Handbook Watercolor Journal, 8.25 x 8.25 Square, 200 GSM Cold Press Paper, Natural Linen Cover, 60 Pages Art Sketchbook

I started drawing, painting and coloring as a relaxation method. I keep this journal next to my bed to grab when i cant sleep. I can draw with granite pencils, color with colored pencils and use my watercolors. Very theraputic, durable pages with great absorbency for watercolors and acrylic.

Excellent quality at a reasonable price. The paper is heavy enough to avoid bothersome buckling even when painting wet on wet. The paper allows you to work the paint before it gets absorbed. Well bound with a pocket in the back cover.

I purchased all 3 sizes available. I had my husband the non artist, x machinist tell me what he thought compared with the pentalic watercolor book. The papers are very similar even though the pentalic is 140lbs and this is only 95. Both have pockets in the back. These do not have brush holders like the pentalic. One less item to break as far as I'm concerned. Both have ribbons. Pentalic interior is made in China, Handbook in India. Those are the similarities. As far as the binding, assembly and cover, the books are worlds away. I will always buy this beautiful series over Pentalic. In fact I won't buy the latter again. I have not used the books yet, but the pages are put together so well. It looks like a quality book. Without knowing price, my husband picked this over the Pentalic. I love the light weight of all of them. I hope they carry more shapes and sizes in the future. I do wish I could have them with Fabriano hot press 140. I have not used them yet so I cannot speak to the buckling when doing wet on wet. Use a block instead if you work very wet. If you go to Craftsy.com, there is a new class with Shari Blaukopf. After seeing her beautiful work in these books, I HAD to get them. She didn't seem to have any problems with them. If you like adorable stuff and want to be inconspicuous while painting, the tiny one is a must! Just talking about them is making me anxious to get started. You will find yourself running your hands over and over the exquisite linen cover. I would like to put it under my pillow if I weren't afraid if ruining it. All sizes are lightweight too. Even the largest.

The media could not be loaded. I really like this sketchbook! It takes heavy watercoloring really well!! I’m used to using the canson xl watercolor paper, I wanted to try something new and decided to purchase this one. The pages warp a little bit , but that is expected with watercolors ! The paper is pretty good with how well it takes heavy water ! I’m also able to use both sides of the paper which I like ! Definitely would buy again :)!

I ordered the 200gsm large portrait.Perfect size for color swatching your materials. Managed to swatch all my colored pencils, pens, acrylic paint pens, wax pastels, water-based markers, alcohol based markers and still have half the book left.Grain is a little rough for colored pencils, but then 200 gsm isn’t made for them, anyways. Wax pastels went on beautifully, but obv transferred.Sharpies were visible on the opposite side, but didn’t bleed through.Alcohol markers (last pictured) obviously showed through with only a little bleeding, but was easy to work around for my purposes.I think it works best with my water-based markers, which only slightly show through.Acrylic paint pens worked well, but had to be very wet or it tore up the paper.Size was really the selling point for me: small enough to fit on any stack space and be grab and go. Large enough that I can see a decent amount of colors at one time. Was previously using a much larger book that I found myself avoiding using, which lead to just winging colors, which defeated the purpose of having swatches.If I had to do it again, I’d probably order the 300gsm just to be maximally compatible with alcohol markers, but otherwise, very pleased :).

Preface: I LOVE the Global Art Handbook journals. Ever since I discovered them, I've bought five, and they've never let me down. I really enjoy using them, but I wanted a journal with the same binding with watercolor paper, hence why I purchased this to try.I'm struggling to get through this sketchbook, which isn't usually how I am. However, this sketchbook feels too precious. What I mean is, the paper feels more expensive (although it's really not compared to other journals), and the presentation feels very professional. Overall, it's a good quality sketchbook until I find little spots of the paper in the journal to have this weird texture that resists the watercolor paint? I'm not sure why, and it's a bit frustrating. It's not on every page, but it's on a good handful of them.The watercolors look great on it, and there's only bad buckling if you dump water onto it. It's not a bad sketchbook, but I'm skeptical to try it again. It might just be the journal I got that had the weird water resistant spots, but if you like your journals to lay flat and want a hardcover watercolor journal with fairly good paper, this might be the one for you.

I've tried at least a dozen different brands of art journals, but find myself coming back to this one. I use it for drawing, markers (they bleed through, of course, but don't feather), ink and light washes, gouache, color swatching, note taking, all kinds of things. They aren't 100% cotton, but what I've discovered is that when it matters I'm best off carrying a 100% cotton watercolor block, because no journal I've tried completely lives up to the needs of watercolor work. I've also been happy with the Handbook journals for sketching, inking and light washes. These two journals from this brand have become my preferred journals, over and above Moleskine, Illo, Hahnemuhle, and maybe even Art Creations. I just wish they were a little more affordable.