Strathmore400 Series 9-inch x 12-inch Toned Paper Sketch Pad, 50 Sheets/Pad (60681)

Love these toned papers, I bought this size to keep in my painting backpack to use for warm up sketches in charcoal before painting in my portrait class.

Wonderful paper. I have a lot of fun with this paper in several mediums; works well with my sharp fine-nib and black ink, which normally cuts through and ruins my drawing and my day, also works well with colored pencils, watercolour, whatever. Somehow grey paper is less threatening than white, so I definitely recommend toned paper for getting through artist’s block.

Great paper. Colored pencils really stand out and look amazing on this paper.. Definitely recommend.

This pad of paper is fantastic! I used it in a drawing class and it was excellent. Our instructor shared that this brand and style of paper is as good as it gets. I’ll buy Strathmore forever.

Perfect for the price

Would have liked it to be perforated for easy tear out but otherwise it’s exactly what I wanted

I had been wanting to try the toned sketchbooks but was hesitant because in the hobby store the paper felt thin & not very durable. It also felt like it had little to no "tooth", (for non drawing folk that means the roughness that allows the device you are writing or drawing with to be able to make the mark you wish & for drawing tooth allows for multiple layers of graphite, charcoal, or colored pencil. OKAY! Here's the good news! I was WRONG! (I really do not like to admit that, it's rare, so enjoy it😱)I have been doing product samples on this sketchbook as I do on all new paper that I'm trying for the first time. (you never want to be creating your masterpiece & discover that your luscious chocolate brown colored pencil looks more like something your dog created on your new paper!) So after some testing I have found that the paper is much more durable than it looks! Ballpoint pen, colored pencil, & graphite work fantastic. Erasing is not a problem if you are delicate about it. By delicate I mean normal erasing for art not grinding away with a rockhard old eraser. I tested this by erasing a 1" squared area then using the same pencil I created a smooth patch of color over that square & the one next to it. I couldn't tell a difference. I wouldn't try to erase pen, or a dark pencil mark. Using markers was a mixed deal. My pigma microns were great, sharpie's bled through.I am very pleased so far, it has created a new spark in my drawing having the additional value to work with. (I bought both the gray & tan) I bought the smallest size available because drawing on a toned background is new for me. If I have any new information in the future I will post it, as of now I am extremely pleased overall and am sure I will be buying more in the future.UPDATE: One thing I have found a little frustrating is the paper has multicolored fibers throughout. I didn't think that was a real issue at first until I was drawing a face, not really a portrait just an imaginary face & these dark fiber lines kept appearing in the most awkward places. I think the clearest description I can give is they look like eyelashes fell into the paper as it was being made. In one drawing it seriously looked like I had drawn a nose hair on this poor womans face! Not the look I was going for, and unless you are much better at changing your drawing midstream than I am you are then stuck with the nose hair or you will need to create some dramatic shadows. I could have done a "sex change" I guess, gave her a mustache... it was just a bit frustrating. I am by far not the greatest artist on the planet, I am really not even comfortable using the term artist to describe myself, I just like to draw. I still do like the sketchbooks but my paper preference is still Arches hot pressed watercolor paper in a bright white. I probably just need more work time with these.

I like the texture and the surface of the paper. I think it's really nice to sketch on. The eraser marks are hard to see which is good. Funny enough I did not read the size and thought I was buying the normal 9x12 and when it delivered it was like the size of a book. That's my bad but in the end I actually enjoy the size of the sketch pad because it doesn't take up much room and it's more easy to carry around.