Search the Community

This is a review of the 6x9-inch UCreate Sketchbook available at U.S. Dollar Tree stores and elsewhere. I did not have a battalion of different fountain pens inked up with different inks; only one fountain pen participated in the test. I did use, however, a variety of felt-tip markers and rollerball pens I had on hand to give an idea of this paper's bleed-through and show-through performance. As you can see, bleed-through was only a problem with the Ultrafine Sharpie Permanent Marker. While the other inks showed through to varying degrees (most notably the Papermate Flair and Uniball Roller), even the Parker Medium Fountain Pen with Quink Ink exhibited minimal show-through. This paper is made in India, although the sketchpad's manufacturer is the U.S.-based Carolina Pad. The paper has a smooth finish. I began using this as a substitute for a more expensive blank Moleskine notebook, and liked the results of my first foray into blank paper.

Any recommendations for a small sketchbook for drawing with fountain pens? I like A6 (or B6), since it's easily transportable, and probably wire bound. I realised I have no idea what to look for when buying art paper. There are papers for oil, acrylic, watercolour, bristol board... the list is seemingly endless and often don't work with pen and ink. Even a Clairefontaine sketchbook I bought feathers badly. In theory I might dabble in watercolours to try some line and wash, but my main priority is smooth-ish paper, white or light cream, that works brilliantly with fountain pen (usually Platinum Carbon pen and ink, which aren't known for feathering much).

Let us start with a little bit of a look-see at this idea of a sketchbook/notebook 'Made for Creatives'. Baron Fig wants a book that isn't expensive like a Moleskine and has more useable space (don't you just hate losing the image where the page bends?), and just... is a book for ideas. So, there was a Kickstarter and their goal of $15K was met and exceeded and by the end of their fundraising, they had $168k+. That's a big deal. Anyway, as an incentive to donate more they had various goal levels and one level was to get a one (1) Baron Fig Confidant book in either: Blank (I have this)Dotted (kinda wish I'd chosen this too)Grid After 3 months of waiting, my sketchbook/notebook arrived and wow. It's cute. It came in a pretty box with a nice little letter about how the designs are not set in stone and stuff. What I like: The cloth cover. Oh my gosh it’s not much but it’s so much less slippery to handle. The size, it’s roughly 5 1/2” x 8 3/4” and it’s small but it is good. They’re like chunky little sketchbooks.Spine actually does lay flat but mine creaked… ominously.Number of pages and signatures. 12 signatures of pages. WOW! In this little book, wow!Off-white paper. It’s not day-glow white and it’ll look nice with rich browns I think. What I’m not keen on (yet): The punch-holes for holding the signatures together. Aesthetically, eh… but I’m getting used to it. First impressions of paper: It looks thin and I’m not sure how it will hold up to ink. What it looks like (the cover is a soft grey): More in the post below this. [Edit: I forgot about that form! Oops. Anyway, as this was a spurn of the moment thing for art/sketching and the lack of information on the actual paper-used... we'll just ignore that Paper Review form for the moment.]

My kickstarter project: https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/paperandsuch/simply-plain-journal-sketchbook-for-artists-creati' class='large blue awesome' target='_blank'> Simply Plain notebooks » Ends 21 Oct 2015. Thank you for looking!

FountainpenBibliophile put me on the track of BomoArt sketchbooks, and I am absolutely in love with the design of these. However, I have not been able to find any reviews of them, and therefore hope that the paper paraphernalia (p)oracles in here can help me. There seem to be reviews of their notebooks and address books etc. on here, but I have not been able to find any on the sketchbook, with heavier paper. If you have one of these lovely sketchbooks, would you mind sharing your thoughts and experiences with it? What media do you use in the books (pencil, watercolour, ink)? Is it easy to get to lie flat? Does the paper remind you of any other brands? Thank you for reading, and I am grateful for any input on this.

For those of us who sketch or paint, or just love stationery, you are probably on the perpetual hunt for the perfect sketchbook. So take a look at this new Kickstarter project that sounds promising: https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/theperfectsketchbook/the-perfect-sketchbook-for-travel-artists-and-art,