Okay, people who've known me for awhile and certainly back from my days waaaaaay back on Fur Affinity--they all know I like to try new things. But............seriously--the next time you see me trying to buy so-called "marker paper", just smack me and tell me "NO". I'm never satisfied about anything calling itself "marker paper"......the only thing that ever came close was Aquabee's "multimedia paper" that stated "Good with Copics" on it--it actually was what it said it was (though at the time I had more Prismacolor markers than Copics).

So, this time I'm trying a paper called "good with alcohol-based-inks and alcohol-inks", YUPO craft paper. What caught my eye was "heavystock" paper--you just don't see a lot of heavystock paper anymore. Cardstock paper is only half the size that it used to be, which is why my standard for the past couple years has been Bristol--and, even then, I'm rather picky on the brand of Bristol I'm using (Strathmore). I used to be able to use cardstock with markers, but not anymore. But the reason I search for thick papers and the rare beast of "heavystock" is...........I don't have A/C at home, and because of that, my papers tend to wrinkle and wilt a bit in summer--making it hard to use after summer is done and gone.

ANYWAYS, my review of this YUPO "good with alcohol-based inks" paper is...........maybe 3 stars out of 5. It's nice paper, but it still never works how I want it to. There's no ink absorption into the paper, which is usually how you can make one-colors lighter or darker. Therefore, markers make a watercolor "bleed and spread" on the paper. Also, if you're using pencil--then ink--and want to erase that pencil.........forget it, you're gonna erase your ink lines, too. HOWEVER, this paper is amazing for PENCIL.

SAY WHAT?!? Yeah, I've made the transition to mechanical pencils over the years--but it still sometimes has a scratchy-ness that does some minimal damage to the paper for me (probably because I naturally press hard). However, this YUPO paper is incredibly smooth and pencil looks really, REALLY nice on it, even pressing lightly. I'll bet I can do fantastic detailled pencils on this paper.

So, here's an example of the paper with an initial pencil sketch, my "first inking" (I ink twice, remember?) and use of markers (without a second/final ink). Oddly, the darker colors worked better on the paper than lighter colors.

Characters are all my OCs. :)