Its always a very exciting to be starting a new sketchbook after finishing or getting fed up with an old one. It can also be very scary for many as the first crisp, clean and perfect white page stares back at you as you touch, feel and contemplate what your first marks are going to be.
There are a million and one different sketchbooks out there and a million and one YouTube videos, websites and blogs comparing papers, prices, uses and brands. At the end of the day, it will come down to what you like personally and what medium you intend to use on it.
Over the years I have collected quite a few different ones which all have different uses. I have come to know what I don't like and what I do like and also which ones I will use with which medium.
Really smooth paper is important for pencil sketching and blending. I have finally found paper that is perfect for this, and at the most surprising of places.
Target in Australia has a brand called Hunter Studio Artistry and you find it in the stationary section. Cheap as chips too! I use these as just doodle books where I can just make scribbles and practise drawing and shading with pencils. It is for playing and making a mess without worrying about the end result of the artwork.
As for watercolour journaling and other wet media, I love to use 100% cotton paper. This can be expensive, so I have been making my own sketchbooks with large sheets of watercolour paper. It ends up being more economical than buying ready make books.
These two books I have pictured below are going to be my 2021 books. Both are 100% cotton paper. The left one is a very cheap indian cotton paper I found at a local discount shop and performs really well. The other book is made from Khadi Papers which is another excellent Indian paper.
You can find heaps of info on how to make your own books. I have used methods found on the "Sea Lemon" YouTube channel which I will link below.
You can find these papers and similar ones online at Jackson's Art Supply in the UK, I will link them down below here as well.
Im really excited to start in these books and hope you find the same kind of joy that I do when anticipating all the beautiful colours and pictures you can fill them with.
See you in the next post
Happy painting :)