Recently I continued on my paper exploration journey with the Yamamoto Vol 2 Fountain Pen Friendly paper sampler. I ordered this from Vanness, and this is a continuation of the paper sampler series, as I previously went through the Vol 1 collection.
These are all papers deemed fountain pen friendly by Yamamoto Paper, and while I would describe that as accurate overall, there are some things to note about some of the various papers. In the video you will see that some of these papers show colors very differently, specifically the No 5 offering from the sampler called Smooth Art Paper. This was the thickest paper of the two packs, and it has a coating on the base paper to create the smooth writing surface, but the ink that I tested with was not able to do its expected color change as it dries.
This is not the first paper that I have come across to do this same type of color display, so while that is not a bad thing, it just reenforces that if you are needing colors to show a certain way, you definitely want to swatch the inks you plan to use on the exact papers to be sure that you are ready for the results. Iroful is the other paper that I saw this on with the Teranishi Guitar Gentle Green ink.
I had a YouTube comment ask me which one of these that I would buy a pack of, and I think for me, the Sheep’s Cloud Bond paper would fit the bill. It offers a very similar writing experience to Bank Paper, which is now limited to vendor stock on hand, so this has a good chance of becoming the replacement for people who really love that paper.
I would strongly encourage you to pick up these various paper sample packs, as they are the best way to try before you buy, as most of these papers will come at a higher cost due to the need to have them imported from Japan.
You can find the Yamamoto A5 sampler packs at Vanness Pens online at https://www.vanness1938.com. You can use the code DWRDNET to save 10% on many items at Vanness. Some exclusions apply and are listed on a per item basis on their website. A big thank you to Vanness to offer this for readers and viewers of the dwrd.net website and the DWRDNET YouTube channel.