Moleskine Sketchbook, Paper for Pencils and Watercolor Paintings, Hard Cover and Elastic Closure, Pocket Size 9x14cm, 60 Pages, Color Black

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Some of the material for this article was taken from artices which appear in the Sketchbook of Russell Stutler.) I had to wait a bit longer than many of my artist friends, since these products usually don't show up in Japan until several months after their debut in the west. One reason for the Moleskine's surge in popularity is the "art journal" boom which was helped by people such as Danny Gregory who has written several books including Everyday Matters . People who hadn't considered themselves artists suddenly discovered they could find great fulfillment through drawing and journaling. Gregory's book An Illustrated Life: Drawing Inspiration from the Private Sketchbooks of Artists, Illustrators and Designers shows how closely the Moleskine is associated with this phenomenon.

After mulling over the problem later, I came up with another simple solution. I cut a plywood board the exact same size as the large Moleskine Watercolor Album.These are good for general sketching with pencil or ink. They come in ruled, unruled, and grid ruled versions. If you are primarily drawing rather than writing, you will probably choose the plain (unruled) version which is identified by a light green paper band.

Searching for a different type of pad? At Ryman® we have a great range of pads & notebooks to help you explore your ideas on paper. Discover our great range of notepads & books or for budding artists, our drawing pads are an essential artistic staple.But by the time I reached the middle of the sketchbook, the paper quality was different, as you can see in the photo above and in the close-up on the right. Sketchbooks specific for watercolors or other painting media do usually have 300 GSM paper for multiple layers. Our Recommendation List for the Best Sketchbooks Related article: How to use graphite paper for drawing] Moleskin Art Sketch Album Best travel sketchbook for graphite pencil or charcoal drawing Acid is simply testing the pH value of the paper on a scale from 0–14 with 0–7 being acidic and anything above being standard pH. Smooth Paper vs Textured Paper Fun fact: Some of the most famous artists in the world such as Da Vinci and Rembrandt produced numerous sketches to capture their surroundings and inspiration.

I don't know if they used different paper halfway through the sketchbook, or if the passage of time somewhow degraded the quality. The different types of paper in these sketchbooks are identified by Greek letters: Alpha, Beta, Gamma, Delta, Epsilon and Zeta (the English equivalents would be A,B,G,D,E and Z). The smooth Epsilon (and Zeta) allows for a more crisp line that the Alpha (and Beta), but the difference is very subtle, and I usually can't tell the difference. When I tried to make ink lines with Platinum carbon ink in a brush pen and also a fountain pen, the ink feathered a bit.The sketch on the right which was done with a brush pen and fountain pen, both filled with Platinum Carbon ink, and later colored with a light watercolor wash, with some darker washes blended in. Some months before I left for Australia, the owner of the papeterie said that the vrai moleskine was getting harder and harder to get. There was one supplier: a small family business in Tours. They were very slow in answering letters. There's also an accordion style Japanese Album notebook which is based on those long horizontal scrolls that can be seen in Japanese museums. I have never tried one, and can't comment on them. Ironic I suppose since I live in Japan. I've filled several Moleskine notebooks with written notes using fountain pens and have had no problems at all. If you can find an ink converter for your fountain pen then you will have the freedom to try different brands of ink. This is a really important factor because you want to make sure you have selected a strong sketchbook to weather the elements!