Canson XL Series Drawing Paper, Black, Wirebound Pad, 9×12 inches, 40 Sheets (92lb/150g) – Artist Paper for Adults and Students – Colored Pencil, Ink, Pastel, Marker

Having done digital art as a hobby for over 10 years, I’ve started doing art with physical mediums.I’m no expert and I have a narrow taste. I tend to draw/paint nature scenes, usually with mountains, and nighttime/space scenery. I do have some black canvases that I’m saving, since I’m finding painting with an actual brush and airbrush is very different compared to using a stylus. But I don’t want to use up a bunch of black paint for nighttime/space scenery as I practice.This paper perfectly addresses that, and for the most part it works well with mediums. For writing utensils, I was shocked to find that watercolor colored pencils work VERY well on this paper. Charcoal colored pencils and pastels really pop on this paper when bright colors are used. I’ve got some calligraphy marker pens that I used in mixed medium art, and they show well on this paper, but they don’t pop the way watercolor/charcoal colored pencils do. Like the marker pens, standard colored pencils do show, but don’t pop.To my great disappointment though, my favored gel pens really don’t show too well on this paper. I really have to scribble to get them to show on this paper, and I was looking forward to using my neon gel pens on this paper. Fineliner pens do not work at all on this paper. However, mine are largely dried up from lack of use, so I could be wrong about the fineliner pens.As for paint, again, you’ll want to use brighter colors, though dark colors like blue and purple can really add some sweet, subtle depth on this paper when used right. I’ve only used my airbrush on this paper, and while the paper did curl and lift a little, none of the paint bled. Still, I’d be wary of using watercolor on this paper, especially if you prefer wet-on-wet painting. Heavily thinned acrylic or oil paints might soak and bleed through as well.Overall, I’m really happy with this paper. It’s a true, semi-gloss black and the paper is fairly sturdy. Since I prefer corner-taping my paper to my desk for art, I appreciate the fact that the papers are perforated in the book, so with a bit of care, you can cleanly tear out pages from the pad.If I still need black paper once I use this up, I’ll be back for more!

This black sketch book meets the requirements I had when I decided I wanted an all black paper sketch book. My only dislike would be how big it is . I didn’t expect it to be so large . Personally I like I smaller page to draw on but for those who like decent size sketch books and are on the search to add a black paper one to their art supplies I’d say you get a great product for your money. The pages themselves are a good thickness and the pages are preferred so you can pull the pages out without destroying the whole book. It Did take almost 2 and half weeks to get to me but given we are in a world wild pandemic I would say it was not a horrible wait … even though I thought this would be over by the time it ended up getting here . (Wishful thinking!) Go ahead and buy this if it interests you , this is a decently priced and well made sketch book. ?

Very nice drawing paper. Great for pastel and colored pencil.