Facebook recently alerted me to 10
years using watercolors in a sketchbook.
I had to share that anniversary — it surprised me — and as a result I was
asked how many sketchbooks have I gone through in ten years.  I guess between
6-8 /year!

Some are packed up tight, but I have a couple of plastic boxes I am filling as I finish journals.  I recently found this bin, left, a hodgepodge of odd journals as well as what I typically use.

I both sketch/watercolor in these books, but many years back I also added journaling to them.  I hated having a separate journal, when in fact I liked to pick up my sketchbooks more often.  So I started journalling on the left-facing page, and making art on the right-facing page.  More on that below!

Gibbs is inspecting the A5 Hahnemühle Nostalgie Sketchbook, with two Hahnemühle watercolour journals (A5 and A4) below it, right.

History & What I Want in a Journal

I started with Moleskins, which it seemed everybody used.  Unfortunately Moleskin changed their paper, and did not change
it for the better.  I did not get the info until AFTER an order of six A4s, sadly (they are not cheap!)  What I have done with those “bad” Moleskins is use them for swatching inks, and for this they’re fine.

I tried Strathmore, Canson (both ringbound), Pentallic, Clairefontaine, Handbook, Etchr and Arches; finally deciding upon Hahnemühle, and so happy I did.  Two of them were just too expensive for my wallet, though they were lovely!  So they had to be affordable.

Issues with the others:
I did not want ringbound; trying the others was good for me.
I didn’t like the feel of Strathmore in my hands, though Liz Steele famously swears by them.

Pentalic was a jumping off point early on, and I loved the folding journals, but they really didn’t have a good watercolor paper.  I am just finishing up a few of their accordion books, which I have used for challenges like the Sketchpack Project, shown left.

Now, I always buy Hahnemühle!

Paper is everything!  It has to be supportive of both ink and watercolor/gouache (more later on the two different journals I use).  I want a hardbound cover, and it has to take a beating and not become unbound.  No Hahnemühle journal has never broken even when dropped! 

A ribbon marker is important (all theirs do), and having a closure band on the watercolor sketchbooks is so nice.  I like having a folder at the back to pop ideas in, though I add that to my Nostalgie Journal, shown above, and usually dedicate the back of the last page to testing various mediums.

I have two different needs in a sketchbook.

In the Nostalgie Sketchbook, I am truly sketching / experimenting using light watercolor/inks, and journaling. For a long time I kept my journaling separate, but years ago I realized the folly in that.  I reach for my sketchbooks most often and so why not use them as a journal, so I can also see what i am thinking during the times I am sketching whatever subjects catch my interest?

Now I journal on the left-facing page, and sketch on the right-facing page, shown right and below.  With 80 pages of 70 lb (190 gsm) natural white sketch paper Hahnemühle Nostalgie Sketchbook is the best.

In the others I am mostly using watercolors and inks to create art, with little or no journaling, and want strong watercolor paper for these images.  I use Hahnemühle Akademie Watercolor Paper Journal or the Hahnemühle 100% Cotton Watercolor Books to handle the layers of watercolor.  60 pages of natural-white 90 lb (200gsm) paper, and a bit more for the 100% cotton!  Sometimes I paint both sides of a page, sometimes I only paint the right-facing side.

I tend to swatch the colors of the medium I am using on the left-facing side, and name them so I remember, shown in the Hahnemühle watercolor journal, images 1 and 2 below.  Occasionally I do it right on the page with my art, as shown in image 3.

Hahnemühle Nostalgie

Hahnemühle Watercolor

Hahnemühle Watercolor

Left is waxed paper added to the margin edge of my page.  Early on my journal got wet; I had colors transfer to the opposite side.  From then on I began gluing waxed paper into my journals.  I run a bead of white glue; set the precut waxed paper into the glue, flatten the glue with a flat object like a pen cap, and allow it to set.  I  cut several A5 and A4 inserts at a time and they are stored in my journal.

Size Matters!

I switched from the A4 size long ago, shown above and in the big image below.  I always have a couple in rotation for art projects that do not leave my studio, such as illustrations for a book I’m writing, and so finish maybe one a year.  The A4 is not my main sketch book as it is too big to lug around, and at nearly two feet wide when open, I can’t just find an easy perch!

A6 is too small for me, above, and shown in brown below.  I feel cramped trying to sketch a scene in the little itty-bitty book!  But I was given some so I use them for challenges.  (BTW, the brown A6 Hahnemühle below has cream-colored paper in it for sketching.)

Hahnemühle A6, A5 and A4 journal above.

And just like Goldilocks, A5 is just right!  Fits in my purse, I can balance almost anywhere, is discreet if I am sketching a person on the sly, but is big enough to actually paint a nice watercolor.

Notice I use stickers of my own artwork (I also sell them on Redbubble) to decorate my books.

I like Hahnemühle‘s ZigZag books — their square version of an accordion journal, shown right.  I was given a tiny one and a large one, and since have bought more of the large size, about 5-inches.  I usually finish 1-2 a year in challenges.

Based on finishing on average seven A5s a year, I guess the number in the decade is 70!  Add my A4’s and other types of sketchbooks and possibly 80/year.

I make 90% of my sketches at night, because we have a business and it is a 60-hour-a-week commitment.  Imagine the number if I was not working full time… yes, I am looking forward to retirement!

If you haven’t tried them yet, do! 
They are the best and I have tried them all!

(BTW, a list of tags follow where you can see the various medium brands I prefer tagged.)