Like Rock, Paper, Scissors, but all you get is paper

Last Saturday, I went National Bookstore and spent an hour looking at all the different kinds of paper. I ended up bringing home almost twenty different kinds to experiment with.

I tried to put them into a google docs spreadsheet, but google drive kept thinking I was offline and not letting me edit anything, which, WTF. I'd literally manage to type in two characters and then get kicked out until I reloaded the page, and then type two characters in again... I gave up pretty soon after and decided it was time to play with a data entry app I had on the iPad :-)

Here is what happened next:



The text is a bit too small to see, but that's the brand/description, GSM, yes/no radio group, price per sheet (derived from input on another screen I didn't bother to screenshot), and paper size. The details have no direct bearing on whether the paper is actually usable for calligraphy practice, but that all gives me an idea of the basic characteristics of each kind of paper before I actually test it.

There's a rudimentary built-in search in the app thing, but no sorting and filtering is very basic. Really I should export as CSV and import it somewhere I can filter/sort easily, but there are too few records to justify the effort -- for now ;-)

I then sat down with a couple nibs (some broad, some pointed), a couple different types of ink, and a lot of different types of paper, and started experimenting.

It was fun! I had nothing specific to write, so I ended up writing down whatever popped into my head. Somewhere in the test sheets is one that says "reach out and touch someone... there can BE ONLY ONE" and then I wandered away to a different page because I was too lazy to write highlander (too many long ascenders)

I accidentally dipped a pen with green ink into a blue ink bottle. Right after I did that, I panicked -- it turned out pretty well, though!



I want to try mixing colors again, but next time I'll use an eye dropper ;-)

My findings:

• GSM is not reliable even as a rough heuristic to choosing paper. But given a particular brand / type, the bigger the GSM value, the more satisfying it feels


• smoothness is also not a reliable indicator for how the paper will absorb the ink. Neither is whether it's a matte or glossy finish! And confusingly enough, two things that were labelled "matt" had surfaces that were smooth and coated in a way that I associate with glossy paper


• in general, parchment paper + anything approaching fountain pen ink consistency is a disaster. Huge blotches. However, indian ink on translucent parchment paper is gorgeous. I can't stop staring at it. Lines of the broad nib were crisp, and the hairlines of the pointed nibs managed to be thin and didn't get lost in the paper


• actually, indian ink feathers a lot less than most other types of inks. It's not fool proof, but it's proven good enough that I plan on testing it even with paper that otherwise seems hopeless


• oslo paper would have been cool if it worked, but it didn't. Surface texture too rough for the ink. Except for indian ink. Indian ink worked okay with oslo paper too


• but the best paper in terms of smoothness / thickness / value is the Paper One branded typewriting paper. I tried the 100 gsm pack; lighter weights may also work but the difference in price is minimal. It doesn't say acid-free, but says something about satisfying some standard for 200 years of permanence which... okay!


• weirdly enough every paper I tried that did say acid-free was also very prone to feathering


• I want to say it's not just about the price, and it isn't, but 0.99 pesos for a sheet of *good* paper, thick, nice feeling, not scratchy, versus mediocre paper that costs 2-3 times as much? Come on now ;-)


• no, but seriously though, it was really interesting trying all the different combinations. I feel like I understand my tools and paper-with-ink and -ink-on-paper more now (naaaks)