The Paper Project - Introduction

I'm sure there are many paper projects but this one is specific to testing Copic markers on the various papers available. Like most of you, I started on a quest to find the best paper to color on. Therefore, I hope to perform various experiments on each brand to see how they measure up. If you want to follow along, feel free to grab the Badge from the sidebar and display in on your blog!

Welcome to the Paper Project!

With the help of a few friends, I've gathered several different papers so far to test on. Sending out a huge thank you to Annika, Beccy, Peggy, Ruby, Vicky and Zoe for building my paper supplies. *Hugs*  Below is the list of papers that I'm working with.

(If you don't see your favorite brand and would like to donate some to the cause then you can contact me for my mailing address.)

1. Stamping Bella's Bestest Paper White
2. Copic Beedproof Markerpad 70g/m2
3. Stampin' Up! Whisper White Card Stock 80#
4. Bright White Shimmer Card available in UK (heat emboss image)
5. another pearlescent (textured, heat emboss image)
6. Papermill Super Smooth Bright White Card 300 gsm (140#)
7. Daler Rowney Bristol Board* available in UK
8. Bristol Board* #2
9. Rey Printer Card Paper 160 gsm
10. Xerox Colotech Paper 250 gsm
11. Georgia-Pacific Copy & Print Paper 20# (standard printer paper)
12. Neenah Solar White Super Smooth Crest 80#
13. Curious Metallic Cryogen White Card Stock 89#
14. Gina K. Pure Luxury Card Stock Pure White 120#
15. Neenah Solar White Smooth Crest 80#
16. X-Press It Blending Card Bright White 92#
17. Make 'it' Colour Blending Card 250 gsm
18. Georgia-Pacific White Card Stock 110#
19. Stampin' Up! Shimmery White Card Stock 80#
20. Copic Papercrafting Stamping Paper - Natural White
21. Bee Paper Company Heavyweight Marker Paper 110#
22. Beckett Card Stock Radiance 80#
23. Q-Connect White Wove 100g

*Bristol board (also referred to as Bristol paper) is an uncoated, machine-finished paperboard. It is named after the city of Bristol in the southwest of England. It provides two working surfaces, front and back. This quality separates it from illustration board, which has only a front working surface.

Each brand was assigned a random letter to keep track of them during the testing. Testing will be done on an irregular bases but I will assign "... The Paper Project" label to each post so they'll be easy to find. Here are also some quick links to the experiments:

1. Ink Drop
2. Basic Coloring
3. Blending Out Colors
4. Paper Attributes
5. Blending Red
6. Blending Added Depth
7. Paper Purities
8. Transparency 

When all of the papers are tested together in the same experiment then after looking at the results I recommend the best papers. This recommendation is based on that test only so a specific paper may go in and out of favor. Below is sort of a chart that shows how many times each paper was recommended and is indicated by a triangle. Of course the more triangles listed the better the paper has performed overall.

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I wanted to show the rating independently of the test because we all know we can achieve amazing results by altering our techniques to fit the paper attributes. So this rating of recommendation gives a better indication of which papers are more durable and suited for a higher variety of techniques and skills.

I hope you've enjoyed The Paper Project and I will continue to update these posts as I get more information. Until then... happy coloring!!

(Last updated on April 25, 2012.)