Strathmore 300 Series Bristol Paper Pad, Smooth, Tape Bound, 9x12 inches, 20 Sheets (100lb/270g) - Artist Paper for Adults and Students - Markers, Pen and Ink

This is my absolute favorite paper! It is excellent quality at an affordable price. I use it for sketching, and for drawing charcoal and graphite portraits. I haven’t used colored pencils with it, but only for a pop of color on my black and white drawings. The paper is even heavy enough for light washes of watercolor. Durable and easy to work with.

Quality Rating: 5/5Based on price: 4/5Time with Product: 5 years (purchased in 2016)Review:Where do I begin. WOW. The quality of the paper is unbeatable! It is extremely smooth and durable. It is not easy to rip this paper. It has thickness to it too. I had to outline a few of my abstract art with a fine-tip marker and there was no bleeding on the back of the page.This booklet is absolutely amazing, it is great for sketching and it can withstand a lot of ink and a lot of graphite. The main reason why I decided to purchase this product was because I was using normal printer paper to sketch and shade in my art and the paper would appear like it was going to fall apart because there was so much graphite on the paper that it felt like the paper was soaked with water. It had that same feeling. Not to mention, all the graphite bled through the paper. For example, if I was working on a white wooden table and I was shading, There would be graphite marks and shades that had went through the paper. This product eliminated that! There was no more bleeding thanks to its great thickness, and there was no longer a weird texture while shading in that a normal printer paper would normally have.This is a high quality paper and I would recommend it to all artists who are serious about their work and their art. I would not necessarily recommend this for beginners because the paper is expensive and if you are at least not an amateur, it is simply unnecessary. You can get other great quality sketch books to practice on for much cheaper and you would not notice much of a difference in quality. I do notice the difference but that is because I have reached a point in my career where those small details matter and those small imperfections are important to me.WHAT I WOULD SUGGEST | EVEN FOR PROFESSIONALS:I would suggest you purchase two sketchbooks. One for practicing and daily sketching. Projects with an estimate time of under 10 hours. Then, I would purchase this high quality paper, and I would use it only for my serious pieces of work. Anything with an expected 10+ hours of sketching and work.I hope my review makes sense and helps you decide whether or not you would like to purchase this sketchbook.Have fun shopping! :)- Rami Taha

I’ve loved Bristol vellum paper for years, and I keep coming back to it for its incredible versatility. Surprisingly, it’s also quite affordable here, which makes it an even better choice. As an art teacher and printmaker, I’ve tested it across a variety of mediums—watercolor, colored pencil, marker, and even linocut—and it holds up beautifully for all of them. The surface provides just enough texture to grip dry media while still being smooth enough for detailed work, and it handles wet media surprisingly well without buckling too much. Whether I’m using it for my own work or introducing students to different techniques, it consistently delivers excellent results.

I am a midlevel portrait artist.I have resumed my portrait drawings , and I have bought this paper to help me in my projectsthe paper is quite durable and of the right thickness and quality. It felt natural to move the graphite and charcoal pencils on this material. I also found it easy to use with charcoal and graphite powder.I believe it had provided me with what I want at this point. I haven't tried different brands yet, as I felt this brand provided me with exactly what I needed to complete my drawing projectsThe paper size I bought was 11X 14 in, and I felt that was the right size for my projects at this point .Photos included an arabian horse portrait and a famiIy portrait that I have recently completed using this paper…I would recommend for anyone who is interested in similar art projects.

Vey nice smooth paper. Not stiff like others this weight surprisingly.

I feel that the smoothness of the paper does not allow the graphite or colored pencils to hold the tone or color as well as textured paper. There is no texture sort to speak on the paper yet It’s good for school projects and home projects, yet not for professional artists.

Why did you pick this product vs others?:The paper is durable and holds the ink well

While I would normally rate this product with 5 stars, (I've changed my review to 5 stars, see below) I have had to replace the pad teice in a row due to the item being either an obvious return or a way to sell off stock that could not be sold if on the shelf of an art store. In the past, several years ago the smooth bristol pad would arrive PRISTINE, no tears in the tape binding, perfect uncreased or otherwise damaged sheets. But the last two times I ordered, the pad was either completely separated from the tape with 3 corners crushed and oddly dirty, or with a gouge through the majority of the sheets making them unusable for tabloid illustration. I have ordered a third pad since I need it. Maybe this time it will be a proper new pad and not a return or otherwise undesireable/useless item. Strathmore store, you know better. Anyway, if you take the risk and get lucky with a new pad, you'll LOVE the bristol boards -- they are some of the best, perfect for ink and alcohol marker work.Edit: 5 Stars, on my third order, the smooth bristol pad came in and it was packaged in a box instead of an envelope, that was great! AND the product was in perfect shape, new, usable. I love the 300 series bristol so I was very happy to receive it in such good condition (after the last two debacles). I will order it agian when I need to, I am chalking up my experience to just bad luck.