Moleskine Art Watercolour Pocket Notebook (black)

This is my first Moleskine. I now know  why people love these beauties.This notebook is specifically designed for watercolour and has a beautiful smooth 200gsm cold-pressed paper. The size is really pocket (3.5x5.5in = 9.53 x 1.91 x 14.35 cm), meaning that it can be easily carried in a small handbag or a large coat pocket for example. So, it's perfect for travelling or daily commute rides.

 

The cover is really good quality. The binding is fabulous and I can open the notebook fully flat. Besides, the stitching has no holes, so the paint doesn't bleed through them, like cheaper notebooks I own do. 

 

The 200 gsm (135lb) watercolour paper is smooth and a pleasure to work on. I use mixed media, with plenty of wet media, and these pages stand everything. I prep them with a coat of clear gesso to make them more resistant, but I own other journals where the gesso is not enough for the same use. So far, none of my paints, inks or watercolours has bled.  

 

I love the elastic band as the notebook tends to stay self-open after having the pages full open for a while, so, it helps correcting that. Also, it's necessary as most notebooks increase volume when fully painted. I'm not a fan of inner pockets placed looking towards the binding, like in this Moleskin, but it comes handy nevertheless. I miss the notebook having a bookmarking ribbon, something that I always like and use.

 

My notebook came with a quality control ticket in the pocket, something that I really appreciate. 

 

Any watercolour Moleskine is expensive, but I was lucky enough to grab this one heavily discounted. I often look up for catches like this on Amazon, so I was ready to 'shoot' when the sale popped up. 

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Ohuhu Mixed-Media Spiral-Bound Art Sketchbook (120lb/200gsm, 210x226cm)

I had my hesitations about a 200gsm paper being good for mixed-media. However, after using it, I can confirm that it is. 

 

I tested the paper first without gessoing the page to see what the paper would stand. It was great for almost everything, except for the fact that scratches for textural purposes show on the back and there is a limit of liquid that you can use before the sheet warps.

 

This paper didn't react well to my lifting masking liquid with a normal eraser (which would not lift anything), with my fingers (lifted just a bit), or with a hard rubber (which lifted the masking tape and the paper as well). I think it's a combination of both the masking tape being too thin and the paper not resisting much friction. 

On the other hand, none of the materials I used bled (acrylic markers, inks and different paint viscosities; water soluble pencils, among others).

My second test was done after applying a coat of liquid gesso to the page I worked on. I was able to do a bit of more stuff on it but, again, the paper wraps if you use a lot of liquid or flow paint. It still did not bleed and stood some of my rubbing a bit better. A thick gesso coat would improve workability but it would also add weight, and that would be counter-intuitive. 

The pad comes with a silicone protector to place between the sheets, something that is extremely handy and prevents transferring of any bleed onto the page underneath. On the other hand, I'd have loved this silicone sheet to be 1 cm longer on each side so that it protrudes a bit and protects the edges of the pages underneath, which were totally stained. For the rest, this silicone sheet is really good and it can be easily cleaned with a damp cloth under running water.

 

The pad sheets are micro-perforated, just in case you want to use any to create specific pieces of artwork, not just as a sketchbook.  Unless I was drawing or using dry materials, I would not want to cut the pages out for anything.

The back cover is thick and sturdy, and this is a great support to the bulky pad. However, the front cover it's too thin to my liking and not strong enough to keep the pad well protected or hold it properly. Yet, this pad is really good priced for what you get.  

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