Is Cardstock Good For Brush Pens?
So you have started out into this awesome hobby of lettering/calligraphy and you are having to deal with brush pens. Plus, the only paper you have is card stock.
You wonder is Cardstock Good For Brush Pens?
Let me just give you the short and brief answer if you are in a hurry.
In my opinion, when dealing with felt tip brush pens you should not be using cardstock. The factors that you should look for are that the paper is bleed proof and very smooth.
A lot of people don’t think about it that much that you need smooth paper for brush lettering. If you don’t have a smooth paper you are going to ruin your brush pens.
Here is a link to an article that I wrote about why it is important to have smooth paper when brush lettering.
Here is just a quick summary of what you are going to be learning about today:
- Types of paper that You can Use For Your Brush Pens
- If you are already using CardStock Here is What You Can Do
Types of Paper that You can Use For Your Brush Pens
If you haven’t already noticed there is a lot of things that you can do when it comes to the type of paper that you can use. Again you’re going to need two factors when it comes to choosing the right paper for brush pens.
NUMBER ONE FACTOR
In all the paper that you are looking for you should be using smooth paper for brush pens. The reason for this is that it can lead to your brush pens to fray. If you have no idea what this is check out my article that I linked in the intro section.
SECOND FACTOR
It is also important to have thick and bleed proof paper. A lot of brush pens are water-based leading them to bleed and start pilling the paper.
So you might be wondering why do I need smooth paper can’t I just use any bleed proof paper. Well, that is how you are going to ruin your brush pens.
You can’t just use any thick printer paper that you have lying around in your house.
You need to use smooth paper when it comes to felt-tipped brush pens because if you don’t you are going to be fraying your brush pens.
Fraying Brush Pens Can Look Like This:
For some reason, your brush pens are fraying and you are 100% sure that the paper is smooth and bleed proof then there can be some other reasons.
One, you might just be really heavy-handed. Two, you are holding your brush pen incorrectly.
Here is a picture that shows you how to hold a brush pen. The brush pen should always be a 45-degree angle to the paper. It should never be upright like you would hold a regular pencil.
After you have looked at that I am just going to be talking about a few types of papers that you can use for your brush pens.
Rhodia Paper
Rhodia Paper is, of course, bleed proof and very smooth. This one comes in different colors and sizes. It comes dotted, graphed, and blank paper.
I really love the pages dotted to help me out with my guidelines and practice. Also, comes stapled or unstapled. Honestly, it comes in so many varieties that you can choose what you want.
It is quite affordable (for me) but of course, there is some more paper you can use.
HP Premium 32
Usually, I would not like to use printer paper for my brush pens but this is the best printer paper you can use.
It is great especially if you like to print out practice sheets for lettering.
You can get 500 sheets $13 witch is much cheaper than the Rhodia paper.
Plus it is extremely smooth compared to a lot of other types of printer paper, which means it is great for brush lettering.
XL MIX Midea Paper
This is a mixed media pad and is one of the smoothest of the bunch. I like to use this type of paper for my final projects, but not exactly for practicing. The reason for this is that it can be a bit abrasive on your brush pens.
It just depends on how often you are going to be using this paper.
Even with these downfalls, I think it is worth a try since it can be a better alternative.
Strathmore Mixed Media Sketch Pad
This is another sketch pad that I also use for my brush lettering art.
This Sketch Book can be found around the same prices as the XL Media Paper. These can actually be found with smaller sizes than some of the other ones above.
You might not think that the Strathmore or XL Media paper is the best option for your brush pens, but you are wrong.
Comparing it to the Canson XL it looked very smooth. I also have noticed that my brush pens never seem to be ripping up the paper, like they would with the rest of the art pads.
Using Cardstock Already Here is What You Can Do
Here are some ideas that I have come up with.
You might have a shot at getting sandpaper and just sanding down your cardstock just a bit. Remember not a lot just to make it smoother for your felt-tipped brush pen to work with.
If you have already noticed that your brush pens are already fraying you can just create thicker up strokes because frayed brush pens only affect your upstrokes.
I talk more about this technique in the article that I have linked above.
If it is affecting both your upstrokes and down strokes then your brush pens are drying out.
Here is a link if you want to learn how to revive brush pens.
Conclusion
You have just learned all about the different papers that you can use for your brush pens. You have also learned that you can’t just use regular old printer paper for your brush pens.
Here are just some other nice reviews of different papers for brush pens. There will also be more extra resources at the bottom. https://rayanealvim.com/best-papers-brush-pens/ https://www.lettering-daily.com/best-lettering-paper/ https://www.smilingcolors.com/2019/01/best-paper-for-tombow-brush-pens/ https://ensigninsights.com/the-best-paper-for-brush-lettering/
https://ximenaletteringart.com/fraying/ https://ximenaletteringart.com/helpful-guide-to-reviving-your-brush-pens/
Have to get supplies. I’ll be back.