I am always looking for good drawing paper. My two favorites, at the moment, are Arches Hotpress Watercolor Paper and Stonehenge.
Arches Hotpress Watercolor paper has a extremely tough surface that can stand multiple erasures. It holds blacks beautifully and you can create a smooth texture on it. I work with my entire range of pencils on this paper – from 9H to 9B. It is available in individual sheets and various sized watercolor blocks.
Stonehenge paper has a much softer surface and I use softer leads when I work with this paper. The surface is smoother than Arches but it is much more delicate and gouges easily. You have to work a bit harder, with this paper, to create very dark blacks but it can be done. It is available in individual sheets and various sized paper pads.
Both of these papers are archival quality. Stonehenge is the less expensive of the two.
