Magic Marker Bleedproof

Prelude

I have compared 45 different papers for markers. I have not included any papers that are not specified for markers by the company that produce them. It is not uncommon that an art store will market a paper as a marker-paper but if you look at the brands homepage they are not label as a marker paper. But with that said, a lot of other kinds of paper can work very well with markers, for example watercolor paper (even though they will “eat” the ink in the marker a lot faster than any other paper). I also tried some Japanese sumi-e paper with good and interesting result.  I might write more about that in the future. For now, this is a marker paper review.

The theory and method for thinner marker paper (70-80 g/m²)

I started with some small samples to se color saturation and value, bleeding and feathering.

I am a firm believer in working the paper as you normally would, to be able to fully understand the potential the paper has, so I decided to do a drawing on every paper.

I especially wanted to test the blending and layering abilities. With blending I mean that I work wheat in wheat, and with layering I let the ink dry before I put another layer on top.

Before I started my drawing I wrote down the name of the brand on the paper. I then covered the name so I wouldn't se which paper I was working on. I wanted it to be a blind test.

I have earlier tried to do the exact same drawing but found that this only works if you compare two or three of them. When you compare many items (as I have done earlier; I compared 29 markers, and now I compare a lot of papers) the chances are huge that the first couples of drawings are a less good than the following (because you are learning) and the last ones are pretty bad because it get so monotonous that it is very difficult to do a good job. At least that is true for me. I therefore chose to draw every drawing different but in the same manner and use the same subject (in this case, one girl stood model for all drawings). I also chose to use the same colors for the face and hair on every drawing. 

Magic marker bleedproof  70 g/m²                                              

Magic marker pad

An English paper available in A4 and A3 pads.

The paper has a slightly grayish tone. The backside feels and react the same to ink as the front side.

The paper feels very different from other papers. All colors look a little darker than the average paper. The markers don´t flow well over the paper, its like the paper want to resist a bit.

It bleeds through to the next paper quite much. However, the paper has a blending capacity that is better than I expected.     

Conclusion: I think this is an ok paper. I would not recommend buying it, but if you own it, it can be interesting to use from time to time. The downside of bleeding is easy to overcome by putting a paper you don't value underneath. 

Magic marker drawing 

Magic marker color sample

ShinHan Touch Marker Pad

Prelude

I have compared 45 different papers for markers. I have not included any papers that are not specified for markers by the company that produce them. It is not uncommon that an art store will market a paper as a marker-paper but if you look at the brands homepage they are not label as a marker paper. But with that said, a lot of other kinds of paper can work very well with markers, for example watercolor paper (even though they will “eat” the ink in the marker a lot faster than any other paper). I also tried some Japanese sumi-e paper with good and interesting result.  I might write more about that in the future. For now, this is a marker paper review.

The theory and method for thinner marker paper (70-80 g/m²)

I started with some small samples to se color saturation and value, bleeding and feathering.

I am a firm believer in working the paper as you normally would, to be able to fully understand the potential the paper has, so I decided to do a drawing on every paper.

I especially wanted to test the blending and layering abilities. With blending I mean that I work wheat in wheat, and with layering I let the ink dry before I put another layer on top.

Older Touch marker pad

Before I started my drawing I wrote down the name of the brand on the paper. I then covered the name so I wouldn't se which paper I was working on. I wanted it to be a blind test.

I have earlier tried to do the exact same drawing but found that this only works if you compare two or three of them. When you compare many items (as I have done earlier; I compared 29 markers, and now I compare a lot of papers) the chances are huge that the first couples of drawings are a less good than the following (because you are learning) and the last ones are pretty bad because it get so monotonous that it is very difficult to do a good job. At least that is true for me. I therefore chose to draw every drawing different but in the same manner and use the same subject (in this case, one girl stood model for all drawings). I also chose to use the same colors for the face and hair on every drawing.

ShinHan Touch marker pad                70 g/m²                                                      

Korean made paper available in A4 and A3 pads

New Touch marker pad 

The paper is smooth and white. The front side and the backside of the paper differ; you cannot use the backside to draw on. It will resist.

The overall feeling when I drew the portrait was very good. I picked out ten of the 22 (in the category: 70-80 g/m²) that I had hardly no complains about when drawing, and this was one of them. My only concern with this paper is that even though most colors look great there were some colors (from a particular brand: Graph´it marker) that became a bit foggy. Since the problem didn’t appear when I used Copic, Letraset markers or Touch markers I would highly recommend this paper for anyone that are using those. If you are using Graph´it markers there are better paper out there. 

Conclusion: this is a very good paper.

Touch marker drawing

Touch paper sample

Bienfang Graphics 360

Prelude

I have compared 45 different papers for markers. I have not included any papers that are not specified for markers by the company that produce them. It is not uncommon that an art store will market a paper as a marker-paper but if you look at the brands homepage they are not label as a marker paper. But with that said, a lot of other kinds of paper can work very well with markers, for example watercolor paper (even though they will “eat” the ink in the marker a lot faster than any other paper). I also tried some Japanese sumi-e paper with good and interesting result.  I might write more about that in the future. For now, this is a marker paper review.

The theory and method

I will start with a group of eight papers, the very thin paper for layout. I categorized the thin layout paper as being between 45 g/m² and 65 g/m².  

Since it is layout paper and not drawing paper for final work, I will not test them to harshly on properties as blending capacity or layering capacity. It isn´t after all what the paper is meant to be.

I started with some small samples to se color saturation and value, bleeding and feathering to mention some of the things I look for. However, I am a firm believer in working the paper as you normally would, to be able to fully understand the potential the paper has, so I decided to do a drawing on every paper.

Before I started my drawing I wrote down the brand name of the paper. I then covered the name so I wouldn't se which paper I was working on. I wanted it to be a blind test.

I have earlier tried to do the exact same drawing but find that that is only working if you compare two or three items. When you compare many items (as I did; I compared 29 markers) the chances are huge that the first couples of drawings are a less good than the following (because you are learning) and the last ones are pretty bad because it get so monotonous that it is very difficult to do a good job. At least that is true for me. I therefore chose to draw every drawing different but in the same manner and the same subject (in this case, one girl stood model for all drawings). I also chose to use few colors so that the face would have the exact same colors. I did the skin on every paper before moving on to the hair since it where easier to compare the paper in that way. I let myself have the freedom to use different hair colors after that.

Bienfang Graphics 360 translucent marker paper

Bienfang Graphics 360

This paper pad has (for European standard, but obviously not for US) an odd sizes; 9x12 in (which is 22x30 cm), 11x14 in (which is 27,94x35, 56 cm), 14x17 in or 19x 24. It is made of 100% rag paper.

The paper feels smooth. The front side and the backside are the same, but they actually feel and react as a typically backside, both of them. I actually hade to do a new drawing to make sure that I hadn´t buy mistake reversed the paper.

The paper bleeds slightly through on to the surface underneath if you use multiple layers.

The colors (in comparison to the other brand) lose some saturation on some colors. Are a bit milky on darker colors and leaves all colors very grainy.  The ink will feather out on this paper and dissolved the ink underneath when trying to layer. Crisp lines where almost impossible to get.

Conclusion: I think this is a very poor paper, almost impossible to work with.

Drawing on Bienfang

color sample on Bienfang

Comparison