Why Keep a Watercolour Paper Sketchbook?
I’ve kept sketchbooks consistently ever since art college. For me they’re a means to practice and advance my technical skills, and a space to develop new ideas and cultivate my style. Keeping books, rather than collections of paper, helps to establish a narrative, encourages me to fill them, and, by the end, creates works of art in their own right.
At first I used Moleskines and Stillman & Birn Zetas, which suited me for a while, since I mostly worked in dry media. However by 2018 I decided to move away from the graphic style I'd been working in over the previous decade.
But as I started painting, and experimenting with different mediums, I found that Moleskine's thin, wood pulp-based paper just wasn't up to the task. It didn't have enough tooth for charcoal, and disintegrated under wet media.
Despite much searching I couldn't find what I wanted, namely an extremely hard-wearing sketchbook, which opened completely flat, with the same 100% cotton watercolour paper that I was, by then, using for my finished pieces. Instead I decided to learn bookbinding, and started making my own books. Soon I started making them for other artists too.
I tried a number of different mediums and techniques over the next couple of years, all of which Hot Press Fabriano Artistico took completely in its stride, including charcoal:
Stippling with Rotring Drawing Ink and Isographs pens. This technique is great for screen printing, because it's binary yet is still capable of creating complex tones. But it is sooo slow and can cause repetitive strain injuries in wrists.
Watercolour:
Gouache and gold leaf:
And Indian ink wash 🥰 (For the first image I used Sumi ink)
Now as I come to the end of this sketchbook, I'm preparing to start a new body of work, drawing on everything I've learned and developed over the time of its creation.
For me, sketchbooks are a place to train my skills, try out different media, develop ideas, experiment and above all - play. Of course, different artists will always have their own needs and habits. But howsoever used, I always champion sketchbook-keeping as a great artistic exercise for beginners and advanced professionals alike.
And the joy of using my handmade watercolour paper sketchbooks is that because almost any medium can be used without compromise, there are no frustrating limitations.