Hey there! Does anyone notice the difference between these 2 kinds of Bristol paper? I have 4 pads of "smooth" Bristol, and Michael's just had them on sale for half off so bought 4 more-but didn't see that they are "vellum" Bristol. They feel the same to me, and the vellum pad is not ACTUAL vellum-it is white bristol paper. From the look and feel of it, I can't imagine much of a difference in using it but was just curious if anyone else has noticed a difference or prefers one over the other, and why. Thanks!

I have some Strathmore smooth bristol, and it's nice, but horrible for any kind of wet media. Have you found that too? The Strathmore mixed media paper I have (and love) has a vellum surface and takes wet media wonderfully.

...I don't know anything about Strathmore vellum bristol. I'm sure others will be able to accurately answer your actual question, but I thought I'd let ya know what I do know ;) I'm wondering if the vellum bristol takes wet media better.

This is what the Strathmore company says about the two papers:

"Bristol generally describes a drawing paper that is pasted to form multi-ply sheets. Bristol sheets provide a stiff, strong surface to work on without the need for mounting. The term Bristol derives from the early days of European papermaking when mills would send their finest papers to Bristol, England to be pasted together. Bristol papers generally have two types of surfaces: smooth and vellum.

Smooth surfaces are great for pen & ink, mechanical pencil, airbrush, and markers. There is little to no tooth, making these surfaces great for creating fine lines, detail drawings, or marker drawings.

Vellum surfaces are great for graphite, colored pencil, charcoal, pastel, and crayon. The surface has peaks and valleys which grab dry media such as graphite. More even shading and deeper tones can be achieved on a vellum surface. "

They even have a little video on youtube showing the difference. You can see it here.

dp

I've noticed that my last pad of Bristol (Canson) was awful with my distress markers and water pen. It just pills. I didn't know there was a difference in Bristol papers. I had to buy water color paper, but it has a texture that didn't really stamp well until I got my stamping platform.

Thanks for that write up, dp!

Wow-that is fabulous information! Thanks to all of you for taking the time to chime in and share this info and your experiences. I use Bristol almost exclusively, and use all kinds of media on it with good results. Pilling has never been an issue for me with smooth bristol, but I think I'll also try some mixed media paper-now that I've heard from you about it, Kudichan!
I am a heavy user of copics, Distress, and Gelato products - and watercolor paper does NOT cut the mustard for me at all! I also use gesso and texture pastes and regular cardstock just becomes a hot mess with those so that is why, for me in my experience, Bristol is my go-to paper. Thanks, friends!

Canson is not as good as Strathmore, but I am still surprised it pilled for you with markers.....as with ANY paper applying something wet, pressure could be the cause; That's one kudo about copics-the colors come out of the marker with ease and you can be gentle with either tip, and your colored surface is so smooth, without the scribbly coloring lines from colored pencils.
I find that Bristol handles any wet media just fine, but I also stay away from pressure. This is weird for me and ironic, because when I carve, I often press TOO hard and deep & have to keep telling myself not to!😀

Anytime. I learned something new myself. :)

Smooth is good for my layered prints because it is extremely smooth and I can get nice solid coverage. The Vellum is smooth but not quite as smooth. If I use it for a layered linocut style print, the bumps magnify and I can't get super solid coverage. It's fine for single layered prints.

I haven't had any trouble watercoloring either of them.