A quick follow up to the blog post comparing different types of paper.
Since there has been some interest in this topic, here the diagram with the samples above the plots.
A sample with not much variation results in a condensed violin plot, which is easy to see here.
It doesn’t seem to matter if a paper as lots of areas the lead can’t reach, i.e. parts that stay white. As long as the dark areas are properly dark the mark left by the paper feels dark.
Your last paragraph is very interesting! I had always assumed that smoother paper would show the graphite off better. Looks like there are many different aspects that you need to consider when it comes to paper and pencils.
Thank you for your comment.
A smooth paper that will produce dark marks would probably be best, but I guess because they are smooth they can’t be abrasive enough to leave a dark mark. Maybe a ‘rougher’ paper, but with finer structures would feel darker and smoother than your average paper.
Saying that, in my opinion Tomoe River paper feels darker than what you’d expect from the test results here…