Watercolor paper vs. Drawing paper

If you follow my social media accounts, you will know that I had promised to write a blog post about the differences of using different paper in drawing. I had planned to draw a portrait of a Japanese actor whom I found quite cute-looking. However, I couldn’t find my drawing pad nor my sketch book anywhere in the apartment. But I still wanted to draw. So I grabbed what I had in-hand which was watercolor paper.

I had never drawn on a watercolor paper. I always first draw a design onto a normal paper and then transfer it onto the watercolor paper before starting to paint. I do this because the pencil marks get easily smudged. I find many professional artists use this method a lot. Nothing differed this time either. I treated this as if I was going to paint, but instead of a brush I used a pencil.

After the outlines were drawn, I started with the eyes. I added some shadows using a cotton swap. By alternating between drawing details and shadowing I drew the whole portrait. I then scanned the finished drawing just like I have done with my other designs.

The result of drawing onto a cold-pressed watercolor paper.

Some days later I found my drawing pad. Although I hadn’t planned to draw anything that day since I was going to work in my other job, I decided to draw the same portrait anyways. I did all the previously mentioned steps but I also did the background and colored the shirt. Before scanning, I sprayed the drawing with a fixative spray for drawings. This would prevent the lead from smudging when touched.

A portrait drawn onto a drawing paper.

Which one is your favorite?