watercolour sketchbooks

Why sketchbooks?

I'm passionate about sketchbooks — and not just for painting. I keep idea books, travel books, journal books. Ask me about them in person and clear your afternoon for a long chat ;-)

The short version of why I love them: a sketchbook is a document of a life. Unlike a photo, each sketch represents a deliberate decision — this place, this moment, this hour of my time. Sketching on location makes you pause and notice things, take in a place in a way that a quick snapshot will never do. Add a few notes next to the sketch, and years later you have something a photo can never give you - a vivid memory that takes you right back to a special moment in time. A completed sketchbook tells a whole story, mistakes and all. And because it's only for me, I paint differently in it — freer, braver, less worried about the result.

Sketchbooks also document your artistic journey in a way nothing else does. From those beautiful travel sketchbooks to the scrappy sketchbooks that no one else sees that are filled the thumbnails, ideas and notes before I start a painting. If I'd done these all on loose pieces of paper, for sure by now they'd be lost or recycled. On a bad day, an old sketchbook is the best medicine - you see your progress in an instant.

What I look for in a travel sketchbook

• Proper watercolour paper — not drawing paper, not mixed media
• 300gsm preferably — I work wet, and thinner paper buckles badly in larger sizes
• 100% cotton — I spend days in each book, so the paper quality is worth it
• Vegan
• Flat opening — so that I can paint or write across the fold and, because, flat opening makes it easier to lay on your lap, desk or attach to your easel.

For idea / scratch sketchbooks for keeping notes, planning compositions, value studies - cheap and cheerful with drawing paper that has a bit of tooth is fine for me.

What I'm using at the moment

Etchr — The Perfect Sketchbook, landscape A5

I've lost count of how many of these I've filled. After all these years, I keep coming back. The paper is genuinely unlike anything else — soft, forgiving, extraordinary wet-on-wet. It's hard to describe; I keep coming back to the word soft. Slower to dry than most, which gives you beautiful working time. Very strong binding that survives hiking packs and general abuse.

Good to know: paint doesn't lift out easily. If you're a painter who relies heavily on lifting, take note. Also, the first and last pages don't open completely flat — a minor thing, but worth mentioning.

I also use an A4 version of these sketchbooks for many of my online lessons. This size I find too large for plein air painting. But the paper is so beautiful, I love working in these books in my studio.

If Etchr ever sold that original Perfect Sketchbook paper as loose sheets, I'd be first in line!

Etchr — Watercolour Sketchbook, 21cm square, cold pressed

Not the same paper as The Perfect Sketchbook — and a little thinner — but still very good. I love the square format for compositions. The white cover gets grubby fast, so I really wish they'd make them in a dark cover instead (I keep meaning to paint mine, but it's been years, so it's not going to happen!). A nice option when I want a change of format.

Etchr — The Perfect Sketchbook, Signature Series, B5

This one uses Fabriano Artistico paper — my favourite paper in sketchbook form, with beautiful deckled pages. The B5 portrait size is great for larger, more ambitious sketches. The paper in the standard Perfect Sketchbook is still superior, IMHO, but this is a beautiful book.

Deepdeeplight Leporellos

A leporello is an accordion-fold sketchbook — a single long sheet of paper folded back and forth into pages, so the whole thing can open out into one continuous panorama. It's a wonderful format for storytelling: you can work page by page, or open the whole book out and paint across the entire length. Ideal for telling a single story of a short trip, as you can fill one faster than a normal sketchbook.

The Deepdeeplight leporellos have excellent paper, a great carry size, and interesting proportions — so you can play with narrow and vertical, square, or landscape depending on how you hold and fold them. I've been having a lot of fun with these this year. See my South African leporello blog post for a look at what's possible with the format.

I find it refreshing to switch between the square, A5 landscape, and B5 portrait formats — it keeps compositional choices interesting. So now when I finish one sketchbook, the next one I choose is a different shape.

A word on Hahnemühle and other sketchbooks I've tried

• Hahnemühle sketchbooks come up a lot — possibly because of the price point — so I want to be honest here. I used their older (non-cotton) sketchbooks for years and loved them at pocket size for carrying on hikes. When they released 100% cotton versions, I was keen to try them. I didn't get on with them at all, and unusually for me, I never finished the book. The washes don't move or flow the way I'd expect from a cotton paper. Some of the inside sewing had glue over it, making it impossible to paint across a spread. And I find the very white paper quite glaring outdoors. I've also watched students struggle with these books. They're not for me.
• Stilman & Birn - I filled a number of their Beta sketchbooks. They're not true watercolour paper, but worked well when my plein air sketches were mostly detailed pen work, with simple watercolour washes on top. After my watercolours improved, I got frustrated with this paper. Also not vegan.
• Fabriano - I filled a lot of these spiral bound books in A5 and A4 size. Loved the little window in the cover and the spiral bounding allowed me to tear sketches out to sell them (a good and a bad thing - some memories lost there, but treasured by others). Not sure if they make a 100% cotton sketchbook by now, but back then these ones couldn't compete when I discovered my first Etchr sketchbook.
• My own handmade sketchbooks - because, way back when, I couldn't find a 100% cotton sketchbook, I handmade with coptic stitch my own sketchbooks with Fabriano paper. I essentially made the same book as Etchr now sells as their Signature series. These books are incredibly precious and, as such, created a bit of hurdle in getting past the block of not wanting to spoil them.

Happy sketching!