The Best Paper for Drawing Cartoons

The other day, as I was poking around through Staples Business Depot looking for office supplies, I noticed that they had a special running on Multi-Purpose Printer Paper. They were selling packs of paper at a clearance price of $4.99, so I scooped one up. A ream (pack) of 500 sheets of paper is cheaper than most sketchbooks I’ve seen in the Art Supply stores I go to.

I couldn’t help but compare the different mediums. Most beginners think paper is paper. But there is some considerations the cartoonist has to think about when they choose their supplies to draw cartoon characters.

So let’s go through the Most Suitable Paper for how to draw a cartoon.

First on the list, as I said, is the humble ream of printer paper. The general purpose paper is what you should be looking for, as it’s generally the overall cheapest and easiest to get. That’s a big plus for the beginner cartoonist, as you’ll find you’re going through a lot of paper at the beginning. You’d better be, because that means you’re practicing how to draw a cartoon!

Similar to the loose sheets are pads of paper, held together at the top edge with a soft glue backing. You can tear away individual sheets after you’re done, or roll over the top edge for the next sheet of paper. Pads come in rough, but cheap quality paper like Newsprint or Manila (which makes them popular with art students), translucent or tracing paper suitable for markers, or nice archival-quality paper useful in drafting, architectural, or interior design. And these pads also come in large-sized formats, which are fantastic for an art class or other school environment.

There is a drawback to this. Without a clipboard (cheap in any dollar store) or a folder to keep all this loose paper in, you’ll find that paper’s going to be all over the place. If you’re making rough drawings or you’re not happy with how you drew today, that’s not a problem. But it’s a hassle if you want to keep the good stuff you drew, or at least keep your drawings organized.

Enter the Sketchbooks.

Now sketchbooks come in all sizes and qualities of paper., from the 8.5”x11” size of printer paper to larger sized formats (not quite as big as pads, but still rather big). Good sketchbooks will have stiffer paper that that ream of printer paper I mentioned. You can even have sketchbooks of watercolor paper, or bristol board, which is great for all the various pens, pencils, markers, and paints you can use. But that’s another topic for later.

Sketchbooks come wire-bound or square-bound, like a conventional hardcover book. The advantage of a wire-bound sketchbook is that the pages can be flipped over and act as a solid drawing surface. That’s very handy when you draw cartoon characters on the go and on your lap.

A square-bound sketchbook, however, can be stacked neatly in a bookcase, isn’t prone to tearing pages like a wire-bound book, and can act as a journal or diary as well as a sketchbook. Another trick I like to do with a square-bound book is to use the facing pages when I draw cartoon characters to get a “wide angle” aspect ratio. That comes in handy when I draw large scenes, or if I want to stretch out the drawing area of a particular cartoon.

So which is the best kind of paper to draw cartoon characters with? That depends on what you’re drawing.

For practice purposes, I favor cheap and plentiful over high quality. Large-size pads of newsprint or reams of printer paper are great for this, because these are meant to be used up in huge quantities. I do my experiments on these kinds of paper. As for sketchbooks, I have a preference for the square-bound kind. They’re cheaper, easy to carry around, and have more sheets per sketchbook than the wire-bound variety.

Save the expensive, stiff paper for the finished cartoons that will be printed or displayed in portfolios, or for using mediums like alcohol-based markers, or watercolor paint and washes of ink. These “wetter” mediums will crinkle the cheap paper or bleed through them.

The thing to remember, regardless of which paper, pad, or sketchbook you choose, is to have something with you at all times. I always have even a small sketchbook in my bag or close to my desk, ready to use. That’s because, when that Flash of Inspiration happens, you’ve got to get it down quick. Otherwise, that cool idea becomes harder and harder to remember as time goes on.

And of course, the other thing to remember is to USE it. You only improve your ability to draw a cartoon by daily practice. So get drawing!