Best Sketchbook for Watercolors: Global Art Field Watercolor Journals Products Used: Kuretake Gansai Tambi Watercolors and Molotow GRAFX Masking Liquid Pump Markers. While many medium-weight sketchbooks can handle light washes of color, we’ve picked out heavyweight sketchbooks that can take water without pilling or much warping. When it comes to non-100% cotton sketchbooks, this is top on my list. GAM watercolour sketchbook is for those who use pen and ink and light washes, and prefer white paper. Strathmore 400 Series Watercolor Journal - 48 pages, 300gsm, 0% cotton This is a good quality sketchbook that comes in paperback and hardcover format.
Watercolor Journals And Sketchbooks
Update April 2021: St Louis Art Supply sketchbooks added
A few years ago, I wrote an article called 'Best Watercolour Sketchbook for Artists' that featured some sketchbooks I think are good value for artists. The quality of those sketchbooks are good, but for artists who demand the absolute best watercolour paper, there's just no substitute for 100% cotton watercolour paper. Nina simone piano songbook.
100% cotton watercolour paper is more durable, and more importantly is able to handle all sorts of watercolour techniques well, more specifically wet on wet techniques. Creating smooth colour blends is a lot more easy on 100% cotton watercolour paper than those wood pulp or cellulose paper. Good watercolour paper allows your paint to move and blend into other colours.
Below is a list of sketchbooks made with 100% cotton watercolour paper.
The Perfect Sketchbook
The Perfect Sketchbook is the first sketchbook that I know of that's made with 100% cotton watercolour paper. The idea for making such a sketchbook came from Erwin Lian, an artist based in Singapore.
The Perfect Sketchbook has gone through a few releases since its initial release after a successful Kickstarter campaign in 2015. The current version of Perfect Sketchbook is sold by Etchr Lab, a company based in Australia. The watercolour paper is still 100% cotton, but there's no mention of the paper's brand. Earlier Perfect Sketchbooks used Fabriano Artistico and Saunders Waterford.
Price? US $94 for a bundle of three A5-sized 44-page hardcover sketchbooks and US $134 for A4-sized ones. That works out to be US $31 for each A5-sized and US $45 for each A4-sized.
Just for comparison purposes, an A5 Moleskine Watercolour Album with 60 pages (non-cotton) is US $13 on Book Depository (with free shipping) and the A4-sized one is US $22.
Availability:
https://etchrlab.com/collections/sketchbooks
https://etchrlab.com/collections/sketchbooks
SPD watercolour Sketchbook
If you're in Singapore, you can consider supporting SPD, formerly known as Society for the Physically Disabled.
SPD sells a 15 x 18.5cm hardcover 100% cotton coldpress 52-page watercolour sketchbook on their online store. The size is slightly smaller than A5 but it's still a comfortable size to draw on. There's no mention of the brand of the watercolour paper used but it's good watercolour paper. I've filled up a whole sketchbook with watercolour sketches and it performs really well.
Price is S$35, does not include shipping. Overseas shipping from Singapore is expensive. Last time I checked, it's S$17 shipping from SingPost for a sketchbook of this size and weight. So that makes the total S$52 (~US $37)
Availability:
https://eshop.spd.org.sg/products/watercolour-sketchbook
https://eshop.spd.org.sg/products/watercolour-sketchbook
SPD also provides bookbinding services from S$25 or more. I've got them to make a few customised sketchbooks for me with various brands of watercolour paper and their service is excellent.
Koval Sketchbook
Koval is a company based in Poland that makes artist sketchbooks. They sell non-cotton, 50% cotton and 100% cotton sketchbooks.
Their hardcover sketchbooks are well made, has good binding, comes with a large rubber band to hold the covers together. The 50% cotton watercolour paper is Fabriano5 and 100% cotton is Fabriano Artistico.
The price depends on the size of the sketchbook. Currently, a 2.5-inch square hardcover 80-page sketchbook is US $25.95, and an A5-sized 60-page hardcover sketchbook is US $46.95. Shipping is not included, but not expensive.
Paper is also available with hotpress smooth surface.
Availability:
https://kovalshop.com
https://kovalshop.com
Arkademie
Arkademie is a company based in Singapore that makes high end sketchbooks. Many of their products are leather bound and hence extremely resistant to wear and tear. I've tested several products from them before and the quality is great. Because of the leather cover, their sketchbooks feel really different from other brands. It makes you feel luxurious when sketching. Yeah, I can't imagine I said that but I did.
Here are sketchbooks from Arkademie that are great for watercolour.
Arkademie Artist's Sketchbook is a 60-page leather-bound sketchbook filled with Fabriano Rosaspina paper. a 60% off-white 220gsm print-making paper. Fabriano Rosaspina is not marketed as watercolour paper but for some reason, it handles watercolour really well. I've filled up a whole sketchbook during my Tokyo trip and I really enjoyed using the sketchbook. The only downside is the sketchbook can't open completely flat. Price is around S$67 to $97 (US $48 to $70).
Arkademie ANCONA is a 46-page sketchbook with either a cloth-bound or leather-bound cover. The paper used is also Fabriano Rosaspina. These are only available in A5 and B5 (18 x 26cm) portrait. Price is from S$67 to $83 (US $48 to $60).
Arkademie SOMERSET is a 46-page leather-bound sketchbook that uses 190gsm Saunders Waterford coldpress watercolour paper. It's available in A5, B5 and Imperial Super Octavo-portrait format (21 by 28cm). The leather is orange in colour vs black of the Artist's Sketchbook. You can see more photos at https://www.parkablogs.com/content/first-look-arkademies-somerset-waterc..
If you want a sketchbook that works great with watercolour and makes you feel great each time you look at it, consider Arkademie.
Availability:
https://www.arkademie.com
https://www.overjoyed.xyz/shop/brand/arkademie
https://www.arkademie.com
https://www.overjoyed.xyz/shop/brand/arkademie
Khadi Papers
Khadi Papers watercolour sketchbooks are made with handmade 100% cotton 210gsm watercolour paper from India. Because the paper is handmade, you can expect some imperfections, such as blemishes on the paper or the occasionally issue with sizing. Despite the so called quality control issues which actually happens rarely, I still enjoyed using this sketchbook very much. I love the deckled edges and for some reason the cheap looking cardboard cover.
The paper is able to handle watercolour techniques and heavy washes really well. The paper is labeled as either smooth (coldpress) or rough.
These are the different sizes available
- HB3 - 28 x 35cm
- HB4 - 21 x 25cm
- HB5L - 13 x 32cm
- HB5 - 13 x 16cm
Sometimes there will be a letter S or R which represents Smooth (coldpress) or Rough.
Availability:
https://khadi.com
eBay
https://khadi.com
eBay
Strathmore Travel Journal
Strathmore is a well known paper manufacturer from USA.
The Strathmore Travel Journals use 300gsm 100% cotton watercolour paper.
They are available in paperback (A5 portrait and 7 x 10 inch portrait) and spiral bound (3 by 9 inches). There are only 20 pages in each journal so they can be filled up rather quickly.
Design of these journals look nice. The paperback has a rounded corners and a large coloured rubber band to hold the pages together. Because there are fewer pages and it's not a hardcover, it's lighter compared to other sketchbooks. And it's also very compact since it's so thin. Downside is since it's paperback, drawing on it laying it down on firm support is going to make the pages wobble.
Current price of the 7 x 10 inch is US $22 and the A5 (5.5 x 8 inch) is US $17.50.
Availability:
Amazon US | CA | UK | DE | FR | ES | IT | JP
Amazon US | CA | UK | DE | FR | ES | IT | JP
St Louis Art Supply
St Louis Art Supply is an art store based in St. Louis, Missouri, USA, so I'm not sure if they can ship overseas.
At the time of this review, they have the #102 Cotton Drawing (portrait, $21.95) and #502 Pro Mixed Media (portrait, $28.95) Drupal 9.2. watercolour sketchbooks which feature 100% cotton watercolour paper from Fabriano.
Main selling point is the sketchbooks are spiral bound which allows you to fold the pages back to keep the sketchbook compact. This allows you to hold the sketchbook easily especially if you need to stand and sketch. The cover is designed such that it will cover the wire on the front and back while the spine is exposed, and this makes it easy to keep the sketchbook on the shelf without the wire affecting other books.
Paper is also available with hotpress smooth surface.
Conclusion
Good paper is expensive so it's not surprising that sketchbooks made with such paper are expensive.
Five years ago, many of these sketchbooks weren't even available. At least now there are options we can choose from. So you can decide whether they are worth the money or if you prefer the cheaper non-cotton watercolour sketchbooks.
For more art product reviews, visit https://www.parkablogs.com/content/list-of-art-products-reviewed
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At least from what I’m seeing, art is what paints the world. The tall mountains with lush trees is a sight and art to behold by the eyes. The sound that you hear from the birds every morning is a sound and art that puts a smile on your face. And the ocean that rushes to the ground is a natural state that eases away our worries and stress. With that said, the art that the eyes can see can be translated into a physical art. And one of the available physical art out there is through the use of the best watercolor sketchbook.
Pentalic Watercolor Field Book
The best watercolor sketchbook comes in the form of Pentalic Watercolor Field Book and is the perfect canvas for every professional and aspiring artist alike. The Pentalic Watercolor Field Book comes in a relatively spacious 7” x 10” size while having 24 sheets to be exact. If that’s not good enough for you, the other variants of the Pentalic Watercolor Field Book allow it to be had in smaller and bigger sizes and in fewer or greater sheet number. The Pentalic Watercolor Field Book is a field book that you can take out wherever you are and comes with a hard cover as protection. Moreover, the Pentalic Watercolor Field Book makes use of double wirebound to lay the book lay flat and lastly, is acid-free.
Bellofy Watercolor Sketchpad Artist Pro
If you’re professional artists, several sheets won’t cut out for you. With that said, in terms of a number of sheets, the Bellofy Watercolor Sketchpad Artist Pro lets you sketch your every desire and inspiration. Aside from being compatible with watercolor, the Bellofy Watercolor Sketchpad Artist Pro is also used for acrylic art painting. The technical specification for the Bellofy Watercolor Sketchpad Artist Pro has it at 98 lbs with its 9” x 12” dimension. The Bellofy Watercolor Sketchpad Artist Pro makes the size of A-4 paper with each sheet being durable and acid-free.
Global Art Materials Travelogue Watercolor Book
For landscaper lovers, the Global Art Materials Travelogue Watercolor Book is your best canvas partner. The Global Art Materials Travelogue Watercolor Book lets you choose from its different variants identified by its size – large landscape, square, large portrait, grand portrait, and pocket panorama – all made for landscapers, if you may. The Global Art Materials Travelogue Watercolor Book, which originally comes in the large landscape has a dimension of 5 ¼” x 8 ¼”. In terms of sheet number, the Global Art Materials Travelogue Watercolor Book has 60 pieces of acid-free and soft white sheets totaling to 200 gsm. With that said, the Global Art Materials Travelogue Watercolor Book protects the paper with its durable cover complete with elastic closure along with clean envelope inside for the back cover. Bound in natural linen, the Global Art Materials Travelogue Watercolor Book is directly made in India.
Conclusion
Best 100 Cotton Watercolor Sketchbook
As we round up the top three watercolor sketchbooks, the best watercolor sketchbook is Pentalic Watercolor Field Book.
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