ARTEZA WATERCOLOR BOOK REVIEW (this paper is weird)
ฝัง
- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 16 ก.ค. 2024
- In this video I'm having a close look at the Arteza watercolour sketchbook, getting into all the nitty gritty details and helping you make up your mind whether this is the kind of watercolour paper you might enjoy! Timestamps below.
Timestamps:
[0:00]Intro
[0:42] Paper specifications & details
[2:13] A look inside (trouble ahead!)
[7:30] Things I like about this sketchbook
[8:19] Gouache
[9:31] Testing the paper
[13:13] Quick demo
[14:01] Conclusion
Sketchbooks in this video:
Arteza Watercolor Book, 5.1x8.3 inch, coldpressed
www.amazon.com/stores/ARTEZA/...
Watercolours shown:
[9:35] Daniel Smith
[13:13]Hungry for Paint - Road Trip
hungryforpaint.com/strona-glo...
Hungry for Paint shop:
hungryforpaint.com/
Hungry for Paint on Instagram:
/ hungryforpaint
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The links to products are not affiliate links. I am in no way affiliated or have any connection to Jackson’s Art Supplies. This is the place where I bought the sketchbooks and where I know you can find them. I purchased all the products shown and paid full price for them.
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Music used:
Intro and ending music: "Have it Your Way" from freeadmusic.com
Green Tea by Purrple Cat | purrplecat.com Music promoted by www.free-stock-music.com Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported [creativecommons.org/licenses/...](creativecommons.org/licenses/...)
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I have these books too, and completely agree! Some pages are lovely and others are not and it’s seemingly quite random.
Yeah it's really annoying for me
Thank you for doing this review. I tried to like Arteza's watercolor paper, even the professional/expert level sketchbooks, that are all cotton. There's something inferior about whatever sizing they are using. I had similar experiences, when it came to unpredictable reactions to erasure & lifting of colors. And even the all cotton paper cannot take ANY masking fluid. It destroys the paper.
Thank you for watching! That's very interesting. I wasn't aware of them offering cotton paper as well. It's a pity that the sketchbooks are not up to standard. I really liked the covers and overall feel of the ones I have but the paper doesn't cut the mark
No wonder it’s not a million bucks what the fuck would you expect! Even if they say professional they are really for students!
I had the same experience. Thank you for the honest review. These “watercolor” books are a good value but only if you don’t want to watercolor in them.
I totally agree!
i've had these in a6 for a while, and i also enjoy the cloth cover and the elastic. however, the paper is absolute crap, if you wait for a few seconds it's impossible to soften the edge, the paint is already set in. every bloody time i saw someone do a review, they were raving. i thought i was either crazy or got a bad batch - so THANK YOU, we agree, the paper is crap.
Yeah the edges are really annoying but it's cellulose paper so I decided to not get mad about it. But the feathering thing really irritates me. And you're definitely not crazy 🙂
@@hungryforpaint i mostly used cellulose paper for a long time, but this one did it while i was swatching paint ! like, i'd dab a bit of mass tone, go to rince the brush to dilute the paint on paper like a gradient, just so i know what it looks like with more water, and it's already too late.
i'm still intrigued by all the positive reviews, though, and the fact that these are now harder to find (i wanted them in different size for the covers, and to replace the paper with my own), and i came across the info that the sizing on watercolour paper doesn't last forever, it can get old and underperform. so maybe that plays a part as well... 🤔
I've bought two of the same Arteza watercolour sketchbooks in a bit larger size - and I totally share your experience and opinion: the paper drove me mad. This is what happened:
1) Washy-tape tears the paper despite removing most of the glue on fabric prior to using it - exactly as you experienced it.
2) Masking fluid also tears the paper, despite being very gently when rubbing it off
3) The blue masking fluid stains the paper - that does not happen with any of my other watercolour paper.
4) It's close to impossible to create a proper wet-in-wet technique. The water gets immediately absorbed by the paper due to the quality and the thickness of it, which leaves the page dry, so you can't achieve a nice wet-in-wet effect.
5) It's not feasible to paint knife sharp thin lines wet on dry without the paint bleeding / feathering.
6) The paper buckles.
7) Erasure ruins the paper.
8) The paper behaves unpredictably.
9) It doesn't take any other media too well either - except oil pastels.
10) It's not possible to lift off colour.
So if you are used to Arches or similar, you are definitely gonna be frustrated by this paper. Accordingly, my conclusion is the same as yours: I am NOT gonna buy these Arteza watercolour books ever again.
Seems like our experience is exactly the same! Good feedback regarding oil pastels - maybe someone here can use that knowledge. I'll probably finish mine eventually using thicker gouache, it worked well enough for me as long as I didn't dilute the paint too much and I hate wasting paper, so yeah.
tbh bookbinding kits are like 8 bucks (you don't need a lot of tools or the ones with ALL of the stuff, just the super basic shit) and I love the freedom of making my own watercolor sketchbooks. Chipboard isn't expensive and I can make my own sketchbooks with my preferred paper and cool fabric remnants from the store (or salvaged from old clothes like jeans etc that I don't wear anymore). Once you have the kit you can make endless amounts of sketchbooks from salvaged materials basically. It's great. You probably don't even need the kit if you don't want you can make due with push pins if you don't want an awl, use your own object instead of a bone folder etc. PVA glue is easy to come by and if you can't elmer's glue works in a pinch too it just has more water content so use a little more sparingly as it can buckle paper easier.
Yeah I like that idea! I'd love to try that one day but sadly, currently I don't really have the time for that, trying to fit in work full time as a paintmaker, raising kids, making a video here and there and trying to paint a bit in my free time :)
Thank you for this review! Good information! Your artwork is beautiful!
Thank you so much! Happy you liked it :)
Totally agreed about the paper on this one. I have a couple of these and they are very odd. I've tried so much of their stuff and honestly I like very little of it.
Thanks for watching! Yeah, honestly after this I'm not really tempted to try their other sketchbooks
That is *wild* about the erasing showing up on the other side of the paper. Kudos for sticking with it and making some lovely artwork in it despite its shortcomings. I tried these out a couple years ago, gave up on watercolor immediately, and then used it as a notebook until even my pen ink was feathering so badly that I gave up on that too 😅
Hahaha I feel you! Seriously, I was not prepared for this. And thank you for watching, I love your art and have watched quite a lot of your videos! 💕
As a beginner, I felt very frustrated with this sketch book. I thought it was me botching things up. Now I feel justified in saying that it is still me botching things up, but also that the paper is weird. I enjoyed the side by side comparison with the other sketch book and the same paints. It really demonstrates this point well. The only way I have ever had a successful tape pull was by heating it lightly with a heat gun first to soften the adhesive. Otherwise my paper tears. Thank you for a great review.
Thank you for watching! Yeah, it seems like a lot of people think they're doing something wrong with this paper but it's just not very good. Thank you for the heat gun tip! Never heard of that.
I bought some of the small square ones, and the larger square pads. I didn't like how they acted either, so I now have 6 pads that will be used for my collage journals.
Thank you for sharing! I'm sorry you got so many and ended up not liking them 😕
You are so right about this paper. I think I read somewhere that the paper is 'unprepared' or something like that. It sucks up watercolor and you cannot lift or move it at all. My watercolors ended up behaving more like inks. I was very unhappy to find two different types of surfaces in one sketchbook. I got a set of 3 for Christmas a year or so ago but I ended up using the other two for mixed media & acrylic since it was *useless* for watercolor. I no longer buy anything from Arteza.
Yeah, precisely, the feathering probably has something to do with the sizing, or the way the surface of the paper is prepped for watercolors. Glad to hear you found a way to use up your sketchbooks this way or another!
Same, I use the 3 I have (3 pack) for mixed media and acrylics as the paper can’t handle water well
One of the best reviews I’ve seen! New subscriber here.
Yay! Thank you! Welcome onboard :)
I will buy some since seeing your video because I like sketching and inking in and Gouache paints
Yeah, these could work for gouache as long as you don't dilute the paint too much
Great feedback 🙏✌🏼 good to know 👍🏻
Thank you for watching! Happy you found the video useful 🙂
Love this paper, great for textural pen work.
It is much better for dry than wet techniques!
The odd feathering for dry on dry is probably something to do with uneven/patchy application of the size on the paper.
You should do a Mossery review, I'd love to see your thoughts on one of their cotton sketchbooks.
I've been eyeballing them for a while now! I've got a stack of other sketchbooks waiting their turn but when I manage to reduce it a little, i might get one. Thank you for watching and for the suggestion!
Thank you so much for this detailed and very informative review! It is a shame when beginners are not aware of what a difference paper can make, and become frustrated thinking problems like this are their fault, when it's really a weird paper. I have three of these, so far unused, and now not sure what I will use them for. Thanks again for your valuable warnings. 😊 New sub. ♥️💐♥️
Thank you so much! Happy you found the video useful. These sketchbooks aren't great for watercolor but they can actually be used for gouache if it's not too diluted or for dry media. Hope you can find a use for them 🙂
interesting I have used this sketchbook with gouache and I love it. I can get the best color gradients on it.
I found it ok for gouache too, as long as I don't dilute the paint too much!
Wow, yes! I have all of these issues with the same book. I thought it was me!
Definitely not you!
I have a small one of these and several pages have these weird defective areas, where it’s almost like the paper both absorbs and somehow dissolves color in the paint, and it separates weirdly.
Yep. That's probably a sizing problem.
thank you for this review!! I have used these sketchbooks for awhile and I always assumed the jaggedy edges were a "me thing" and I kinda just gave up on having crisp edges because I "couldn't do them" lol. I have tried the global arts sketchbook and I remember liking less it than the arteza, weird.
Glad it was helpful! Turns out it wasn't you at all :) And regarding G.A.M., was the sketchbook faulty somehow or did you just not enjoy the paper so much?
@@hungryforpaint It lifted so easily! I was able to scrub phthalos back to white, even dry-to-the-touch acrylic ink, so layering was impossible. I was using the lighter, 90 lbs?, version though, maybe the 140 lb is better. But those are too pricey for cellulose paper imo.
@@Grekchsterv no such issues in the one I worked with. But I do agree about the price! At that price point, you could probably buy some cotton paper.
I agree with all the other comments its all to do with the sizing they have or have not used.
Yes, very much so!
@12:45, you could have put a drop of water under the ripped paper and placed it back, once dried the water might activate a slight precentage of the binder in the paper and thus "glue" it back (unuseable surface). :^)
Or a dap of white glue. :o)
(Or white glue diluted with water).
Nice video.
Thank you never tried that! Good to know
@@hungryforpaint You are very welcome. 👍
These might work well as pen and ink sketchbooks or with graphite pencil. The price is certainly good.
Yes, definitely. But not watercolor, as advertised :)
Nowadays they want 24 EUR for just one book. It's ridiculous.
Almost €40 on french Amazon when I purchased the lot of 3 square ones a few years ago and I’m not keen on them at all.
I think okay for students and gouache. I didn’t find fine art Watercolor paint work very well.
Water-based pens did not work either.
Good video 👍
Thank you for watching! Yeah, for gouache these might work fine, as long as you don't thin out the paint too much. I think for watercolor, they're not too great even for students - this paper could just lead people to frustration and make them think THEY'RE doing something wrong, and students might lack the experience to realise that actually it's the paper at fault and not them.
@@hungryforpaint yes that was my conclusion when I featured some of their sketchbooks on my channel - I purchased a few different ones and the paper disappointed me, especially as I love using pen and ink as in using a waterbased pen and then using my water brush over the top to give a sketchy effect. The ink just sinks into the paper so that no water can reach it…. However I think probably Arteza thought alcohol markers were all the rage within the price point for these sketchbooks. Alcohol markers are the only thing that really work in them and I don’t like alcohol markers….. 😅
You might want to apply grounds medium for this brand. Sizing seems to be the issue.
Yeah looks that way. Good idea but honestly, that's a bit too much effort, especially when I have other sketchbooks around with much better paper. I'll probably end up using this one for gouache applied a bit more thickly
It's all true! it's the strangest behaving paper ever! On the same page in one place is fine, and next to it everything is spilling, even with a minimal amount of water. If someone has a lot of experience with watercolor then somehow he can manage. Nevertheless, I use mine and I like it because I got it from a cool person, but will not continue in the future.
I think I might use mine for gouache, carefully. I hate wasting good pa.... well, I hate wasting paper ;)
Thank you, finally someone said it- the paper in this sketchbook is horrid...
Yeah, it could have its uses but watercolour doesn't seem to be one of them
Hello, your video was recommended to me by TH-cam and I’m so glad 😊, I have subscribed and thumbs up, I will watch and go through your video because you do have great talent💞. Do you have a flip through video ? I’d like to see all of your paintings in your sketch book 📚. Thank you in advance
Thank you so much for your kind words and for subbing! I don't have any dedicated flip-through videos for now but generally my artwork shows up here and there in my vids and on my Instagram here: instagram.com/hungryforpaint/ :)
@@hungryforpaint
awesome 👏🏻 I shall check that too then 👍🏻🥰
I loooooove your drawings even the paper is not that much good. Keep drawing pls.
Thank you so much 😀 I will definitely keep drawing because I love it :)
What eraser do you use?
I use a kneaded eraser for light erasing and some standard white one that just works ok - can't give you the name, as I forgot what it is and the name of the brand rubbed off long ago, sorry!
No internal sizing and just minimal sizing on top surface?
Possibly. It's not like the paper sucks up all the paint immediately, so I think there's *some* kind of sizing but I wouldn't be able to tell exactly what kind.
Always peal tape at an angle.
Thank you! I'll try that next time
@@hungryforpaint I used to work for a tape and label company and they taught me that. Plus the longer the tape or label stays on the adhesive gets stronger.
Best regards.
What type of erasing ? Putty rubber or plastic?
A soft plastic one that's worked well for me on every other kind of paper. I don't think I tried a kneaded eraser with this sketchbook but I don't remember for sure as it was a long time ago
My issue with Arteza and the reason why I don't buy their products anymore is the inconsistency in the quality of their products. They have some decent stuff, and then they have even more bad stuff. I have their Gouache paints, and they are pretty decent beginner paints, imo. But then there are some papers and also the watercolors, which are really bad. Dunno, how their Acrylics are, never tested them.
But yeah, I guess that's the problem when you get your stuff from different chinese suppliers. Inconsistency in the quality. Luckily there are much better, affordable options out there than Arteza. But I guess when you get 3 thick watercolor sketchbooks for $20, you can't really expect anything good from them.
I have some affordable wood pulp watercolor sketchbooks (300gsm tho) from T-mu, and these things take every watercolor technique like a champ. No paper crumbling, no feathering, no nothing. Which means that Arteza is probably using even cheaper paper for their books.
Interesting insight, thank you! I've never ordered anything from T-mu, mainly because their ads get in my face so much it's annoying and I generally try to avoid buying the cheapest stuff from China. But I guess you can chance upon products of reasonable quality on there too!
I hated those so much, I still have an A4 one to finish bc I don't want to throw it away. The paper is awful for watercolors, kinda decent for gouache and agreeable for acrylics. And those aren't that cheap anymore as well, at least here in Europe.
True! For other media they might be ok(ish) but not really for watercolour
The consistency of the randomness is the only positive thing about this sketchbook… it was impossible for me to do any blending or lifting color. I will NEVER buy another one. And you cannot use an eraser (of any kind!) or any watercolor tape because it rips the paper off. Hope other artists (new and advanced) don’t buy these.
Agree!
Hmm very odd and annoying about the random feathering, maybe gouache might be better for them.
Gouache works ok as long as you don't dilute it too much, because then it behaves similar to watercolour.
worst paper ever: problem is that is not coated, and all the color go inside the paper, that's why you cannnot do any lifting. More: the cellulose pulp is worked very poorly, not in a uniform way, and different spots on the page behave in different way, not allowing any control. It doesn't take any masking fluid at all. Calling it watercolor paper is just a huge scam.
Agree!
Arteza not the best quality. You get what you pay for.
True. If something sounds too good to be true, then it probably is.