ARTEZA Mixed Media Sketchbook, 60 Sheets

UPDATE: I revised this review from 5 stars to 1 star. I really hate having to do this but I got the larger version of this paper (the 9x12in) and it performed so poorly as to be unrecognizable from the paper in this product. I feel this is highly deceptive advertising on Arteza's part, where the small product is very good, but the large product the small product is supposed to represent has so many corners cut it's unrecognizable. --- previous review (5 stars) --- I work in colored pencils, watercolor pencils, wax pastels (water-soluble and not), oil pencils, and dip pen and ink; additionally I've worked in watercolors (though my style doesn't involve heavy amounts of waters or flowing washes, I prefer texture in my paintings), gouache, and watercolor brush markers with water-based ink (the cheaper kind, not the kind that use pigments like Winsor & Newton's). I usually work with Strathmore papers in the 400 or 500 ranges and Stillman & Birn's sketchbooks. I wasn't expecting much out of this paper; but I got Arteza's sketchbooks on a sale last year and those worked out surprisingly well for my dry media and my inks (including the bite of a metal dip pen, though not that of a glass dip pen). This set went on a lightning deal, and I thought, why not. I'm surprised as heck. This paper worked beautifully with all of my main media plus watercolor brush markers. I suspect it will work well with gouache, and well with watercolors that do not use a large amount of water. Here are some characteristics of the paper I find interesting in comparison to Strathmore, which hitherto had been my "best quality for best price in all categories for my specific media" brand: 1. This paper is 180 gsm in weight (I refer to gsm here, not lb, because gsm is a universal measure whereas lb varies from company to company). This is comparable to Strathmore's 190gsm 500 series mixed media, and much weightier than the thinner Stillman & Birns 145gsm (iirc) Epsilon sketchbook. 2. This paper is cellulose, not 100% cotton rag like Strathmore's 500 series mixed media. This means that this paper is likely not museum archival quality (as according to the standards set by the Library of Congress); however, apparently this paper is acid-free (although most papers are these days, so while this is important it's very, very common) and has the addition of buffers to reduce acidic damage that seeps in from the environment. Such a cellulose paper is much more likely to last longer than a cellulose paper that is only acid-free without buffers. Average life of these types of papers is 50 to 100 years, which is extremely good at this price. 3. This paper is sized (that is, it doesn't absorb water too quickly due to an ingredient added that slows down absorption, which is why sized paper doesn't buckle as much as unsized paper). The paper doesn't have the sheer incredible amount of sizing that goes into Arches watercolor paper, but this can be a plus if your technique doesn't rely on heavy watercolor washes with much flow. (If it does, do not use this paper.) 4. The surface of this paper is a bit rougher than I'm used to with a mixed media paper. The surface isn't the velvety feel of a vellum surface (like Strathmore's 400 mixed media and especially 500 mixed media) and isn't the near flatness of Stillman & Birn's Epsilon and Zeta papers. (And of course, it isn't a plate surface.) This surface has more texture, and thus manages to be very pleasant to work with for pencil and even wax pastel media. I'd say the surface feels as pleasant to work with as Strathmore's 400 series colored pencil paper, although the texture is different. 5. As for dip pens, metal nibs are known for digging into the paper surface as they draw, resulting in their scratchy sound. Typically for dip pens, you want to use smoother paper as a result---a paper with too much texture will get in the way of the delicate tines (the prongs of the tip) and you'll end up with little fibers stuck in your nib, and/or the paper will be so damaged that the ink lines bleed out at their edges (and that can scan badly). Normally I'd say that only vellum and smooth surface papers can work with a dip pen. I tried the smoother back of this paper with my nibs---no dice, it ran into problems with ripping and excess damage with my nib. On a whim, I tried using the same nibs on the front, rougher surface of the paper. And... they worked well. Not the same as on a less bumpy surface, but even my maru/mapping nib, which is testy on most anything except vellum/smooth paper, worked beautifully. I'll note that I use a thinner ink than a shellac-infused or india ink; I use liquid sumi ink from the bottle, which doesn't clog up mapping nibs as much as the former kinds of ink do. 6. I used both watercolor pencils (Caran d'Ache Supracolor II) and water-soluble wax pastels (Neocolor II) on this paper, applying water with a nylon-tipped water brush. On low quality papers the nylon brush alone will damage it, resulting in pilling that ruins the paper. However, the surface of this paper withstood the nylon brush without any problems, even when the brush was very wet. 7. The paper surface stood up to burnishing with colored pencils (Pablo) and wax colorless blenders very well. Cheaper papers usually cannot. 8. I don't erase. So not sure what that will do here. 9. Some papers that are very well-sized take forever to dry certain inks on them (and for a vellum surface, it might never let you fix all of an ink's pigment into the paper, and thus the ink will come loose on later applications of water/ink), and thus defeat the "doesn't reactivate with water" purpose of microns, technical pens, waterproof fineliners, Noodler's bulletproof inks, and Inktense (blocks or pencils). Strathmore's 500 series mixed media is notorious for this. However, this paper allowed Inktense to dry into complete stability in less than 30 minutes, which is very impressive for most sized papers. All in all, this paper performed better than I had any expectation for it to do so, at this price range, and with a company that's relatively new compared to the longer-running companies of Strathmore, Stillman & Birn, Arches, etc. For the price-per-sheet, especially when these sets go on sale or as lighting deals, I feel it's currently the top paper in that market niche. I'm still hesitant on Arteza products as a whole (despite what some people claim, a watercolor paint of good quality can indeed be squeezed into a pan, stay there, and be reconstituted with water just as well as store-bought pans---however, even good quality gouache will act as Arteza watercolors and gouache do, which makes me suspect Arteza watercolors are more like gouache than not); however, their papers have been working out weirdly well. I even like their water brushes (although they have qualities that are downsides to artists with different styles). Keep on improving, Arteza. And if you could produce a tan-toned sketch paper, rather than only your current gray-toned sketch paper, I would much appreciate getting off of Strathmore's toned sketch.