Hello lovely people,

 I really recently took the traditional inking plunge & got myself a Hunt 102 Crow Quill pen, but I'm having trouble deciding on what surface I should be using it on.  Ages ago I got given a few sheets of this fairly thick paper with a glossy side that takes pen & ink beautifully, but I've used it all & have no idea what it's called to try & find some more! 

Can anyone reccommend from experience the best thing to use with inks?  I've heard a lot about illustration board & Bristol board but I've never used either & have no idea what the difference is!  I also tend to ink with a lightbox, so would anyone know of a good inking surface thin enough to trace through?

Thankyou so muuuch :D

Vellum probably for using with a lightbox.

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The best thing with any drawing materials is to try various options and see what suits you. Some artists like to ink on very smooth surfaces, whereas others like something with a bit of tooth.

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I used to use Schoellershammer paper but I bought it in A1 reams not pads and I'm sure it was more than the 75g sold here. Board is perfect but after 100 drawings you need to buy a new house.  After my usual supplier moved I did some experimenting and found that this Daler Rowney Heavyweight Cartridge was excellent for pen and ink - no bleed whatsoever and a slightly toothy surface to boot.

AH thankyou for those, I will try them all out & see what works for me.  I used the Daler cartridge before but only for pencil sketches, I'll have to give it a try with pen as well.  I think I'd prefer a smooth surface, but only because I tried the pen on some tracing paper & it just kept sticking & jumping which just made the drawing laborious, where the smooth paper I had the pen went very smoothly & it was lovely XD 

I read someone talking about how they felt paper with some tooth gave ink work a bit more of a 'human' aesthetic compared to smooth surfaces, has anyone got similiar opinions or anything?

Also can anyone reccommend a particular vellum paper?  It sounds like it's similar to what I've been using so I wantses some.

Woo shopping list!! :D

i like bristol board - airbrush paper for inking on (and using markers on) its got a moth finish and has become my favorite paper. 

i have liked

Strathmore 500 Series Cold Press Illustration Board

takes a lot of  different mediums and has a nice tooth which i like.

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Changing myself one pixel at a time

I have to agree - I have a deep love for Bristol board.