Black paper sketchbooks are a great choice for any artist looking to help their colors pop. Colored pencils, metallic pens, even pastels and chalks can come alive in a new vibrancy when used on black paper.
So, what is the best black paper sketchbook? The best black paper sketchbook has high-quality paper with the right texture for your chosen medium and versatility to be used with other mediums. It should also have perforation for easy page removal and binding that’s easy to use, such as spiral-bound.
There are plenty of black sketchbooks on the market, but it’s important to get one that’s going to work for your chosen art. In this article, we’ll explore the best qualities of black paper sketchbooks and provide a list of recommended products.
Black Paper Sketchbooks – Buyer’s Guide
If you’re in the market for a black paper sketchbook, there are 5 top qualities that you want to make sure you look for before buying. Let’s explore them below!
High-Quality Paper
With black paper, you generally want to use pastels, charcoals, colored pencils, markers, and metallic pens. There are a few other art mediums you can try, but these are the most popular for use on black paper.
Since there’s such a wide variety in the types of art medium you can use, you want to ensure that the paper is going to be able to hold whichever one you choose.
Many of the mediums listed above can be heavy when layered or have a lot of wetness, such as the ink in markers. You’ll need high-quality, heavy-weight paper that can withstand the weight and moisture that these mediums bring.
Good quality art paper is made to support these mediums, while cheaper paper is not. When you’re searching for the right black paper sketchbook, it’s important to look for that high-quality, heavy-weight paper.
Texture
Most professional art mediums are designed to be used on specific types of paper that have texture, often called tooth.
The tooth of the paper is what helps the medium to adhere to the paper properly and allows for artistic blending, shading, layering, and more.
Other mediums, like colored pencils or markers, work best on paper that has very little or no texture. They need paper that has a smooth surface for them to be used properly.
So when it comes to choosing a black paper sketchbook, you want to ensure that it has the right tooth for whatever medium you’re going to use.
Pastels and charcoals often do better with texture, while markers, pens, and pencils work better on smooth surface paper.
Versatility
Many artists like to explore and use different mediums to create different art pieces. Although artists often have one medium they prefer among the rest, it never hurts to step outside the box and experiment with others.
That’s why the best black paper sketchbooks will have versatility in the mediums that they work well for.
This doesn’t mean every medium will appear perfectly on the paper. Pastels won’t do as well on smooth paper as they do on textured paper.
However, the black paper used to make the sketchbook should still have some versatility and be able to work well with multiple mediums.
Look on the product description to see what mediums the company recommends for use with the sketchbook you’re considering.
Perforation
Although not all black paper sketchbooks will come with perforation, the best ones often do. Perforation of the paper allows you to take out your finished art piece from the sketchbook and either display it or give it to someone.
The perforation shouldn’t be so big and loose that the papers fall out, but rather small enough to give you the option of ripping out your artwork while keeping it in place if you’d rather leave it in the sketchbook. This is called microperforation.
Most black paper sketchbooks with perforation will say microperforated on the cover, so keep an eye out for that word when looking for your own black paper sketchbook.
Binding
The last thing to consider when picking out your black paper sketchbook is the binding.
Most sketchbooks are either spiral bound or glue bound. These two types of binding are preferable so you can make the sketchbook easy to hold in your lap or work with on a flat surface.
There are some sketchbooks that come book bound and appear more like a journal than a sketchbook.
Book bound sketchbooks can work great too, but some artists may find them difficult to work with since the pages won’t lay as flat.
The Best Black Paper Sketchbooks
Keeping the qualities we just reviewed in mind, it’s time to pick out your own black paper sketchbook.
| Rank | Product | Key Features |
|---|---|---|
| 1. | Canson XL Series Black Drawing Paper | High-quality paper, spiral bound, slight texture, works with variety of mediums, perforated |
| 2. | Art-n-Fly Sheets Black Sketch Pad | High-quality paper, spiral bound, smooth texture, works with variety of mediums, perforated |
| 3. | U.S. Art Supply Premium Black Heavyweight Paper | High-quality paper, spiral bound, smooth texture, works with variety of mediums, 2 pack |
| 4. | Strathmore 400 Series Black Mixed Media Pad | High-quality paper, glue bound, slight texture, works with variety of mediums, easy tear-away |
| 5. | Ohuhu Black Sketch Pad for Posca | High-quality paper, spiral bound, smooth texture, works with variety of mediums, perforated, 2 pack |
| 6. | Peter Pauper Press Premium Black Paper Sketchbook | High-quality paper, book bound, smooth texture, works with variety of mediums |
| 7. | Blank Books 'N' Journals Black Paper Sketchbook | Book bound, smooth texture, works with variety of mediums |
| 8. | Zenacolor Black Sketchbook | High-quality paper, spiral bound, smooth texture, works with variety of mediums, perforated, 2 pack |
| 9. | MOFUNY Black Sketch Drawing Paper Pad | High-quality paper, spiral bound, smooth texture, works with variety of mediums, perforated |
| 10. | Pentalic Traveler Pocket Journal Sketch | High-quality paper, book bound, slight texture, works with variety of mediums |
| 11. | Bachmore Black Drawing Pad | High-quality paper, spiral bound, smooth texture, works with variety of mediums, perforated |
1. Canson XL Series Black Drawing Paper
The Canson black paper sketchbook is the best option on our list.
It comes with high-quality black paper that has a slight texture, making it perfect for any medium you may want to try out.
It also has a spiral binding, so it’s easier to work with since the pages will always lay flat.
This sketchbook also comes with microperforated edges to help you tear out your drawings to give away, or keeps them secure if you’d rather save them just for you.
2. Art-n-Fly 32 Sheets Black Sketch Pad
A solid runner-up is the black sketch pad from Art-n-Fly.
This black paper sketchbook comes with smooth surface paper rather than textured, so it may work best for colored pencils, markers, or pens.
It’s made with high-quality, microperforated paper and comes with 32 sheets for you to work with.
This sketch pad is also spiral bound, but the spiral is at the top instead of along the side. You can simply flip the page up to get to the next clean sheet.
3. U.S. Art Supply Premium Black Paper Pad
If you plan on using black paper sketchbooks a lot, you may want to pick up this pack of 2 black paper pads from US Art Supply.
These black paper pads are made with high-quality, smooth paper that works well with multiple mediums. Each paper pad has 30 sheets, giving you a total of 60 sheets to create on.
The sketchbooks are spiral bound at the top, but not perforated. You can still remove your artwork, you’ll just have to tear it from the spiral binding and cut off the top if you want a smooth edge.
4. Strathmore 400 Series Black Mixed Media Pad
The Strathmore Black Mixed Media paper is a black paper sketchbook you’d likely find in an art or crafts store.
This is a higher quality sketchbook made for artists, designed to be used with a wide variety of mediums. It has a slight texture that makes it perfect for pastels and charcoals.
This sketchbook is glue bound, so you can tear the pages out seamlessly from the glue binding.
It only has 15 sheets, but those sheets are top quality paper, so it may be worth it to grab a few of these sketch pads.
5. Ohuhu Black Sketch Pad for Posca
Those looking to get more sheets at once should try this pack of 2 black paper sketchbooks from Ohuhu.
Each sketchbook has 38 pages of high-quality black paper with smooth texture and microperforated edges.
These sketchbooks are ideal for dry media, so wouldn’t work well with anything too wet or heavy on the page. They’d be the perfect choice for artists who primarily works with colored pencils or chalk.
6. Peter Pauper Press Premium Black Paper Sketchbook
For those looking for a book bound black paper sketchbook that looks more like a journal, the Premium Black Paper Sketchbook by Inc. Peter Pauper Press is a great choice.
It comes with 96 sheets of smooth textured black paper that works great with colored pencils, gel pens, and chalks.
You won’t be able to lay the pages perfect flat or tear them out cleanly, but you can certainly still work well in this sketchbook to create beautiful drawings or quick sketches.
7. Blank Books ‘N’ Journals Black Paper Sketchbook
Another book bound option is this black paper sketchbook by Blank Books ‘N’ Journals. It has 60 sheets of smooth, black paper for you to have fun with.
It works best for colored pencils, gel pens, or markers. Charcoals, pastels, or chalk may transfer to the next page when the book is closed, so they may not work well for this sketchbook.
The pages aren’t perforated, but can still be removed by tearing gently from the book. Or you can always keep the drawings for yourself, making this the perfect “practice” sketchbook!
8. Zenacolor Black Sketchbook
Another great pack of 2 black paper sketchbooks is this set from Zenacolor. Each sketchbook has 30 sheets, giving you a total of 60 sheets to work with.
The paper used is high-quality, heavy-weight paper with a smooth surface, ideal for colored pencils, gel pens, and markers.
Since the paper is heavy-weight, you can also try using oil pastels, charcoals, or chalk. Just be aware that without any tooth to the paper, they may not appear the same as they would on textured paper.
Each sketchbook is spiral bound and made with microperforated paper, making it easy to flip the page or tear it out to give away.
9. MOFUNY Black Sketch Drawing Paper Pad
The MOFUNY black sketch pad is ideal for someone looking for a smaller, spiral bound sketchbook.
It comes with 60 sheets of 5.5 x 8.5” paper, making it smaller than most other spiral bound sketchbooks. This would be a perfect choice for the artist on the go.
Each sheet is heavy-weight, smooth-textured paper ready to work with a variety of mediums. They’re also microperforated at the top, so you can easily tear them away from the spiral binding.
10. Pentalic Traveler Pocket Journal Sketchbook
The final book bound option comes from Pentalic Art Store. This Traveler Pocket Journal comes with black paper that has a slight texture and is heavy-weight, designed for use with a wide variety of mediums.
It also has an elastic closure and ribbon marker so you can mark the page where you left off, then close up the journal for safe and protected travel.
It’s another smaller size of 8 x 6” sheets, so it would be perfect for on the go artwork.
11. Bachmore Black Drawing Pad
The Bachmore is the final option on our list, though certainly not the least in quality.
It comes with 50 sheets of microperforated, high-quality black paper with a smooth surface, perfect for use with colored pencils, gel pens, or markers.
This sketchbook is spiral bound, so you can easily flip the page and keep the sketchbook laying flat while you work.
You can get it in either 9″ x 12” or a 2 pack of 5.5″ x 8.5” sized paper.
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