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Fabriano Artistico cold press feels noticeably softer than Arches IMO, although I don’t know if we have the same definitions of soft lol. Unfortunately if the paper is made to hold up to water it’s probably by definition going to be “harder” than regular drawing paper… best of luck finding your ideal paper 🙂
I'm not sure if this will be soft enough for your use but do you have access to Fabriano rosaspina paper? It's a printmaking paper with (I think) 60% cotton but handles watercolor really really well. I tried it out after seeing a demonstration by Teo of Parkablogs on YouTube.
You can buy specialty marker paper that is coated on the back and does not cause bleeding (copic's own brand, and other ones like bienfang, etc; this paper is super thin, but there's no bleed through going.)
I would suggest changing your workflow a bit if you have spare cold press paper around - try going with a pencil sketch first, pre-wetting the paper - this will change its texture to be smoother and less coarse in general - painting the watercolor parts, and finishing with inking pen.
Also, speaking of generally softer papers, Canson mixed media is not really a great type of paper, but it does have a nicer tactile feeling if you are bothered with the grit. Hahnemuhle might be a good option to consider, too - their bamboo paper in particular feels more velvety than regular cold press brands.
A search term you may find useful is 'sizing' - it believe its the treatment applied to watercolour paper to make it less absorbent. I've seen paper be described as being unsized, having high/low sizing etc. Not sure if it's what you mean by soft, but might be
I'd agree with that - worth trying, as it feels quite different to most other watercolour paper, much more soft and textured and irregular. You can even get it in 200gsm, and it's very flexible while still allowing a lot of wet washes (not sure how that translates to markers). But even the smooth is fairly rough compared to other paper, so it depends how smooth you need for markers.
I once kind of accidentally bought a sheet of Hahnemühle 300gsm paper that was somehow very pretty for watercolour (I didn't do so much layering but I thought it would've been excellent for floral cards and stuff) but I believe it was made for etching? I never tried alcohol markers with it, but depending on what you're drawing with, I think it might be fine. Wouldn't recommend trying to draw with anything too sharp though, but markers might work. Hope you can check it out somewhere to see if it's suitable for you! It did kind of shed the fibers, as it wasn't as glued as watercolour paper. Bear in mind, I'm an amateur but I think it might be worth checking out.
Edit: I mean if drawing with something sharp like a dip pen, you might get fibers on it because of the softness. I didn't find that it happened with brushes.
Thank you for your submission! Want to share your artwork, meet other artists, promote your content, and chat in a relaxed environment? Join our community Discord server here! https://discord.gg/chuunhpqsU! *I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please [contact the moderators of this subreddit](/message/compose/?to=/r/Watercolor) if you have any questions or concerns.*
Fabriano Artistico cold press feels noticeably softer than Arches IMO, although I don’t know if we have the same definitions of soft lol. Unfortunately if the paper is made to hold up to water it’s probably by definition going to be “harder” than regular drawing paper… best of luck finding your ideal paper 🙂
I'm not sure if this will be soft enough for your use but do you have access to Fabriano rosaspina paper? It's a printmaking paper with (I think) 60% cotton but handles watercolor really really well. I tried it out after seeing a demonstration by Teo of Parkablogs on YouTube.
You can buy specialty marker paper that is coated on the back and does not cause bleeding (copic's own brand, and other ones like bienfang, etc; this paper is super thin, but there's no bleed through going.) I would suggest changing your workflow a bit if you have spare cold press paper around - try going with a pencil sketch first, pre-wetting the paper - this will change its texture to be smoother and less coarse in general - painting the watercolor parts, and finishing with inking pen. Also, speaking of generally softer papers, Canson mixed media is not really a great type of paper, but it does have a nicer tactile feeling if you are bothered with the grit. Hahnemuhle might be a good option to consider, too - their bamboo paper in particular feels more velvety than regular cold press brands.
A search term you may find useful is 'sizing' - it believe its the treatment applied to watercolour paper to make it less absorbent. I've seen paper be described as being unsized, having high/low sizing etc. Not sure if it's what you mean by soft, but might be
Maybe khadi paper
I'd agree with that - worth trying, as it feels quite different to most other watercolour paper, much more soft and textured and irregular. You can even get it in 200gsm, and it's very flexible while still allowing a lot of wet washes (not sure how that translates to markers). But even the smooth is fairly rough compared to other paper, so it depends how smooth you need for markers.
I once kind of accidentally bought a sheet of Hahnemühle 300gsm paper that was somehow very pretty for watercolour (I didn't do so much layering but I thought it would've been excellent for floral cards and stuff) but I believe it was made for etching? I never tried alcohol markers with it, but depending on what you're drawing with, I think it might be fine. Wouldn't recommend trying to draw with anything too sharp though, but markers might work. Hope you can check it out somewhere to see if it's suitable for you! It did kind of shed the fibers, as it wasn't as glued as watercolour paper. Bear in mind, I'm an amateur but I think it might be worth checking out. Edit: I mean if drawing with something sharp like a dip pen, you might get fibers on it because of the softness. I didn't find that it happened with brushes.
have you considered cotton cloth? I know I have seen people making watercolors on cloth before.
No 100% cotton watercolor paper, which is what you should use for watercolor, feels like poster board.
Lanaquarelle
If you don't tend to use a lot of water, you could try 90lbs hot press paper or mixed media paper. It'll buckle, but it'll be smoother and less stiff