In our childhood art was taught in a very different way. It was basically an extra curriculum activity and there was no focus on literally any technique or art supply. When I see and create art today, it has a very different form and meaning for me. Still, I see a lot of knowledge gap among upcoming artists about many things, one of them being the art supplies that they are using and that they should use. All top artists vouch for the fact that the type of paper makes a lot of difference in the finishing of the artwork. This article is all about choosing the perfect paper for your mandala artwork. It has a step by step procedure that you can follow to get the type of paper that will enhance the quality of your artwork and also has suggestions of some of the popular brands for the same. So, lets get started.
Step 1: Finding the gsm of the paper
The most important parameter.
GSM means Grams per square meter
If you take any paper and cut it in a square meter sheet, the weight measurement that it will have will be called the gsm of that paper. Ok, now what does it mean in a simple language? It means how thick your paper is. If you get a paper that is 100gsm and another one which is 300gsm, this means that the latter is 3 times thicker than the former. That’s easy right? Now what exactly does that mean for us. In case you are working with simple black and white mandala any type of paper with any gsm can work perfectly. Of course the thicker the better (if the smooth texture is the same). The normal printing paper is generally 80gsm so you can understand that a 110-200 gsm paper is good enough to use any types of black and colored fineliners.
Some of the most popular papers or sketchbooks for black and white mandala:
Brusto White Sketchbook 160gsm:
Fabriano White Sketchbook 110gsm:
Ayush paper White Sketchbook 140gsm:
https://ayushpaper.com/product/white-sketch-book-7×7-thatcrazydoodler-2/
https://ayushpaper.com/product/white-sketch-book-7×7-thatcrazydoodler-2/
Anupam Sketchbook 160gsm:
https://anupam.com/collections/sketch-books/products/anupam-oxfort-premium-sketch-book-160-gsm
https://anupam.com/collections/sketch-books/products/anupam-oxfort-premium-sketch-book-160-gsm
Step 2: Quality and smoothness of paper
It is a self explanatory step. The paper quality depends on how the paper is made which is different in different brands and hence the quality differs. For eg. Fabriano paper quality will definitely be better than Ayush Paper but the rates will differ accordingly so my suggestion will be, start with an affordable sketchbook for practice and with time keep experimenting.
Step 3: If you are creating a watercolor mandala
While black and white mandala can be easily done on any paper, watercolor mandala has a bit of challenges.
Challenges are:
1. The paper may bend due to the water used (warping or buckling)
2. The colors may look faded
3. The fineliners may not work on the background as easily as they should
Solution: The paper should be chosen as follows:
1. The gsm should be at least 200gsm and above.
2. Go for a hot pressed paper (next step)
3. Go for a 100% cotton if possible (explained soon)
Step 4: Cold Pressed/Hard Pressed
This part is different for different artists but let me tell you what exactly does this stand for:
Cold Pressed: The process in which the paper is pressed using a cold roller.
Properties:
Has a bit tooth or texture to the paper (some bumps on the surface)
Hot Pressed: The process in which the paper is pressed using a hot roller
Properties:
Has a smooth texture on the paper (not as smooth as the non watercolor papers but not as rough as cold pressed one)
I personally prefer the hot pressed paper because I believe it is easier to use fineliners on the same but the fact is watercolor backgrounds show up best on cold pressed papers because the color sets in easily.
Step 5: 100% cotton or 25% cotton
The capacity of how much water can the paper hold is decided by how much percentage of cotton your paper is. In case you are going for a simple background watercolor wash mandala then 25% cotton is more than enough (ofcourse a good brand) but in case your plan is to make something like a galaxy or a landscape with a lot of layers go for only 100% cotton paper. It will be wet for a long time giving you time to easily create the artwork and also give your watercolors a brighter look.
Step 6: Machine made or handmade papers:
For mandala without any thoughts take up machine one over the handmade unless and until you have a different style. The handmade paper has a lot of texture making it very difficult for fineliners to work.
Some watercolor papers I recommend for mandala artists:
For simple washes:
Brusto:
Anupam:
https://anupam.com/collections/loose-sheets-1/products/anupam-water-colour-sheets-300-gsm
https://anupam.com/collections/loose-sheets-1/products/anupam-water-colour-sheets-300-gsm
For heavier washes:
Brusto:
Step 7: In case you want to use acrylics in your mandala always go for acrylic papers.
They are extremely heavy (around 400gsm) and not very textured. This category works well for gouache too.
Anupam:
Ayush Paper
Then comes different colored papers but the basic properties remain the same.
Also, one more measurement of weight in papers is lb:
Paper weight, also known as BASIS WEIGHT is measured in pounds per 500 sheets within it’s category. If 500 sheets of a standard sheet in a category weights 100 lbs., then paper weight / basis weight of that type paper will be 100 lb
But learning about gsm should be enough for you.
Next and final thing is what is A4, A5 etc :
These are the sizes of papers.
The normal printing paper is generally A4 ( 210 * 297mm or 8 * 12 inch) size so choose accordingly.
So a quick revision:
Some good choices:
Basic black and white mandala with fineliners:
100-200gsm normal sketchbook
Light wash watercolor mandala:
200-300gsm, 25%-100% cotton paper hot pressed
Galaxy mandala:
300gsm, 100% cotton paper cold pressed
Acrylic and gouache mandala:
Acrylic papers 300gsm and above
I believe this will definitely help you in chosing the right paper but if you still have any queries please let me know and I will help you find out your favourite one 🙂
Thank You….