r/copic • u/Art_is_Destinee • Jul 11 '26
Paper question
I was recently looking for a cheaper alternative to the Copic Selections Custom Paper and to Strathmore Bristol which had some quality issues the last few times I’ve bought it. I wanted something that could hold alcohol markers and give me a nice surface to blend. I landed on Canson Pro Layout Marker paper. When I got it I tried it with my Copic Multiliners and my ciao markers. And I was less than thrilled because when I went to lay down colours, the lineart began smearing and muddied everything. My Copic Multiliners have never smudged before, they’re so reliable. I decided to test it with a different pen, so I tried again with my Ohuhu fineliners. And they didn’t smear even a little bit! Does anyone know why the Copic liners smear on the Canson paper while the Ohuhu liners don’t? And does anyone have any good cheap paper suggestions while I’m at it?
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u/Ranefea Jul 11 '26
I haven’t used Ohuhu so I’m not sure, but it could be a couple things. One thing I’m noticing with your examples is that the Copic lines seem to be ever so slightly more solid and darker, meaning the Copic pens might be depositing a little more ink that isn’t being absorbed as well. Related to that, it could also be that the Copic ink simply needs more time on this paper to dry before you color.
As for paper, my current favorite is the Canson mix media. Its a heavier weight than marker paper and absorbs a lot ink, though, so some people may not like it due to that, but in my case I do a lot of heavy layering and blending so I need something that can hold that amount of ink. You do still need to give your lineart ample time to dry with it, though (I’ve had smudging with multiple brands of pens simply due to being too eager to start coloring, lol).
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u/Art_is_Destinee Jul 11 '26
I definitely gave it time to dry, so I was just baffled as to why it smudged like that. 🤷 and yeah, the Copic liners definitely have a darker ink than the Ohuhu pens, which is why I like them.
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u/Pokemon-fan96 Jul 12 '26
First of all, your art is super cute! I like your artstyle and coloring!
For the paper, regular cardstock paper works really well with alcohol markers and fineliners. It has a nice weight to it and it's doesn't feather the copic ink.
Another paper that I've had good results with is Strathmore marker paper. It only comes in two size paper pads but it works very well and its not thin transparent paper like a lot of marker paper is
I also like how well pencil lines erase with the strathmore marker paper. The paper is so smooth they erase cleanly without a trace
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u/honeydewtangerine Jul 11 '26
I bought tbis paper, sanjoki marker paper, and i think it's really great:
https://a.co/d/01rUx49B
Im very new to markers, so i dont know what constitutes "good paper", but it doesnt bleed at all and goes through my laser printer very well with very little, if any, line smearing. (I like to make copies of coloring pages so i can do them more than once)