04. Clairefontaine Smartprint Clairmail – 60 g/m2
The first thing you notice about this paper is that it’s white. Really white. Color reproduction is good on this paper and shading as well. Out of the three sheeny inks only Diamine November Rain produced anything. There is no feathering and no bleed-through.
An interesting thing to note with this paper is that even though it feels smooth the touch, the paper actually offers quite a bit of resistance so if you like a paper that gives you a lot of feedback and actually forces you to work a little bit, this is a good choice for you. The pen wrote really well on it and the paper doesn’t stop the ink from flowing out nicely. Being only a paper that is 60 g/m2 it’s somewhat similar to Tomoe River in regards to structural integrity. I would argue that the slight difference in paper weight is noticeable when holding a sheet in your hand particularly when you’re moving it around, but nonetheless the paper can still easily crumple and will bend downwards when holding it. Naturally ghosting is visible and it’s only marginally better than Tomoe River.
VERDICT: Good paper which I can recommend, it’s dirt cheap. Inks behave nicely on it and the writing experience is solid. I prefer this over Clairefontaine Papier Veloute because inks and pens behaved better on it.
