Favorite Paper & Journals for Writing, Sketching, Drawing & Art Journaling

 

I thought I'd pass along the list of paper and journals I use.

Journals & Paper

I like the feel of the paper in Moleskine journals... one is always in my purse.

Moleskine Plain Notebook {I usually refer to this as a drawing journal} This unlined journal {also comes in a lined and gridded version} has thin, smooth, slightly off-white paper and I love it for doodles, sketches, drawings, lists and note taking; that's where my to-do list resides. At the moment there are three in process.

Moleskine Sketchbook {I usually refer to this as a sketch journal} This unlined journal has thick cream colored paper {approaching that of a manilla folder, but more smooth} and is great for drawing. Watercolor does not absorb as well as watercolor paper, of course, but I have painted with watercolors and doodled on the pages with lovely effect. An example of a doodle in this journal in pen is Map Love Madness No. 5. You can see a direct comparison of watercolor vs. acrylics in this journal at Map Love Madness No. 2.

Moleskine Watercolor Notebooks Perfect for drawing and watercolor. My favorite drawing surface, by far. The watercolor paper is fabulous. I've painted on the back/front of the page without a problem! No bleed-through. A worthwhile luxury. I'm doing the EDM Challenge in this type of journal. I also have the Watercolour A4 Journal, which I've only found on Amazon, lush and wonderful!

 

kitchen table... art journal page on loose 9x12" strathmore watercolor paper

You probably know that I usually art journal in an altered book or on loose paper. Specifically, Strathmore 300 or 400 Series Student Watercolor Pads. I use the large watercolor pages for drawing cityscapes {there's a super wide 6"x18" wirebound, very cool}, doodling, art journal pages and mixed media collages. The paper is sturdy and can stand up to layers of acrylic paint without a problem. The Strathmore 300 or 400 Series Drawing Pads are my daughters' favorite journals for drawing maps and mandalas. My daughter's maps were drawn in sharpie marker in a wirebound Strathmore Drawing pad. The watercolor and drawing journals come in lots of handy sizes. A standard in our stash; we bring several of these wirebound journals on vacation. 

Aquabee Watercolor Journals. The paper in these wirebound journals is luscious for watercolor and drawing. 

Exacompta Basic Journals. Great journals for drawing or art journaling. Here's a flip-through video of my Exacompta journal. These can take a lot of layers and surprisingly sturdy. You can even stitch the covers. A workhorse of a journal.

Clairefontaine watercolor pads are fantabulous. This paper is a dream, just amazing. The paper itself is better than moleskine but hard to find.

Wirebound vs tapebound paper pads. It's personal preference. There are pros/cons to each. I like the wirebound because I can work on multiple pages at once and tear out as I finish a page. Some wirebound have a dotted edge that you can tear off before the wires. Or you can simply cut or slice the edge to straighten. But if you are doing delicate work or watercolor painting you might want to use the tapebound (or gluebound, unsure) where you take a knife and cut the paper from the pad when you are finished. The paper stays flat while you work.

Comments

[deb]

Love all the information! Thanks so much for compiling all this and sharing! Hugs! deb

[Maureen]

Hi Tammy, I love your site! Your creativity is amazing and inspiring, and I am so grateful to you for all the great prompts and ideas you graciously share with us.

I have a question about papers/journals -- I apologize in advance if you already answered this somewhere and I missed it; I'm pretty new here:

Do you have a favorite type of journal for just journal writing? You mentioned you like to make lists and notes in the Moleskins ... do you use the Moleskins as well for journal entries where you write out your entries, without art? (Do you ever journal with words only? That might be a dumb question, considering your amazing artistic talents -- you may not even write journal entries with words alone. But if you do ... any favorite journal for wriitng?)

Thank you! Btw, I am a fan of the Aquabee sketchbooks too. I also like the Strathmore Visual Journals for mixed media -- but I don't paint in them, I just doodle with ink. For collages with just pasting down stuff, I like the large Canson XL notebooks for mixed media -- the blue ones (I can't remember their full name).

[gypsy]

Maureen, great question. I really don't journal my thoughts on paper. I journal on the computer when I need to, maybe a few times per year, and then I am writing a lot at once so it is easier to type. So the journals I use for simple notes, jotting down quotes, to-do's... I do use the moleskine with the off-white paper, the basic one. I like the smoothness of the paper and there are a LOT of pages in each one.

[Sam]

Hey Tammy, thanks for the great post.....just letting you know that the Moleskine Journals link to Dick Blick is broken.

[Currie]

Thanks yet again, Tammy, for your thorough reviews. It was a nice little side-road to click on each link and look back at your stuff from a few years ago. I always find that a exceptionally nice part of following people's blogs.

I had a wonder for you... you know those white rectangle erasers, the ones you carve for stamps?! Where DO you find them? I have been staying OUT of most stores since selling my car in April, and it's funny how this has turned me back to looking at all the stuff I HAVE and NOT getting more.

However, I like the idea of making stamps and those look like fun. I saw some pink ones but they seem harder to work with BEcause of their shape. I figured I'd ask you, knowing you are knowledgeable and wise.

{Tammy} Currie, I buy the white rectangular erasers at Target in the school supplies aisle, sold in packs of 2 or 3. They are smooth as butter to cut with an x-acto or lino tools.

Thanks again!!