for doing lithography in a printmaking class. And we didn't have access to wholesale priced online shopping back then. [Of course, a box of Color-Aid paper was around $14 US-- Dick Blick has the same 6" x 9" box of 220 colors for nearly $100.

Most of the sketch pads I've seen have too rough a texture for pens -- they're designed for pencil/charcoal/pastels. For a while Barnes and Noble carried Ecosystem journals -- I have one of their small "journals" (lined paper) and one of their "art" ones (unlined paper) and they're fairly FP friendly. Unfortunately, they don't seem to be carrying them in any of the B&M stores near me anymore (I just checked, and they *do* seem to be available online, though).

Another possible option might be bristol board, but I don't know if those are sold in pads.

I can pretty much dis-recommend the Piccadilly spiral sketch pads from Barnes and Noble. I have a couple to use as ink journals, and there is something about the paper in them that does weird things to FP inks. While they're okay for writing on (if you want unlined paper) they tend to be fairly absorbent -- meaning that you'll get some spread (and possibly bleedthrough, depending on the ink) but the paper also does really oddball stuff to ink colors.

Ruth Morrisson aka inkstainedruth

[migo984]

Stillman and Birn Epsilon

[mhguda]

It boils down to less than 1.40 USD per pad. Not a bad price, in my book. Of course, you'd have to buy four dozen...

[balson]

sketch books, bristol, and hot press watercolor paper all work great for fountain pens. anything that is 70 lbs or over should take ink well as long as it does not have too much texture or unbound fibers. my favorite at the moment is strathmore toned grey/tan.

[Tanzanite]

I recently bought a Letraset Comic Marker Pad with 70 gsm paper. It is very fp friendly but there is a slight difference between the front and back sides of the paper. For my finest Sailor nibs I prefer the back side even though both sides works fine.