Strathmore 500 Mixed Media 190gsm Hardbound Book, 8.5 x 11 in, 32 Sheets, Ideal for Professionals & Students

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I've used this book for quicker studies and demonstrations rather than for 'best' - probably due to the soft cover. Simply put, a sketchbook is a blank, unlined book used by artists for creating preliminary sketches, taking notes, and capturing impressions.

You can see that there is some warping of the paper, which is really to be expected with a 150gsm sketchbook. Great papers so those who work with a lot of fine lines, fine pens, or pencil detail as well as watercolour.

They are toned paper but can be used with opaque watercolour, gouache and other more opaque mediums so I am including them here.

The dark grey fabric hard cover is really nice to feel, and being a dark colour it resists dirt and is easy to wipe clean if it does get a spill. I find these great sketchbooks for exploration, play, notes, and all the little things that seem more appropriate to do in a sketchbook rather than in my diary/notebook. I have used many of them as my 'play' books, where I test colours, do quick sketches, create demonstrations while teaching, take notes and so on. I've created a template that I've drawn into each so I can compare the way the watercolour paint moves on the surface, how it granulates, how easy it is to control, how quickly it dries and so on. I find I have to work much faster on this paper when adding watercolour, but I personally ​prefer a cold pressed surface.

They come in a good range of shapes and sizes, including A5 Large Landscape format (shown left), a similar sized portrait format, the 8¼" x 8¼" square (shown left), a cute 3 ⅓" x 8 ¼" Pocket Panorama, and a larger 10½" x 8 ¼" Grand Portrait format. I don't like to say this, as I really like Stillman and Birn as a company, but I am not a fan of this paper as I feel that the watercolour is hard to control on it, especially after the first wash.

com, the Sell on Etsy app, and the Etsy app, as well as the electricity that powers Etsy’s global offices and employees working remotely from home in the US. It was created by Erwin Lian in conjunction with Bynd Artisan bookbinders and I bought quite a few when it was released as a Indiegogo crowd funding campaign in 2015. It is also available in the smaller size - The Perfect Sketchbook A5 Landscape with 300gsm acid free artist grade 100% cotton cold pressed paper (44 pages). It can be a bit of a challenge to get a really smooth wash with watercolour, but granulation shows up nicely. One of two complaints I have are once when I worked an area a little to much, being an amateur I did not notice I dipped a watercolor pencil in water to draw directly on the paper, and I flattened and indented the paper.The books open out flat so it is easy to paint across the gully, and watercolour behaves nicely on the paper.

This beautiful sketchbook was created in a limited edition of 600 but I hope it will reappear, perhaps in the 200gsm Fabriano paper as well, as it is an extraordinary book suitable for our precious watercolour sketches and paintings. The pages are hand torn with a deckle edge and the paper grain is parallel to the binding on each page. i’m looking for a mixed media sketchbook that i can use with gouache, watercolour, fine liner, and pencil. This really is my perfect sketchbook and I love that it was created through the passion of an individual. This journal features archival paper that is excellent for watercolor, gouache, acrylic, graphite, pen and ink, colored pencil, marker, pastel and collage.Find toned sketchbook papers that add interest and dimension, eco-friendly recycled sketchbooks (or those made using wind power), sketchbooks with kraft covers for decorating, and those with bleedproof paper. It is acid free 200gsm weight paper and the A5 contains 30 sheets, which is 60 pages using front and back. It can be painted light over dark and dark over light, it dries quickly, it remains water soluble after dry, and requires no solvents to clean up. I have used a number of the 9" x 6" portrait hard cover books, as they are a good size for transporting and they have a lot of pages - 62 sheets (124 both sides). It comes in a good range of sizes and layouts, has decent watercolour paper and behaves fairly well with washes.