Review: Winsor & Newton marker heavyweight paper (160gsm)

In addition to making watercolour products, Winsor & Newton actually has marker products such as alcohol and watercolour markers, and marker paper made for use with alcohol markers. For marker paper, they are available with the following paperweight and formats:

• Marker 75 gsm (50 sheets): 9 x 12 inch, A4, 11 x 14 inch, A3
• Marker Heavyweight 160 gsm (25 sheets): 9 x 12 inch, A4, 11 x 14 inch, A3
• Sketchpad 16:9 80gsm (54 sheets): 22 x 12.5 cm, 27.5 x 15.5 cm, 33.2 x 18.7 cm

Here are the prices at the time of review on Blick Art Materials:

The pricing is comparable to the Canson XL marker paper (70gsm) I reviewed recently.

And yes, the WN marker heavyweight paper is that expensive.

Winsor & Newton marker paper is smooth, bright white, acid-free and said to be "laminated internally" to prevent ink bleed through. Marker inks do look very vibrant on the paper.

There is no ink bleed through with alcohol markers. While it is possible to use both sides of the paper, you will still see the ink impression from the opposite page when you scan or photograph your art.

The difference between 75gsm vs 160gsm is the thicker or heavier paper can handle multiple layers of ink.

There's no sign of ink bleed through even with 3 - 4 layers of wet alcohol ink application. This marker paper is definitely ideal for use with markers. Even 300gsm watercolour paper will have alcohol ink bleed through.

I have also tested the paper with coloured pencils and it seems to work well. Note that this paper isn't meant to be mixed media paper though. Alcohol markers work best on marker paper, and in my opinion doesn't work well together with other media.

That's how gel ink from a rollerball pen looks on this paper.

And this is pigment ink from Winsor & Newton Fineliner. The lines have solid edges and there's no feathering.

There will be slight feathering though if you leave the alcohol marker tip on the paper for a longer time.

This marker paper does not work well with water.

This is quality marker paper and is suitable for design, illustration, manga, comics and calligraphy.

If you don't use much blending or multiple layers with your alcohol markers, you can probably go with the 75gsm paper instead. But it does feel more satisfying working on the heavyweight and thicker marker paper.

Colour blending on this paper is possible but not easy.

Availability

You can find Winsor and Newton marker paper (75gsm and 160gsm) from Blick Art Materials and Jackson's Art UK and Amazon US | CA | UK | DE | FR | IT | ES | JP