Paul Rubens Watercolor Journal, 100% Cotton 140 lb (300 GSM) Hot Pressed Watercolor Paper, 20 Sheets Sized 3.8’’ x 5.2’’ Travel Art Journal for Beginners and Experienced Painters (Black)

I love 100% cotton paper. The paper texture is great and I love how watercolor sits and flows on it. I love the size, material and structure. I’d def order again.

Glad I didn't pay attention to some negative reviews. This little sketchbook is exactly as described. I Love the pocket on the inside of the back cover. The paper is smooth and did not bleed through when using watercolours. That's precisely what I had hoped for. Bleed through is disturbing and I'll be able to use both sides of the paper for my plein air work. The sweet place holder ribbon is cute but I'll never use it. I Love the pink fake leather cover but, admittedly, find the logo placement in gold annoying. I can live with that. My watercolours are vibrant on this paper and I was able to lift colour out as desired. It's the perfect size for me to travel about with and, should it remain an offering, I'll likely want to purchase more in the future.

I LOVE this paper. The quality is amazing. I’m so happy with my purchase.

At approx 5.25" x 4" I knew the journal would be small and is not a problem as I want to keep it inside my purse or fanny pack to be able to capture a quick urban sketch on the go.The paper inside is heavy and has a slight texture that I'd say is somewhere between cold pressed and hot pressed. It takes water well, both sides can be painted on without bleed-through, but it needs to be "worked" a bit first to get each page to lay down flat if you plan to work inside the journal rather than removing individual sheets to work on. I had to go to each page and spread it wide open, forcing it back a bit to lie flat in both directions. Some of the pages had glue that seeped in between them where they attached together making this even more difficult to do. At first I was concerned that the cover might come loose from the signatures from my pressing down and back on the pages and glue, but the paper is held really securely (sewn together and glued) to the book and the pages now lay nicely flat while open.The pages are perforated to tear them out, which is convenient I guess, but given a choice I'd rather not have them perforated and just work inside the journal and keep it intact.There is an expanding pocket inside the back cover which is convenient for slips of test paper, color chart, removed pages, etc.All I need is to add a few watercolor pencils; a water-filled brush; mechanical pencil; and waterproof pen in my fanny pack with the journal and I'm ready to go. Or can keep it all together in a small zip lock plastic bag in my purse.Three Cons:-- The pages do not lay down flat and they need to be really "worked" to get them to stay flat. Without doing that first you can't work inside the journal. Journals are meant to be worked inside of without having to tear the pages out. So it's not really a journal, as it is, in my opinion, and the craftsmanship, and excessive glue between pages, leaves much to be desired.--The first and last pages are partially glued to the inside flap pages, so one side of those pages is not fully usable. I figure I'll use those sides for testing mixed paint colors, or as scratch paper, but not good that two page sides are just wasted like that in such a small journal.--There's also a ribbon used to mark the spot where you are in the journal. Unfortunately the pages it was placed between have a messy embossed impression where the ribbon was folded back awkwardly inside the journal. The impressions will definitely show up when you apply pigment to the pages. Hopefully it can be camouflaged when I paint on those pages. I don't think the ribbon is necessary and should probably be left out of the journal all together since it has only 20 pages (40 if used double sided).Overall, I would recommend this since it's pretty inexpensive, a convenient pocket size with a rugged hard cover, and has good 100% cotton paper. When done with it, I can also remove the pages and easily glue my own signatures inside of the cover for a custom-made journal with my preferred paper. I would probably buy it again for myself if it goes on sale, but not as a gift.

I'm a hot press convert! This hot press WC block journal is perfect. It is what it says it is and does exactly what I need with class and convenience!! The first/top paper buckled at first, where the lil separation is, but caused no problems when drying and dried perfectly flat. The second paper didn't buckle at all in the wetting process. I'm using M.Graham and Paul Rubens Artist paints and the colors and flow are just perfect for my desired effects! I only wish this came in a larger size! The size is interesting for framing, so there is that to consider....I haven't gotten that far yet, but I'll either have to tape the painting space down to 5x7 or build a custom mat to fit and 8x10 frame. I'm also hoping to find a lil photo album of the same size so I can put my done sheets into. This is a great item!

BE AWARE that these pads come pre glued on all sides with a small unglued spot to separate pages after painting!! It’s like being PRE TAPED. GENIUS!!When I first opened the pad I was disappointed and couldn’t figure out why all four sides were glued together. I even went back to look at reviews that showed issues with the same thing.Thinking it was defective, I started to submit a return. The company must have this issue regularly as they have a note that says something like, “before returning see this link”. In the link it explains that the pad is purposefully glued on four sides with an opening to slip a credit card like item in between pages when ready to remove your finished painting.NOTE TO COMPANY - please attach a note with each pad explaining this so customers don’t think their pad is defective!The paper is nice and thick and the pre glued pages make it PERFECT for painting anywhere, especially traveling! I took mine on a cruise and enjoyed painting out on my balcony with no buckling issues or blowing paper!! After I finished a painting I removed the page with a credit card easy the page free and then began with a fresh new page!!