One of my absolute favorite brand for sketchbooks is Moleskine. They make super nice sketchbooks with thick, super smooth paper that is very reminiscent of bristol paper. Bristol paper, from my experience, works best with almost any medium. Alcohol Markers don’t bleed through the paper to badly while the dye sits on top of the page for a moment before drying, allowing the colors to be blended much much easier. Bristol paper can handle Acrylic paint markers better than most other types of paper because it’s smooth and layered paper so the paint doesn’t immediately make the paper dissolve. This type of paper can even handle watercolor paint much better than most other types of paper. Needless to say I am a big fan of Moleskine sketchbooks. The only downside is that they are very difficult to find in the store. The only stores I am aware of that carry them are Target and Barnes and Noble. Since they aren’t sold in Michaels or Hobby Lobby I wasn’t even aware of their existence right away but after I bought my first one, I immediately loved it.
When I got my first Moleskine sketchbook, I fell into the same trap thought process that a lot of other artists tend to fall into. Since it’s such a nice sketchbook and it’s brand new, I wanted to only fill it with my best work. I wanted a sketchbook that I could show off so I spent so much time initially working in this sketchbook on only the best pieces that I could draw. This form of thinking put way too much pressure on me, so even though I made some good drawings in this book I didn’t really make a lot of progress as an artist in general.
It’s been at least a year+ since I bought my first Moleskine sketchbook, and I still primarily use Moleskine books, I tend not to worry so much about diving right in and trying new techniques and studies to improve as an artist. Which one of these sketches are your favorite?
Thanks for the support.