What watercolor sketchbook do you prefer to use for your watercolor sketches? Do you like the Moleskine watercolor sketchbook, or do you prefer a different brand over the Moleskine?
I love this video and thank you for making it! I came across it looking for Moleskine watercolor reviews since I have my second one lying around with only 3 pages used last year. I was a Moleskine fanatic maybe half a decade ago when I got my first book. I used mostly Faber-Castell PITT pens, an Art Alternatives pocket watercolor set, and a waterbrush. They did me well. The paints weren't very demanding because using too much water on the paint itself kind of turns it to nothing, so I never experienced much warping issues. light wash sketches looked great on it and I loved the little pocket inside the back cover! I shelved my second one in favor of a spiral bound book since those are easier to handle in public transit. In the past year, I've gotten ahold of quality paints like W/N Cotmans and Kuretake Gansai Tambi and then picked up a Strathmore Art Journal (I'll link it at the end of the comment). This is half watercolor book half sketch book and the pages alternate. The sketch paper is good for note-taking and keeping paint from adjacent watercolor pages from clashing onto each other. If that's not your cup of tea, any cold-press Strathmore 400-series watercolor book would do you really good for the amount of water you like to use on your paintings. www.amazon.com/Strathmore-Paper-Wirebound-Journal-400-Watercolor/dp/B007V5IHBQ/ref=sr_1_5?ie=UTF8&qid=1497833557&sr=8-5&keywords=strathmore+art+journal+400+wirebound
cammiluna Thanks for all the good info. I just recently got the Kuretake paints also, but haven't gotten the chance to use them. I will definitely check out that Strathmore journal
Chris G Natural thank you for giving us a peek at your work and legitimate criticisms. I already have an unused Moleskine water color pad so I’m properly warned. I also have some small blocks ready to take along. I took fine art as a major but that was over sixty years ago. Most of my art has been on computer screens since then.
Firstly, I LOVE your work! Great review! I stocked up on a lot of Moleskine sketchbooks and watercolour albums when I first got into watercolour and urban sketching a few years ago and I'm still working my way through them. I do enjoy working in them but you do have to know their limitations. I work in light washes so I've never really had issues. I do want to try the Stillman and Birn Alpha for urban sketching as I've heard good things about those. For a better quality, I've heard really good things about the Hahnemulhe Nostalgie Watercolour books so they are on my wish list.
An added note - Moleskine changed the quality of the paper some years back and, apparently, the newer paper isn't as good as in their earlier watercolour books. This could explain some of your issues too?
Thank you for posting this review. I've become interested in both drawing and watercolor. I realize I need to learn how to draw before I can progress to watercolor. I was drawn to your review because I'm in search of a good drawing book that can also let me dabble with watercolor. Your sketches and watercolors make me think a lot of Liz Steel's work too. Perhaps you took one of her courses? In the video you pointed out issues I would not have thought about since I'm a beginner.
Thanks for making this review! I really like the layout of the moleskine sketchbooks, but I can't stand the blooming that occurs from using too much water, as I typically like to work with very diluted colors. I enjoyed seeing your sketches, you handled the blooming and "valley" texture very well.
I got this exact sketchbook a couple of months ago because I'd seen so many good reviews on TH-cam and general word of mouth about Moleskine.... But gosh, I hate it. I use it exclusively as a swatch book, now, when I get new paints because the quality of the paper is just so garbage I can't stand it. The heavy warping, the weird differences in paint acceptance....... I've switched over to a couple of different books that I like more. I really REALLY like my Pentalic landscape books, as well as their field book.... The only problem is that every now and again you'll get a pentalic book where the glue holding the binding in the casing will become brittle and snap. Pentalic is aware of this problem, has fixed it in newer books, and will work with you if you have that issue. The field book is a spiral bound one so it doesn't have the gluing problems, but you also can't do spreads like you would in a flat-bound book. However, their paper is incredible and doesn't buckle at all. I also really like the kilimanjaro watercolor blocks that I got from cheapjoes.com ,which I think is their house brand of blocks. Seriously though, they're really cheap and the paper is pretty great. I also have some stillman and birns books, which you mentioned, and I like them okay. They're nice and light and thin, but I'm not over the moon about them or disappointed, either. By the way, I suspect the reason the moleskine's acceptance of paint is so irregular is likely to do with their sizing. Based off of the specific areas especially where spotting happens, I theorize that they add the sizing/gelatin to the pages AFTER the book is bound, rather than using pre-sized paper in the first place. Love your reviews, by the way. You really go as in-depth as possible, show us the good and the bad, and if you really think it's bad, give us an alternative. Really dig your style of both videos and art.
Just Kat Thanks for the suggestions and your experience with Moleskine paper Kat. I will have to look into the Pentalic sketchbooks and Joe's watercolor block, seems really interesting!
I enjoyed my first one so much that I bought a second one which I was really disapointed in because the quality was so different. At first I thought I might have bought the wrong one but it was the same kind. It`s odd how different they were. It was like using two different sketchbooks. Now I`m using watercolour sketchbooks from Hahnemühle. That brand never let me down and I was really happy to see they finally got their own watercolour sketchbooks!
Yea the quality of the paper turn me off a little. I liked the book, but there were more pages then I wanted that just did not act right. Thanks for the comment!
I have two of those, brand new, unopened, that I've had for 7 months because I'm waiting to get good with drawing and watercolor. Haha I don't want to waste them. Very good, man! Enjoyed it!
Ace Flores if I could give you some advice, don't worry about messing them up, use one to play in and practice first. Then you can get more serious with the second one. Hope you enjoy the books!
I've been meaning to try out either the Molskine sketchbook or the Mossery brand but have yet to do so. I usually like buying water color paper and making my own sketchbooks from them.
Thanks for the honest review I liked your sketches! I was just going to pick one of these watercolor sketchbooks up this weekend since I've fairly enjoyed my moleskin sketchbook but I think I might look into another book maybe the mossery mixed media sketchbooks
Hi Chris, how the texture is in term of smoothness? Does the paper come with a pronounced tooth or it can be considered as smooth? Thanks for sharing, I really enjoyed your drawings
Honestly, I can't answer that for you. I've never used gouache before, and only used watercolor, ink, and pencils in the notebook. Sorry I can't help you with your question.
Thats a good question, I never tested any of my Copic markers on the paper to test it out. Im always a little hesitant to use the markers on rougher papers. But if you try it out please drop a comment and let us know how it worked for you! Thanks!
Great info and review! I remember you saying you were from Nashville in one of your videos I have family in Nashville ! How'd you end up moving to where u reside now? I bought this sketchbook a few months ago and still haven't opened or used it yet smh lol awesome art!
I looks kinda like the spots where the paint takes the worst is where you are touching it the most, watch the video and see ... rubbing down the pages to get them flat, in the seam and where your thumb rests when you are holding it open??? Could it be the oils from our hands could make that biga difference?
Oops... I accidentally posted my comments on Chris G Natural’s comment. The place you type in comments is not labeled. It was there and I used it. Thanks TH-cam
It was a mix of a few different pens including Pigma Microns, brush pens, Sailor Pen, etc. All of the pens I used I have made reviews for them on the channel. Feel free to check them out. Thanks for watching.
There isn't a difference between the pink- and blue-labelled versions, regarding the description of the product, aside from the pink being the older version. Also, that is not A5: it is a different size format, which is narrower than A5.
![[LIVE] : ONE ลุมพินี 86 | คู่เอก "คมเพชร vs ชาติพยัคฆ์"](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/m3q_dRYDuU8/mqdefault.jpg)
What watercolor sketchbook do you prefer to use for your watercolor sketches? Do you like the Moleskine watercolor sketchbook, or do you prefer a different brand over the Moleskine?
afroqueeirdo thanks for your comment and checking out the video.
I love this video and thank you for making it! I came across it looking for Moleskine watercolor reviews since I have my second one lying around with only 3 pages used last year.
I was a Moleskine fanatic maybe half a decade ago when I got my first book. I used mostly Faber-Castell PITT pens, an Art Alternatives pocket watercolor set, and a waterbrush. They did me well. The paints weren't very demanding because using too much water on the paint itself kind of turns it to nothing, so I never experienced much warping issues. light wash sketches looked great on it and I loved the little pocket inside the back cover! I shelved my second one in favor of a spiral bound book since those are easier to handle in public transit.
In the past year, I've gotten ahold of quality paints like W/N Cotmans and Kuretake Gansai Tambi and then picked up a Strathmore Art Journal (I'll link it at the end of the comment). This is half watercolor book half sketch book and the pages alternate. The sketch paper is good for note-taking and keeping paint from adjacent watercolor pages from clashing onto each other. If that's not your cup of tea, any cold-press Strathmore 400-series watercolor book would do you really good for the amount of water you like to use on your paintings.
www.amazon.com/Strathmore-Paper-Wirebound-Journal-400-Watercolor/dp/B007V5IHBQ/ref=sr_1_5?ie=UTF8&qid=1497833557&sr=8-5&keywords=strathmore+art+journal+400+wirebound
cammiluna Thanks for all the good info. I just recently got the Kuretake paints also, but haven't gotten the chance to use them. I will definitely check out that Strathmore journal
Chris G Natural thank you for giving us a peek at your work and legitimate criticisms. I already have an unused Moleskine water color pad so I’m properly warned. I also have some small blocks ready to take along. I took fine art as a major but that was over sixty years ago. Most of my art has been on computer screens since then.
your sketches are beautiful! thanks for the detailed review, you really helped me make up my mind about buying this sketchbook
Charlotte Kindl thank you for watching, I'm glad I could help! 👍🏾
I had the same issue with moleskine and pentalic sketchbooks. I always thought it was the adhesive on the page. I prefer Stillman and Birn!!
Documented Journey Nice to hear I just didn't have a defective sketchbook haha. I'm using a Stillman and Birn Beta series now! Thank you for watching!
Thank you for sharing your art! Your use of perspective is really excellent. Also great script!
Firstly, I LOVE your work! Great review!
I stocked up on a lot of Moleskine sketchbooks and watercolour albums when I first got into watercolour and urban sketching a few years ago and I'm still working my way through them. I do enjoy working in them but you do have to know their limitations. I work in light washes so I've never really had issues. I do want to try the Stillman and Birn Alpha for urban sketching as I've heard good things about those. For a better quality, I've heard really good things about the Hahnemulhe Nostalgie Watercolour books so they are on my wish list.
An added note - Moleskine changed the quality of the paper some years back and, apparently, the newer paper isn't as good as in their earlier watercolour books. This could explain some of your issues too?
I love getting to see inside your sketchbook the red awning is so incredible keep up the good work
geckonia Thank you! Been thinking about trying to recreate it on some artist grade paper and see what will happen.
Thank you for posting this review. I've become interested in both drawing and watercolor. I realize I need to learn how to draw before I can progress to watercolor. I was drawn to your review because I'm in search of a good drawing book that can also let me dabble with watercolor. Your sketches and watercolors make me think a lot of Liz Steel's work too. Perhaps you took one of her courses? In the video you pointed out issues I would not have thought about since I'm a beginner.
Thanks for making this review! I really like the layout of the moleskine sketchbooks, but I can't stand the blooming that occurs from using too much water, as I typically like to work with very diluted colors. I enjoyed seeing your sketches, you handled the blooming and "valley" texture very well.
thanks for this review, i’ve really been trying to make up my mind if i wanted this sketchbook or not and btw, your sketches are lovely!!!
I got this exact sketchbook a couple of months ago because I'd seen so many good reviews on TH-cam and general word of mouth about Moleskine.... But gosh, I hate it. I use it exclusively as a swatch book, now, when I get new paints because the quality of the paper is just so garbage I can't stand it. The heavy warping, the weird differences in paint acceptance....... I've switched over to a couple of different books that I like more. I really REALLY like my Pentalic landscape books, as well as their field book.... The only problem is that every now and again you'll get a pentalic book where the glue holding the binding in the casing will become brittle and snap. Pentalic is aware of this problem, has fixed it in newer books, and will work with you if you have that issue. The field book is a spiral bound one so it doesn't have the gluing problems, but you also can't do spreads like you would in a flat-bound book. However, their paper is incredible and doesn't buckle at all.
I also really like the kilimanjaro watercolor blocks that I got from cheapjoes.com ,which I think is their house brand of blocks. Seriously though, they're really cheap and the paper is pretty great.
I also have some stillman and birns books, which you mentioned, and I like them okay. They're nice and light and thin, but I'm not over the moon about them or disappointed, either.
By the way, I suspect the reason the moleskine's acceptance of paint is so irregular is likely to do with their sizing. Based off of the specific areas especially where spotting happens, I theorize that they add the sizing/gelatin to the pages AFTER the book is bound, rather than using pre-sized paper in the first place.
Love your reviews, by the way. You really go as in-depth as possible, show us the good and the bad, and if you really think it's bad, give us an alternative. Really dig your style of both videos and art.
Just Kat Thanks for the suggestions and your experience with Moleskine paper Kat. I will have to look into the Pentalic sketchbooks and Joe's watercolor block, seems really interesting!
Thanks Chris for your conclusions on using this sketch book. Your work is very complex and detailed. Very nice. 🇨🇦
I enjoyed my first one so much that I bought a second one which I was really disapointed in because the quality was so different. At first I thought I might have bought the wrong one but it was the same kind.
It`s odd how different they were. It was like using two different sketchbooks.
Now I`m using watercolour sketchbooks from Hahnemühle. That brand never let me down and I was really happy to see they finally got their own watercolour sketchbooks!
Yea the quality of the paper turn me off a little. I liked the book, but there were more pages then I wanted that just did not act right. Thanks for the comment!
Your work is amazing. Thanks for sharing!
Your sketches are so gorgeous! Very inspiring!!
Mathilde Kamer Thank you! ☺️
Thank you for a very helpful review! Also your sketches are absolutely beautiful!
I have two of those, brand new, unopened, that I've had for 7 months because I'm waiting to get good with drawing and watercolor. Haha I don't want to waste them.
Very good, man! Enjoyed it!
Ace Flores if I could give you some advice, don't worry about messing them up, use one to play in and practice first. Then you can get more serious with the second one. Hope you enjoy the books!
Chris G Natural Definitely appreciate the quick response and advice! I'll definitely do it! That actually makes a lot of sense. Thanks!
Ace Flores that is too common of a problem.. The fear of ruining a sketchbook 😁.. Hope u make it through
TheSgyro The Fear Of the Blank Canvas!!! Haha I will definitely try! Thanks!
The empty canvas fear is real! Lol
I've been meaning to try out either the Molskine sketchbook or the Mossery brand but have yet to do so. I usually like buying water color paper and making my own sketchbooks from them.
Very helpful! Answered all of my questions about this book. 👌🏻
Thanks for the honest review I liked your sketches! I was just going to pick one of these watercolor sketchbooks up this weekend since I've fairly enjoyed my moleskin sketchbook but I think I might look into another book maybe the mossery mixed media sketchbooks
Sebastian Tinajero great! Would like to hear your thoughts on whatever Sketchbook you decide on!
I love your sketches.
Michelle Lynn's Fine Art Thank you for the comment!
Thank you so much! lovely lovely sketchbook! My goal this year is to have a sketchbook full of my own sketch like this!
Hi , can I use this book only for drawing ?
Your artwork is beautiful. Thanks for the review video!
Thanks for the love!
Hi Chris, how the texture is in term of smoothness? Does the paper come with a pronounced tooth or it can be considered as smooth? Thanks for sharing, I really enjoyed your drawings
Great info. Thx.
What's the difference between the Blue and Pink label?
Yes, I would like to know too. You said to get the pink, but not the blue, what's the difference? Thanks.
There isn't a difference, both have the same description. The pink is just the older version.
Recently purchased 2 of these! Excited to use them even just to practice (: Also love your sketches/art!
Kimberly Giselle Thanks! I hope you enjoy your sketchbooks!
Why don’t you want the one with the blue? What is the difference from the pink label then the blue?
Have u tried the pentalic watercolor sketchbooks? They are a lot cheaper than moleskine.
Man! You really need to post more videos! I love them so much ;)
Much love! I do want to make more videos in the future, just got to get back into the groove of producing the videos. Thanks for the support
@@chrisgnatural7224 No problem!
Love your art and love your accent haha! Great work!
Thanks for this review!! Lovely sketches!
Thank you so much!
@@chrisgnatural7224 You're very welcome!
I know I'm a year late but would it accept gouache better than watercolor since it requites less water?
Honestly, I can't answer that for you. I've never used gouache before, and only used watercolor, ink, and pencils in the notebook. Sorry I can't help you with your question.
Thank you for the review ❤
Thank you for watching!
would alcohol markers work on moleskine watercolor sketchbook too?
Thats a good question, I never tested any of my Copic markers on the paper to test it out. Im always a little hesitant to use the markers on rougher papers. But if you try it out please drop a comment and let us know how it worked for you! Thanks!
No
Great info and review! I remember you saying you were from Nashville in one of your videos I have family in Nashville ! How'd you end up moving to where u reside now? I bought this sketchbook a few months ago and still haven't opened or used it yet smh lol awesome art!
Puchy Tats Thanks for watching, and teaching got me to where I am! Always representing the home town, Nashville!
I looks kinda like the spots where the paint takes the worst is where you are touching it the most, watch the video and see ... rubbing down the pages to get them flat, in the seam and where your thumb rests when you are holding it open??? Could it be the oils from our hands could make that biga difference?
Wow I didn't think of that one. Thanks pointing that out, that could be the problem.
You are welcome! I am surprised I even saw it, hope that is it.
Oops... I accidentally posted my comments on Chris G Natural’s comment. The place you type in comments is not labeled. It was there and I used it. Thanks TH-cam
What kind of pen did you use for these sketches?
It was a mix of a few different pens including Pigma Microns, brush pens, Sailor Pen, etc. All of the pens I used I have made reviews for them on the channel. Feel free to check them out. Thanks for watching.
There isn't a difference between the pink- and blue-labelled versions, regarding the description of the product, aside from the pink being the older version. Also, that is not A5: it is a different size format, which is narrower than A5.
you're talented
The colors bead in mine too, I thought it was just me 😅