Lightwish 100%-cotton 300gsm/140lb Watercolor Journal (4.7x4.7 in)

This is such a cute watercolour journal. It is not only affordable, as most Lightwish products are, but also has a good-quality 300 gsm cold-pressed watercolour paper. It's perfect for both watercolour painting and mixed-media. The size is ideal for travelling or as a carry-on sketchbook.

 

The paper has a bit of tooth to it, so it's a bit rugged. I've tested it with acrylic inks and paints with and without priming. The results are quite good. The paper takes a lot of water in. It buckles a bit when wet, but it recovers its flatness once dry. I've also tried it with  the same materials, adding clear gesso and the inks and paints run more smoothly and I can work the paper harder. 

 

The binding is excellent and I can open the pad almost flat without the stitching coming apart.  However, the colour tends to bleed down through the stitches holes. That might not be a problem if you don't paint the full spread or just focus on motifs on each page, do zentangle or drawing. Painting an inks drip down. Yet, for the price, this is a fab mini sketchbook.

Due to slightly textured surface, the use of fine white markers and Posca pens is not the best, unless the paper is totally dry and they go over a very dark colour.

 

The cover has a fabric-like texture in a beautiful turquoise colour. I like my journals to have the cover in different colours as this helps me easily identify different journals. This is important to me because I use them to explore different colours or materials.

 

The elastic band is a must because, once you start using the pad, this won't close fully. Besides, once the whole pad is used, the band will help close the notebook properly. 

Finally, the pad has a ribbon bookmark, something I really love.

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Canson Montval 300gsm/140lb Cold-Pressed Watercolour-Paper Wired Pad (20 sheets, 5.5x8.5in)

I love Canson watercolour paper pads as they're always very decent quality, affordable and perfect to use as sketchbooks. I've been using this pad often, and the paper quality is good  for mixed media, which is what I bought it for. I haven't used it with watercolours yet; mostly with acrylics paint, acrylic inks, crayons, pens, Posca ad Pitt Pen markers and it stands most things beautifully even without previous gesso priming. I love the pages micro-perforation as it allows me to use them as stand-alone sheets, or keep them  as a pad.
 
On the flip side, this Montval series is more like a student pad, so worse paper quality than other Canson pads I own and also re the quality of the front and back covers, which is quite bad. Besides, the paper doesn't handle rubbing well, and sometimes the paper sands off if not primed. That being the case, now I gesso the pages that I intend to rub or scratch. I would not use this pad paper for professional purposes.

For the rest a good affordable study or student watercolour pad with decent quality paper.

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Spiral-Bound 140lb/300gsm Cold-pressed Watercolour paper pad (26.5x26.5 cm, 20 sheet)

This large-ish pad is not only affordable and good looking but, most importantly, it has a terrific smooth watercolour paper. I've used it with Posca pens, collage, acrylic paints, water soluble materials, and stands most media without any gesso layer. Needless to say, I gesso the pages when I want to make sure that I can rub or lightly scratch the surface of my paintings. Acrylic inks will bleed if the pages are not gessoed.

 

I've  tried many watercolour pads and art journals as sketchbook, and this one is at the top of my list due to its quality and price. The only downside is the fact that I cannot open the spiral rings, which is a bit of an annoyance as I'd like to do that to work on each sheet individually without worrying about how to protect the pad from staining. Yet, I've found my way, and this is still a great sketchbook pad for watercolour, water-soluble media and acrylic paints of different viscosity.  

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Strathmore 400 Series, 12"x12" Cold Press Watercolor Pad, 12 Sheets

Strathmore watercolour paper has always impressed me because of the quality of their products and the good quality/prize ratio. This is also the case here.

 This pad has a great size for beginners, not too big or too small. The tone and texture of the paper are excellent. I use it mostly for mixed media, mostly working with acrylics, and I do nasty things to the paintings (rubbing, scratching, wiping). Yet, the paper resists almost everything and it is very forgiving. I always gesso the paper before working on it.

Perhaps not as good as other brands, but this is one of my watercolour paper pads staples.

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