by Jim Pence

If you've ever tried to buy paper for art projects, you may have walked away scratching your head. There are so many different varieties of paper for pencils, pastels, and chalks, it's hard to know what to buy. And, because many of these art papers can be quite expensive, it's important to know what you need so that you don't buy the wrong paper.

Believe it or not, entire books have been written about art paper, comparing and contrasting the different kinds, so this post won’t be anywhere near exhaustive. The following are just some simple guidelines for choosing paper for your homeschool art class.

Paper for pencil sketching:

If you're just practicing pencil sketching and drawing and you don't really care about long-term preservation, the least expensive paper is simple copy paper. You can buy it by the ream or the case, and it doesn't cost very much. However, I generally suggest to my students that they buy an inexpensive ring-bound sketch book. The paper is a little heavier, and less likely to crumple or crease if you have erase something. Also, a ring-bound sketch book enables you to keep all your sketches and drawings together.

Paper for pastel drawings:

If you want to work with pastels, regular drawing paper is too smooth. Pastels won’t adhere to the paper; most of it will end up on the floor as very colorful dust. For pastels, you need a paper with “tooth”. In other words, the paper needs to be a little rough, and it also helps if it’s a bit heavier than plain sketching paper.

If you’re watching your pennies, construction paper will work, but for my tastes, it’s still a little too smooth. I suggest taping it onto a drawing board and using a sanding block (with very fine sandpaper) to scuff the paper and give it a little rougher texture. Construction paper can also be brittle, which is another reason I recommend taping it down.

If you’re serious about doing pastels, I suggest that you buy pastel paper. It is heavier and has a better tooth. Also, most pastel paper comes “toned”. In other words it isn’t pure white, but comes in a variety of tints and colors. (I’ll post in a future blog why it’s good to have “toned” paper when working with pastels.) The downside of pastel paper is that it can be expensive.

A cheaper alternative is something called bogus paper. Bogus paper is recycled newsprint. It is the kind of paper that chalk artists use. It is normally toned gray (sometimes it’s called “gray bogus paper”) and has a very nice tooth. The paper that chalk artists use is 40”x54” inches, which might be a bit large. However, you can buy bogus paper in smaller sheets through art supply stores.

Paper for Watercolors:

If you’re planning on doing watercolors, this is one place where I say it’s better to take the more expensive option. With watercolors, the quality of your finished product directly depends on the quality of the materials you use.While this is true to some extent with any media, it is especially true with watercolors.

Why is this important?

Watercolors can be difficult to work with under the best of conditions. If you opt for cheap paper, you probably won't be happy with your results.

Buy the best paper you can afford. There are many varieties, but I recommend buying watercolor paper by the sheet. I use 140 lb. cold press paper. The number describes the thickness of the paper. Watercolor paper usually comes in 90, 140, and 300 lb thickness. Cold press means that the surface has some tooth. Hot press paper has a smooth surface. There is also a variety called (appropriately), Rough. As you might have guessed, rough paper has even more tooth than cold press.

Although we’ve barely scratched the surface of different types of paper to use for art projects, here’s a quick summary, along with some links for places to buy the supplies. (The names of the various papers are links that will take you to a place where you can purchase them online.)

For pencil and charcoal sketching: Ring bound sketch book

For pastel drawing:

a) Construction paper (least expensive)

b) Pastel paper (most expensive)

c) Gray bogus paper (inexpensive alternative)

For watercolor:

a) Buy paper by the sheet (rather than in tablets)

b) 140 or 300 lb watercolor paper is a good weight

c) Cold press (for a toothed surface), Hot press (for a smooth surface), and Rough (for a very-toothed surface).