Hello, my name is Tracy and I’m addicted to sketchbooks. I just can’t help it. When I find myself in a book or art supply store I naturally gravitate to the sketchbooks and buy one. Quite frankly, I don’t know why. Maybe it is all the possibilities those blank pages hold. The cracking of an unopened spine, the smell of the paper or the leather it’s bound in or the feel of it’s heaviness in my hands. Needless to say… I have many sketchbooks, but… I hardly use them. Confession: I’m afraid I’ll ruin them. What if I spend hours on a drawing that looks just awful? Well then, there it will forever stay, the shame page, bound in a book I once loved. Well, I have decided recently to get over my fear. I will crack open all my sketchbooks and fill them to the brim. Horrible sketches among masterpieces, Bring it on!

Spending the last couple of months filling them I’ve learned quite a lot about sketchbooks. What I like, what I don’t like and what I wish I had but can’t find anywhere! Let’s start with what I don’t like.

Moleskine

Moleskine. I follow many artists on instagram who constantly post pics of their overflowing talented art on Moleskine. And well, I want and wish for my sketches to be as lovely as theirs. I love the look and feel of these books but… they don’t like me. I like to use watercolor. I’m better with a brush than a pencil or pen, I just am. Things flow much better for me with watercolor. Moleskine paper does not like watercolor. It tends to sort of flake with pulp when wet, the colors absorb much too quickly and it makes for a huge muddy mess. Basically, ruining my perfectly good expensive Moleskine. They are fabulous for pen, pencil, marker and perhaps the slightest watercolor application, but not for me. Note to self: Please try NOT to buy these again. Use blinders when in art store.

Moleskine does however have a watercolor sketch book. Yep, have one of these too. But it contains cold press watercolor paper. Some artist adore the texture of cold pressed paper, I am not one of those artists. I prefer hot pressed. Smooth, rich, fabulous hot pressed which loves my brush and well, my use of way too many layers of color. Needless to say, this watercolor sketchbook is ok, but not for me. Moving on…

Hand Book Artist Journals

I HAVE found a sketchbook line that I like. They are called Hand Book Artist Journals. And they’re attractive to boot! I have one in every color. The paper in these notebooks quite frankly, is just great. Here is how dickblick describes them: “The heavyweight sheets are 130 gsm (normal drawing paper is 80 gsm) and acid free. They have a light, toothy surface that accepts pen-and-ink, pencil, markers, and light watercolor washes without buckling.” Yes, it’s true. Light watercolor washes hold up on this paper. I’ll give it 3 out of 5 stars. 3 only because I like to use heavy watercolor washes. If only there was such a thing as hot pressed watercolor journal, so I search the internet, and searched the internet, and searched some more, but my friends they just don’t exist… Until now.

Hot Pressed Watercolor Journals by Me. TwoCritters.etsy.com

My long love/hate relationship of sketchbooks have led me to come up with a solution. Why not make my own!

Handbound, Hardcover, Hot Pressed Watercolor Journals! Oh, if only I could bottle my excitement! The interior pages are made with the finest 90 lb (185 gsm) Arches Hot Pressed Watercolor Paper. Arches is the best! And the only paper I use for my illustrations. And I’ve decided they should be available to all who share my anxiety with sketchbooks. They are now for sale in my book shop HERE. They come in different sizes, and different finishes. You will love them, I’m sure of it.

So, please excuse me… I have another sketchbook to fill.