Loose sheets, packs and boards. Cartridge, watercolour, cotton rag and tree free papers, plus card and board for mounting and making. A1 down to A4.
The right paper for it, plus card and board when you're mounting or making.
Pencil, charcoal, pen
170gsm white cartridge in A1, A2 and A3 packs, the same paper as our STUDIO sketchbooks, only loose. It takes a rubbing out without pilling.
Watercolour, gouache, ink
A dedicated watercolour paper, cold pressed and heavy enough not to cockle when the wash goes on, alongside a mixed media paper that takes wet and dry work on the same sheet.
Transfer, overlay, technical
90 and 100gsm tracing, 25gsm detail rolls and graphite transfer paper for lifting a drawing off one surface and laying it down cleanly on another.
Banana, coconut, flax, barley
Papers made from agricultural waste fibre: banana stem, coconut husk, spent barley from brewing and lemongrass. Made by artisan partners in India.
The same range, sorted how you prefer.
Weight is the first decision. Paper is sold by gsm, grams per square metre, and it's the most useful number on the label. Under 100gsm is tracing and layout. 130 to 170gsm is everyday drawing. 200 to 250gsm handles mixed media and light washes. 300gsm and above is for painting properly.
Surface is the second. Cold pressed, sometimes labelled NOT, has a slight tooth and is the default for watercolour. Hot pressed is smooth, which suits detail and pen work. Cartridge sits in between and is what most drawing paper is.
Cotton content matters once things get wet. Cotton fibre absorbs water and releases it evenly, so colour lifts and blends the way you expect. A wood-pulp paper at the same weight will cockle sooner and lift less cleanly. Our ‘35’ range is 35% cotton; the handmade INDIGO sheets are 100%.
Card and board do different jobs. Card you can score and fold. Board you cut and mount onto. Greyboard is dense recycled board for bookbinding covers and model bases; mount board is faced for framing; foam board is light and rigid for presenting; hardboard is a rigid panel you can paint straight onto once it's primed. They aren't interchangeable, which is why they're now on separate pages.
Tree free paper puts the environment first. These sheets are made from plant fibre that would otherwise go to waste, and some of it does a second job for the planet along the way. Water hyacinth is one example: an invasive species that chokes rivers and lakes, so turning it into paper clears the waterways and gives it a use. Others begin as banana stem, coconut husk, spent barley from brewing or flax linter, worked by hand by artisan partners we've known for years in India. The fibre runs longer than recycled wood pulp, so the sheets are stronger than they look, and each has a texture you can't get any other way.
