Pelease do a sketchbook tour! Every time you said this is rubbish I had previously thought that is beautiful... I actually wish I could draw like you! Maybe someday :)

Another great video. Loved those few glimpses into your sketch books, some of your watercolour sketches looked great. That might be a nice idea for a video to go through some of your sketchbooks and let us see your development and where you were trying out new techniques. Either way it's just amazing and a delight to see your work. Thanks Smoothie

Hi Smoothie, I've recently come across your channel and subscribed to it. Just going through some of your reviews and in this, when I saw your "How to Draw" by Adrian Hill, it took me back to watching his programme, "Adrian Hill's Sketchbook" on BBC Children's Television in the 1950s. That must be when I took note of drawing. My sketching lapsed and I really only got back into it once I had retired. I do enjoy it and am currently working with pastel pencils and following Colin Bradley there, but I like to alternate and get back into using graphite as well. This is where your KZfaq videos come in handy and trying to catch up with things, hence going through your reviews. Right, must continue with this one now. I do enjoy your work.

Surfaces (tooth) are: 1)Super Smooth, which is called Bristol.Thats the paper for ink illustrations. 2)Smooth, which is usually the surface on drawing or sketching paper as also on Hot Pressed watercolor cotton papers.(thats my favorite,because I use graphite,charcoal,Red Chalk or Polychromos). 3d)Fine grain,which is just a bit rougher than smooth. 4th)Medium, which is what Pastel papers or some mixed media papers surface is.5th)Cold Pressed,which is the most ideal for watercolor painting. 6th)Rough,this is a choice that some watercolorists may choose. 7th)Extra Rough,similar to rough,just a bit more rough.

I love smooth paper for my graphite drawings. I love watching your videos you give me so much techniques that I use. Thank you

Great channel, I love your style of art!

Excellent advice and information, thanks!

Wonderful compilation of useful paper advice Smoothie and I think Daler Rowney are pretty good! And I love your early drawings too. I look forward to your mountain drawings😉

Hi Smoothie, very nice introduction to the different types of drawing paper, very useful when choosing drawing pads :-)

Thank You Smoothie for giving us details on what to look for when choosing paper. This was well needed, and I really appreciate it. By the way: the little peek you gave us of your previous sketches was a bonus! The ones in the black sketching book I recognize from you video of landscape sketches you have done (still waiting on that mountain tutorial ;-O).

Nice video as always smoothie. I have gotten a few different types and weights of paper to try with graphite. So far I like the Canson XL Mixed Media range, it is 98 lb and has a slight texture. It seems to be right very similar to the pad you show to be you favorite from Daler. I have it in2 sizes. I also have tried some lighter weight paper and just didn't like the feel of the paper. Down the road when my skills improve I want to try some heavier weight watercolor paper for graphite drawing.

I caught a glimpse of SOME of your old sketches, but like everyone else I waited for you to show more You mentioned doing a video to show all of us your earlier drawings, that would be something to look out for, I for one would appreciate that. Thank you for an informative video on the different grades of paper smoothie.

First, make sure you know the difference in how paper is measured when pounds are used. There are several ways of getting paper weight, and the difference is huge, and very confusing to those who don't know there are so many ways of labeling paper. By normal method, that 65lb tablet would have 244gsm paper. The standard bond measure is to weigh a block of paper. A block is seventeen inches wide, twenty=two inches long, and five hundred sheets thick. This gives us the weight of the paper. The block is then cut into four reams of eight and a half by eleven sheets. One ream, five hundred sheets of 6.5x11 of paper would therefore actually weigh only five pounds. By this way of doing things, 135lb paper would equal a touch over 500gsm. Or, to lower the numbers, the 32lb HP paper that I love is 120gsm. Common 20lb printer paper is 75gsm. Your 220gsm paper would be roughly 59lb paper. I sometimes wonder if this is why some artists I've known shy away from paper made in the west? They look at the pound to gsm conversion on the cover and it doesn't seem right, and they think the paper is a lot thinner than it really is. Good paper of any kind, including higher end printer paper, is both acid free and lignin free. Lignin is also bad for long term paper storage, but cheaper companies, and even some not so cheap companies, never mention this because most people, including a lot of artists, don't know being lignin free is important. Anyway, HP Premium Printer Paper is pretty cheap, about twelve to fourteen dollars per ream of 32lb (120gsm) paper, and is both acid and lignin free. It has an extremely smooth surface, and makes excellent sketching and drawing paper. If you don't mind made in China paper, by far the best deal for sketchpads where I live is Walmart's Pen Gear sketchpads. A 9x12 inch Pen Gear sketchpad with one hundred and twenty sheets of 100gsm acid free paper is under five dollars. With blind testing, all of our artist friends liked this paper more than any of the top paper brand with the same weight paper. It's a true steal. I have only rarely sold a graphite drawing that wasn't on 2-ply, 3-ply, or 4-ply Bristol Board, or sometimes mixed media paper... I prefer Strathmore, but there are several good brands. The 4-ply is pretty expensive, and I've only used it for commissioned work with the client giving permission for the high end Bristol. Five sheets of 23x29 inch 4-ply Bristol board with a Plate Surface. can run anywhere from eighty-five to a hundred and twenty dollars, depending on where you buy it, and whether a sale is on. I use 23x29 inch pretty often, and always for the most important drawings, but I do like smaller paper. Either 9x12 or 8.5x11 is great. I love it. I've also done a number of 5x7 inch graphite drawings, and watercolor drawings. They don't take as long as a larger drawing, and people seem to like something cheaper that will fit in a standard picture frame. They're also just plain fun. The smallest I use is 4x6. I have a couple of hardcover sketchbooks this size that are good for graphite only, and three or four still unused ones that have mixed media paper. I use these for watercolor paint, watercolor pencils, and colored pencils. I think it's a lot of fun, and it means I can draw or paint almost anywhere. I have a pocket size watercolor kit, a couple of brushes, two mechanical pencils, four watercolor pencils, and eight colored pencils. and two collapsible plastic cups. All of this takes up very, very little room. All I need is some water, and I always have a water bottle or canteen with me. For me, there's a big difference between sketching and drawing, and the paper used for each. This doesn't mean sketches are sloppy or unfinished, it just means I'm practicing something, or experimenting, or brainstorming. The sketch may be as finished as my best drawing, but if I make mistakes I don't worry about it because the sketches are not going to be sold, and aren't even going to be displayed. Many will be thrown away to save space. This means using expensive paper would be silly. I have a very hard time passing up any sketchbook I haven't tried, but my favorite sketching paper remains the Pen Gear Sketchpad, and the 32lb, 120 gsm HP Premium Printer Paper. I use this with a clipboard, and the use a three hole punch for the ones I want to keep, and store them in three ring binders with a thin sheet of onionskin paper between the drawings.

What do you think of Bristol Board? I recently purchased a couple good quality Vellum Bristol Board pads as my local art shop had them at 40% off for a sale. I must say I am impressed with them, and love how the graphite just smoothly applies to the paper. Next time they are on sale I am buying several in different sizes. Also the same store sells the Koh-I-Noor graphite pencils in sets. So I picked up some, which I am looking forward to trying out. As I have been using the woodless pencils from them for a few months and love how smooth they are.

Have you tried strathmore sketch paper?

Hello Smoothie do you still use recommend and use the same sketchbooks 7 years later

I wish I knew about acid free paper when I started. Most of my old stuff has yellowed badly. But, anyway, I'm surprised you don't mention Bristol Board (Bristol Paper) here. Another thing to note is that the grade of pencil to use is dependent on the tooth/surface of the paper. A graphite HB can look as dark as a 2B or 3B and a 2B or 3B can look as light as an HB depending on the particular surface. It's crazy that no body seems to mention this -- and I mean nobody -- although its a very important thing to keep in mind.

Wonderful it’s very useful

Good information here, Smoothie, and wholeheartedly agree with horrorfan24 regarding regaling us with a peek at your early years. It's useful to see the evolution of an artist's work, in my opinion.

Textured paper, Discovers,all kinds Of stuff! Referring to Landscapes ,,,,

Please, dont say any of your art is rubbish..... I would be super excited to be half as good.

Please say loudly