For a flat marker colour study
XL Marker is a very smooth, semi-transparent 70 gsm layout paper. Canson describes a barrier that keeps marker ink at the surface and names alcohol- or solvent-based markers among its intended tools. For a character designer concentrating on marker flats and repeated small colour studies, the specialist surface is the feature to investigate. Its lower weight is not, by itself, evidence that it is the inferior choice.
For a page that changes media
The US XL Mixed Media page instead describes sized paper for wet and dry media, including watercolor, acrylic and marker. The pad’s listed 160 gsm paper offers a different starting point for someone moving from pencil into mixed techniques on the same page. It should be chosen for that breadth of work, not on the assumption that every marker behaves identically on both surfaces.
Keep the format attached to the number. On this US page, the 300 gsm listing applies to sheets only; it is not a specification for every wire-bound pad. A seller’s shortened “XL Mixed Media” title can conceal exactly the distinction the buyer needs.
One ordinary drawing decides more than the family logo
For a marker-led character study, shortlist XL Marker and use an available sample with the actual pen. For a page that genuinely includes wet colour and dry drawing, shortlist the specific mixed-media format instead. If both techniques are important but require different surfaces, keeping two purposeful papers can be more coherent than expecting one pad to be every medium’s ideal surface.
Read the exact regional option when reordering. This comparison concerns Canson’s named 70 gsm Marker paper and the US 160 gsm Mixed Media pad, not every product carrying either family name.
Sources & further reading
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