Sketchbooks have been with us for thousands of years. Isn’t it amazing?
A good sketchbook is an artist’s best friend. Whether you sketch as a hobby or are a professional artist, doodling something that your heart loves is made easier with a good sketchbook.
Getting the best sketchbook can be a big decision. There are many factors to consider, including size, paper quality, weight, type of binding, hard or softcover, and whether the sketchbook can lay flat or not.
But perhaps the most important factor is outside the sketchbook – there is a perfect sketchbook for every sketching medium.
That is why we have selected the Best Sketchbooks on Amazon for every medium. Do go through and leave us your comments.
Contents
Best Sketchbooks For Watercolor
#1 Canson XL Series Watercolor Textured Pad
If you are into watercolor painting, then this sketchbook will blow your mind. It’s thick, non-bleed through paper can withstand any liquid medium, including watercolors, acrylic paint, ink, colored pencil, charcoal, pastel, and marker.
Features and Benefits
- Cold-pressed texture: The sheets are textured with cold-press technology. Cold press is the most popular type of texture for watercolor painting paper. It is more absorbent, easier to use, and adapts well to almost any style of painting.
- Acid-free: The thirty sheets of the sketchbook use acid-free paper, which absorbs more watercolor and does not allow the painting to fade easily.
- Bulky: A bulky product is not always bad. It is not bad when you look for high quality. These sheets weigh 300 gsm, which lets them absorb a lot more watercolor than lighter paper sheets.
- Meant for beginners: The thick 300gsm sheets are great for beginners or intermediate artists, who might smudge more than experienced artists. The pages can easily stand against repeated brush strokes.
- Side-bound: The sketchbook uses a side-wire to bind the sheets together, making it easier to open and close.
Why should you buy it?
The beautiful “natural-white” colored sheets of this sketchbook allow you to explore the vibrance of many colors on them. The paper erases and blends easily. Its thick gsm makes the paper perfect for beginner artists.
- Constructed of a cold press textured paper for a variety of techniques
- Durable surface stands up to repeated washes
- Ideal for watercolor and suitable for use with pencil, colored pencil, pen, ink, charcoal, pastel, and acrylic
- This side wire pad is 7 x 10 inch
- 140 pound/300 gram acid free paper
#2 U.S. Art Supply Watercolor Painting Paper Pad
You get two sketch pads in one pack with the US Art Supply watercolor pad; you can save one and gift the other. This product is suitable for wet media. It weighs only 1.1 pounds, so yes, it is travel friendly. The color of the pages is white, which brings out the highlights in your sketches.
Features and Benefits
- Heavy paper: The sheets are 11×14 inches and weigh 300gsm. They are heavy and can absorb a lot of water, which makes them perfect for watercolor painting.
- Paper quality: The paper is durably built with high quality to give excellent performance for all sorts of wet painting and mixed media uses.
- pH neutral: The sheets are neutral on the pH scale, which means they are acid-free. The acid-free paper absorbs water and does not allow the page to look older.
- Cold-pressed texture: The texture of the sheets is cold-pressed. Cold-pressed surfaces are better for watercolor painting because they absorb water more effectively.
- White-colored: You get all sheets of natural white. White sheets make your painting look brighter.
- Glue Bound: Glue bound sheets are easy to remove and give you the whole page to create your painting, instead of restricting the portion meant for the spiral binding.
Why should you buy it?
This sketchbook has glue bound pages making it helpful for easy removal. You don’t need to use scissors to separate pages. Just peel them from the glued top. You can also use colored pencils with their water-soluble.
- 2 Pack of 11" x 14" Professional Heavyweight Watercolor Pads. 12 sheets in each pad, a total of 24 premium artists' quality watercolor paper sheets that are ideal for watercolor and mixed media techniques
- Watercolor pads have thick, heavyweight, 140 lb, 300 gsm, cold-pressed textured surface natural white paper sheets. The cold-press slightly textured surface makes the sheets ideal for mastering watercolor techniques.
- These versatile, durable, acid-free, neutral pH watercolor paper sheets are suitable for wet, dry, and mixed media and all skill levels of artists. The surface can withstand washes with no bleed-through
- Excellent for use with watercolor, acrylic, colored pencils, graphite pencils, pens, markers, charcoal, pastel, etc.
- Perfect for use by aspiring artists, art students, and professional artists! These premium watercolor pads make a perfect gift to anyone who enjoys painting, drawing, and creating art
Best Sketchbooks For Pencil
#3 Bachmore Sketch Pad 9X12″ Inch (68lb/100g)
Sometimes sketching can put your frustration away. The white pages make colors appear brighter to your eyes, and they uplift your mood. If you are tired of using terrible quality sketch papers, it’s time to choose this product.
Features and Benefits
- Top spiral bound: Both left and right-handed artists can use top spiral-bound books. They are easy to flip and rip out. The perforation in the pages lets you make a clean tear, protecting your work from damage while taking it out of the book.
- Paper Quality: The papers of the sketchbook are free from acid and are thick and strong. They are 100 gsm in thickness, perfect for dry media like pencil and graphite.
- White-colored: Natural white-colored sheets let you create beautiful black over white sketches using pencils.
- Hardbound: The sketchbook uses a hard binding, which protects your sheets.
- Smooth paper: The surface is very smooth to draw lines from the pencil. You can do all kinds of sketching using a pencil. All dry media work well with this paper.
Why should you buy it?
It goes well for oily colored pencils, sketching sticks, charcoal, and other dry media. The Hardbound cover is 100% handmade. It makes sure your artwork is protected for a very long time. This sketchbook is good for adults as well as kids.
- INCLUDES - 1 pack of sketchbook with size 9’’ x 12’’, 100 inside paper. The weight for each paper is 68lb/100gram, which is much thicker and better than the similar sketchbook offered by other brands.
#4 Arteza 8.5×11″ Hardbound sketchbook
People who are in love with drawing need a sketching book to show their skills. Drawing requires a page that doesn’t crease, which is why this product is a better option that protects your paintings from creasing.
Features and Benefits
- Fine-tooth paper: The papers of this sketch pad are textured with very fine-teeth. It allows you to draw fine details perfectly because the page is very smooth.
- Faux leather Cover: The cover of this sketchbook is made of embossed faux leather. It is hard enough to secure the pages inside very well. This library-quality leather cover gives a classic feel to the sketchbook.
- Lay flat: Despite its hardbound cover, this sketchbook lets you lay the sheet flat and draw on the entire page.
Why should you buy it?
These pages are 50% thicker than most notebook papers. So don’t worry about bleeding. You can use colored pencils, pastels, graphite pencils, charcoal, pens, and much more. As it doesn’t bleed or smudge, your art remains safe for long.
- Texture Embossed Faux Leather Cover - A classic, waterproof, library quality appearance that protects your pages from creasing.
- Ideal for a Wide Variety of Dry Media - Use your favorite colored pencils, graphite pencils, pastels, charcoal, pens, and more!
- Fine Tooth Paper - Create the finest of details on these impressively smooth pages.
- Designed and Created by Artists: Here at Arteza, we are passionate about creating products that inspire. For us, art is an expression of the human experience. That’s why we work to make our art supplies accessible to all people.
- We Care About Our Customers: We want to ensure you have a great experience with our products because we truly care about our customers. Our team strives to create products we’re proud of. If you have any issues with our products, please reach out and we’ll make it right.
Best sketchbook For Graphite
#5 Strathmore 455-3 400 Series Sketch Pad
If you like sketching using graphite pencils, this product is highly recommended for you. It has a hundred sketch papers well suited for general purpose and any kind of advanced dry media art.
Features and Benefits
- Paper quality: This sketchbook contains one pack of 100 sheets. Papers are 89gsm thick, good enough for most dry media like graphite.
- Micro-perforated: The sheets are micro-perforated. Micro-perforated sheets have small holes punched on them. It allows you to separate a single page easily.
- Acid-free: The pages are acid-free, making sure your designs do not smudge and are preserved for long. They are great for dry media.
- Wirebound: Papers are found with side spiral wire. You can open, close, fold and use it conveniently. No matter if you are lefty or righty, the sketchbook is always a plus.
- Meant for practice sketches: Not every paper is meant for finished sketches. Before an artist creates a masterpiece, hundreds of practice sketches help him/her visualize the finished piece. This notebook is perfect for that purpose.
Why should you buy it?
It is not only for artists. This product is also good for graphic designers who often have to sketch preliminary designs with pencils. It is easy to open and fold, and the design is compact, making it travel friendly.
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Best sketchbook For Mixed Media
#6 Strathmore 566-8 500 Series Hardbound Mixed Media Art Journal
Mixed media artwork is not a simple genre to perform. It needs some of the best equipment and sketchbooks. Those who are seeking the best sketchbooks for both dry and wet media should grab this sketchbook.
Features and Benefits
- Paper Quality: It contains 32 sheets of 8.5×11 inches. These are bright white, which allows you to include all colors on them. Also, these pages are acid-free.
- Sewn Binding: Papers are connected with Smyth-sewn binding. It makes this sketchbook durable and helps the pages to lay flat.
- Thickness: The sheets are 190gsm thick, an intermediate thickness good for both wet and dry media.
- 100% Cotton, Internally Sized: The sheets are made from 100% cotton, which is quite durable for dry media. Internal sizing helps the sheets absorb water without disintegrating, which allows the sheets to be used for wet media.
Why should you buy it?
The sketchbook is good for sketches, drawings, paintings, and more. It is the only sketchbook on our list that we are recommending for both dry and wet media. In short, You can use it for almost any kind of artwork.
- Internally sized for use with wet media with a durable vellum finish for drawing techniques.
- Archival grade and lignin free paper.
- 90 lb / 190 gsm
- 100% Cotton, acid free
- Made in the USA
Buyer’s Choice
Evaluate these factors to come with the right pick!
The Weight Of The Paper
The choice of how thick the paper sheets should depend entirely on the medium you will be using. If you plan to use dry media such as graphite and pencil, a 90-120gsm thickness will suffice.
If you are looking to make full-on watercolors, you should opt for very thick paper (up to 300gsm). The thick paper will be able to absorb water and pain, letting the other sheets remain unharmed.
For mixed media journals, an intermediate thickness (about 200gsm) is perfect.
Binding
If you are looking to create rough sketches before creating a finished piece, always opt for spiral bound sketchbooks. Spiral bounds have perforated sheets that are easy to tear out. More importantly, taking out one sheet does not impact the binding of other sheets. A top spiral is preferable because both left and right-handed artists can work with it.
Hot glued sheets are also easy to take out, though maybe not as much as spiral-bound ones. You can work on the entire page with hot glued sheets.
Tooth
Tooth or the texture of the paper is an important consideration. If your paper has a lot of pits and grooves, that means it can hold charcoal pigments and pastels nicely. This is not the case with smooth papers. Smooth papers are suitable only if you use pencils and inks mostly.
Cover
You can choose the hard or soft cover of the sketchbook. Hard sketchbooks protect the inside pages and give a strong base to draw on. If you are outside, you don’t have to look for support while drawing or painting something quickly.
Sizing
Sizing is a process of strengthening the paper. There are two types of sizing: internal and surface sizing. Internal sized paper is great for wet media, whereas surface sized paper is useful for heavily worked drawings.
FAQs
Which size is considered the best one for a sketchbook?
Size depends on how much you use it and how much you need to carry it. Go for a compact design if you travel with your sketchbook. The most user-friendly size considered is 9×12 inches or 11×14 inches. If you don’t travel with a sketchbook and if you need to draw detailed sketches, you can go for a large size.
What kind of pages is good for sketching?
For dry sketching, thin papers are good. Go for a paper whose gsm is not more than 100. Dry sketching does not require heavyweight paper. If you want an affordable and smooth version of sketching papers, even the office printer paper is good.
For wet media like ink or markers, always use paper that is at least 200 gsm thick, maybe more.
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