I worked at the art supply store at my art college years ago, in the 90s. My school collaborated with a local paper company to put out a variety of school-brand sketchbooks. One of them was a spiral bound book, 11" x 14", with a heavy cover and back. And the paper was 100% cotton watercolor paper, 140 cold press. There were around 25 pages in them. They were the best sketchbooks, and an incredible buy. (I can't remember what they cost, but if I found them affordable as a student, they were not expensive.) I wish I had somehow been able to stockpile them and store them in an art supply bunker, but those sketchbooks are now a thing of the past. The next best thing to building a time machine, and going back to buy one of my alma mater watercolor sketchbooks, is buying one of these. Strathmore 460-19 500 Series Visual Mixed Media Journal, Vellum, 9"x12", White, 34 Sheets. These are my requirements for a good sketchbook: spiral binding, so I can fold the pages all the way back without them getting weird, and tear the pages out easily if need be. The paper needs to be 100% cotton so it will stand up to multiple eraser scrubbings and multiple water applications without pilling. It needs to be of a decent weight so it doesn’t tear under the erasing and water. It should have a generous amount of pages. It has to tolerate a variety of mixed media. And- it needs to be affordable. I work wet on wet a lot. I use water soluble graphite to draw the basic design, and have to do a lot of erasing because my drafting skills aren't the greatest. Then I go in with water-soluble chalk pastels, gouache, ink, more graphite, and sometimes acrylic paint and water soluble colored pencils. I spray the paper with water for wet on wet, and will spray the work in progress and sometimes rinse off as much of the image as I can, and then go back in and work on it some more. When its finished, I will spray the work with either Workable Fixatif or Crystal Clear to seal in the media. Or I will put on a layer or two of polymer medium. I like to keep the work in the book. I do put glassine between the pages. But the paper gets loaded with media, and layers, and plastic- and with the exception of a little tearing at the top or bottom of the page, the books stay intact. I don't know how the paper is sized, or have any other information on them. I just know they are amazing, and I'm happy they exist. Strathmore, if you are listening: I'd really love an 11" x 14" size of one of these. I highly recommend this sketchbook. Treat yourself to one. Under $20. 100% cotton paper. The paper makes a big difference, and won't quit on you, or pill, or tear. I have tormented the pages of these sketchbooks, and they keep their integrity. I'm really glad I found them.
