Black n' Red and Strathmore Drawing Paper

Let me tell you something about being a student.

If you don't remember what it's like, there's not a lot of money in being a student. There really isn't. First, you have to reach a certain age before you can actually get a paying job, and even then you're not guaranteed to have any sort of occupation.

So for me, quality products are not really within my budget. I don't like asking my parents to buy things for me. I just don't. Which is why quality products for affordable prices is incredibly important to me.

Enter: Black n' Red notebooks and Strathmore drawing paper.

Everyone already knows about Black n' Red notebooks, I suspect. I got the wire-bound one, which has a double spiral that makes it feel very sturdy. The cover is hard and only flexes slightly.

I opened the notebook and ran my fingers over the paper and - wow. I was amazed. The paper inside these notebooks is incredibly smooth. I have never touched a baby's bottom, but if I had to compare it to something, I would go ahead and say it's like a baby's bottom.

It's incredibly smooth paper. At 140 pages (70 sheets), it's thinner than any notebook I've used before. The ruling is 8mm, which is slightly larger than I'm used to; my writing is rather small. College ruling is 7mm.

Look at this paper. I wanna take this paper out to dinner.

If you follow No Pen Intended, you'll know that they recently spoke highly of the paper in the Strathmore drawing pads. And I wholeheartedly agree.

I purchased four of the 4x6" pads. Each pad contains 24 sheets of 80 lb. paper. No ink feathers or bleeds on this paper. It might actually be... perfect.

I cut a sheet of 7mm-lined paper to size and use it in the pads. I can't write straight, and you can just see the lining through the paper.

The paper is slightly textured, but only slightly. There's no scratchiness with fine nibs (of which almost all my pens are). I love this paper. I really do.

 

The very first thing I did was make a chart for all the inks I have reviewed/will be reviewing. I just really quickly scrawled the name of the ink in order because... I'm somewhat organized.

I've reviewed all my inked pens and am waiting on a few pens to run out in the coming days so I can do a few more. Hopefully I'll be able to update twice a week. School starts in about a month and posts will thin.

So let's hope everything goes smoothly! (It won't.)