Us pen addicts are particular about our paper. It’s the engine that makes the pens and inks go, and it’s as important as any singular piece of the writing experience. So why does BIG PAPER keep taking away our favorites?
There’s books to be written about that one day, and I would like to nominate Taizo Yamamoto as the author. Taizo knows more about paper than anyone I know, and possibly more than anyone I don’t know. He is the person behind Yamamoto Paper, and his passion for paper knows no bounds.
His latest creation, Canopus, is designed to be a better version than one of the papers that got away in Cosmo Air Light. When I say creation, I mean that in a literal sense. Taizo creates some of his own paper formulas, and works with manufacturers to have them produced to his exacting specifications. His own Bank Paper was his previous creation, and now a new paper has entered the fray.
Colorverse Blue Crab ink in a Medium Jowo 14k Nib with a Stub Grind.
Canopus is designed to highlight the features of fountain pen inks. Colors are sharp, vibrant, and representative from the nib, and show off all of the different qualities inks have, such as sheen and shading. The feel of the paper is slightly soft and has a small amount of feedback, but is smooth overall.
I used the smooth Kakimori Muddler for the top swatches, and the sometimes scratchier Kakimori Stainless Steel nib for the bottom.
A bit of a light angle change to see the shading, sheen, and shimmer of various inks.
Comparatively, Cosmo Air Light offered brilliant ink representation, but didn’t offer a great nib on the page experience. It had a soft feel, which caused line widths to expand. For example, a stock Fine Jowo Steel nib would leave a line width you would expect from a similar Medium nib. It also didn’t feel great from a tactile perspective. The page was spongy, and the finer the nib, the worse it felt in my experience. So I rarely, if ever, used it for that reason.
Yamamoto wanted a firmer page, and while Canopus is not designed to get all the way there like with Bank Paper or classic Tomoe River, it is clearly firmer than Cosmo Air Light. My most extreme nibs feel solid, with line widths on the page that I expected.
Various fountain pen nibs (left,) and standard pens and pencils.
Canopus is more of a writing page than Cosmo Air Light, but it’s not perfect. There are still some interesting “feels” with standard pens, which I use a lot of. For example, the Schmidt P8127 Rollerball felt grabby on the page, and a little odd. The color looked great, and there was no bleed or feathering at all, but it didn’t glide. Gel ink pens were better, ballpoint pens work on almost any surface, and the fineliner laid down nice lines. On some papers fineliners feel dry, but not here, so it might be a good drawing and sketching paper. Not for pencils though - they felt too glossy on the page.
Great performance overall, with no feathering or bleed. Even the Sharpie was better than on most papers.
Fountain pens were excellent across the board, even my super fine Pilot Posting nib and Sailor Extra Fine. There was no sinking into the page, and both were smooth. I will say, and this goes for any nib/ink combo on Canopus, you can’t double up your lines, or color over the same area a second or third time without the underlying paper beginning to come up. Obviously this is an issue with any water on paper, but I thought this broke down faster on the top of the page than other papers I use frequently (Life, Midori, Maruman, etc.). Interestingly, it rarely bled through the back side in those areas, which is nice.
My kind of shading.
For me, Cosmo Air Light was never a product I wanted to use in a 200 page journal. Inks looked beautiful, but I didn’t enjoy writing on it. Canopus is better in that aspect, and I think I could use it as a journal paper, but still likely prefer it as a 50-80 page A5 note pad. These Bullet Paper Pads, which are what I’m using here, are narrower, but equally as nice. Plus, they are only $5.50 for 50 sheets, which gives you enough pages to test out and see if you want to take it further.
Since Canopus is new to the market, they are coming in and out of stock quickly at various retailers, but expect more after the San Francisco Pen Show, where Yamamoto Paper will be bring these, and more of their fantastic paper products.
(I bought this product from The Gentleman Stationer at regular price.)
