For those who are wondering what pen I'm using in the video, it's called a Pentel Aquash. I filled it with water and some drops of ink. It's linked in the description!
Tip: Especially for people who doodle a lot *cough* me *cough cough* If you like to keep your sketch book some what clean and kinda “perfect” I would suggest one for all art works and pieces and another smaller, cheaper one for doodles, art ideas, and some practices. That way the sketchbook will look more clean.
Honestly, in my opinion, spiral sketchbook are a lot better than normal book spines. Normal book spines usually break off, which actually gets pretty annoying, especially if you want the outside of your sketchbook to look nice or to even keep the sketchbook in one piece. You also can’t lay the pages out flatly or rip them out easily.
Lol i haven't found luck with spiral notebooks. For some reason in my past sketchbooks all the spirals would bend and also pages would start to fall out.
I am very late to the party but I love the normal ones because you can transform an a5 page into an a4 because you can fill a whole spread continuously. My first sketchbook was a spiral one and it is a lot nicer to draw on the go though.
Sketch books for other people are books where you can test around and experiment and practice and where you can make the most mistakes because it’s your book but for me a sketch book is a book where I keep my art and then I can look back at it in the next years and I’ll see how well I developed so I can make mistakes in a snazzy and presentable way and I’d rather do my art and keep it there and I paste my art that I cut out when I didn’t have my sketchbook around.
If you make mistakes and experimenting on the sketchbook , you can also look back at it again and think how you start to become good at it. Its the same thing. All of my art are inside my sketchbook and i can just look all of my old artwork easily
I just bought 2 sketchbooks. One of them is the same mixed media one you have in this video! I haven't used a sketchbook since high school, so I'm pretty excited to start again
You can reduce and almost eliminate smudging by using one of those office paper clips (the ones with the folding arm things...) to keep the sketchbook tightly closed. Since the smudging is caused by the pages rubbing together.
I've noticed that for me, majority of the pencil smudging happens when I flip to a new spread. (E.g when I've filled the spread that has the pages 1 and 2, flip to a new spread and draw on the page 3, causing the pages 1 and 2 rub together and smudge.) Keeping a piece of clean paper between few of the most recent spreads has reduced the amount of smudge significantly. I don't know if this works with more toothy paper or softer pencil leads, but it has kept my (mostly graphite pencil-filled) sketchbooks pretty smudge-free. I use thin and smooth paper and a B lead.
I wanted to thank you for always replying to so many comments! I remember when you first replied to me! It made me feel so good inside and and made me feel like you care about your subscribers! I really appreciate all your time and effort put into you channel! Thanks!
Vanessa R Ahh thank you so much! That's so nice of you to say since I always make an effort to reply to people - at least within the first 24 hours of a video. If the video starts getting a lot of views it can get difficult to keep up 😅
I tend to stick tape over finished graphite drawings so the graphite doesn't smudge! Obviously, make sure you are completely done with your drawing before you stick the tape over, and be really careful when you do stick it down, but it works a treat!
I love the look of it too and it probably holds the pages together better, but I love being able to flip all the pages around with the spiral. It's a hard decision! I might try a book one next time.
So I tried one of strathmore's new watercolor sketchbooks, similar to the one you're using, and it was the 'design your own cover' kind of sketchbooks so i was super excited. The paper was so thin and could not take ONE wash of watercolors, and the papers would fall out so easily!! I learned a lesson- do NOT put your stickers on a new sketchbook before trying it out first and seeing if you like it. So much money just washed down the drain :( I'm now using a delta sketchbook, which is great with watercolors! It behaves differently from the normal watercolor paper, but it's still really nice and has a sketchbook feel. It was about $15, which is on the pricy side for a sketchbook, but I think it's completely worth it. Though the canson mixed media sketchbooks are wonderful for watercolor too. Thanks for such a great video!
sablesalamanders I think that's the same sketchbook I use! But mine is mix media.... Maybe there's different kinds. I completely forgot to mention that the paper does dissolve a bit because it's mix media and probably not the best quality, so I try not to scrub at the paper too much. It works if you don't saturate it too much/scrub at it while it's still wet. So, not for actual paintings, but for colouring sketches with watercolour it works fairly well.
My favourite sketchbook is the Canson mixed media. It will take many different kinds of media (as it says in the description), the pages are crisp & white which I like, the paper is nice quality - more thick and not flimsy. They come in many sizes, which I use for different things (art classes, personal, carry around). I just love them!! It took me a really long time to find a sketchbook I loved. But around last year I figured out I liked this one.
@@bunny1656 i had the same problem bc i wanted to start watercolors and learn how to use them but i think i'll just invest in a watercolor sketch book and keep my canson so that way i have options, and the canson COULD be for watercolor but only for the lightest thinnest way so you basically cant do anything you would with normal watercolor paper but i feel you'd have to be careful if you'll use it for that purpose
I’ve always got my sketchbooks and general supplies as cheap as I can go without being totally unusable (except in rare moments when I buy some nice paints or markers). One of my favourite sketchbooks was a free sketchbook, that was really a hotel brand hardcover plain page book not really for drawing. My most recent is a $2 soft cover I use for markers and inking. Getting cheap isn’t absolutely an awful idea sometimes.
Great video! As for the two types of sketchbook, spiral vs book binding: some people sketch in spiral bound, then cut and paste/tape best work into book bound for consolidation and neatness
Be careful with chalk pastels or pencil and hairspray. Because the Hairspray might bleed through the page and then you have the pigment of your medium on the other page as well. Happened to me once and ruined one of my favorite drawings :/
I agree, and I have another thing to add: hairspray is not archival, and can end up yellowing your drawing over time. Spray fixative actually isn't too expensive, and the bottles last a long time, so I think it's safer to just shell out the extra bucks.
@@MondayMorningMist ehh i rarely work with an acrual graphite pencil but for the few times i do im not gonna shell out $20 for some fixative,,$1.50 hairspray works fine and idk how it'd get through to the other side, one light spray is enough usually?
I’m wondering what about thin paper/sketch paper,won’t the spray buckle paper that thin when working with pastels or charcoal? Or when doing art like that should you use different paper?
a thin/light wash of water over pencil prevents it from smudging ! so if u don't have hairspray/are trying to be more environmentally friendly, that works
I use the same sketch book! I love your little drawings with the water color pens. I’m left handed too, so sometimes I use it upside down so that the spiral doesn’t get in my way 🙃
My favourite type of sketchbook to use are : Spiral bound landscape sketchbooks ( A5/A4 format) Atm art gecko are my faves . AND 140x140 chunky square sketchbooks book bound - super comfy to work in and can take them anywhere with you no problem.
Nice and helpfull tips! Thank you! I know it's a bit against what you said in your video, but I actually like to sometimes just pick a random page to draw instead of going page by page. That helps me a bit with being scared to "ruin" it. And I actually like the random kind of style that makes for. And Jel, I just gotta say this: You always seem soo sympathetic in your videos! Haha, when you made the thumbs-up I found that really funny ^^ I also notice that you constantly improve on your video quality too! It's really cool to see you trying new things and improving! I can definitly already see a big improvement from when I started to follow your channel a few months ago! :)
in my sketchbooks i sketch on one side because i always like how pencil looks but i had the same feeling of emptiness on the unused side. So my solution was to glue in some mix media or watercolor paper and do a finished illustrations! really easy and fun to do, and im getting painting practice in it too!
Oh yeah! About the hair spray fixer thing I heard about it before, it really works! I used it for a street theatre play where I was wearing some fantasy make-up, and I used hair fixer and it really worked, it didn't go away and it stayed in my face all they long! I've never thought about using it with art, thanks Jel!! :D
I have been using diffrent kind of sketch books, never found one that i liked till last year when my friend got me a sketchbook, and I just really love it, its just easier for me to ues
You could always glue Bristol bird or even just cardboard on the back of your soft paperback sketchbooks! Glue it down and then glue paper down on the front and fold it over on the corners with some glue that way you don’t have a messy edge and it won’t peel apart as fast. Also that way it’s nice and easy to draw on!
You have been a really big inspiration for me and my art. Your voice is really nice and soothing to listen to while drawing and you give absolutely amazing advice. Thank you for existing :D
if you don't have a spray fixative you can cover the page in a wide clear tape (like packing tape)! it's not ideal for finished pieces but i often do it for studies and model drawings and such that i've done in charcoal
I'm also a fan of spiral bound. I like the 5 x9" size so it fits in my purse! The giant problem with spiral bound is that the pages can shift around due to the looser binding so smudging, page bending and page tearing ends up being an issue. Something to help minimize this is to get a sleeve or elastic to hold the book firmly closed. Sometimes if the bleed through is really bad from markers, I will cover the back with post-it note paper and draw over that. makes a neat patch work effect that people think is fancy LOL
I recomend all artist that use markers use Shitajikis they are very useful I think amazon sell them they are a long piece of plastic you can put behind the paper to avoid any accidents or if u prefer drawing on really hard surface u can use it too also if u have a heavy hand and press on the paper too hard and itll show on the back I highly suggest it
Pause at 0:34 I just wanted to say that I absolutely love this art style. I had to stop, pause the video, and take everything in. It’s _so beautiful._ I was wondering if anyone knew what this style is called, or if it even has a name. Thankyou 😊
I like to put clear tape over some of my heavily graphite covered drawings. Like for example, if there was a drawing of a plant that was colored in heavily with graphite, I would tape it up with clear tape. The rest don't have to be taped unless they are a smearing threat too XD
I'm using Daler Rowney fixative on both sides of pencil drawings on my W&N sketchbook don't smudge, it protects the pigments very well:) Great video by the way!
I liked the blue fishes! 😄 But the video inspired me to keep testing! Because it is not necessary that every drawing have to be perfect in a sketchbook! 😄😄 And yup thank you for the date idea, it's really amazing! 😆
My personal favourite is case binding, soft cover, passport-8.5x5.5" size. I tend to prefer cheaper paper (daler rowney simply and a dollarama have been my favourite). I've been collecting for years but started actually filling last year, and have since filled 12.5
I use the new vision sketch book and I'm loving it it's a 12 by 9 so pretty big. I am a graphite artist so not using graphite is not something I can do. But I have seen some people us watercolor to hold graphite to it's page and seems to work pretty well
About the spiral-bound or book-bound sketchbook thing, once when I had a book-bound sketchbook, the spine one day just all of a sudden stared ripping off. And the thing is it’s not like I really drew often in it, and I treated it pretty well, so idk what’s up with that. I guess some problems with a spiral-bound sketchbook is, if you get too close to the spirals it’s uncomfortable to draw. But in the end, I still would say I like the spiral-bound sketchbooks more.
I’m so happy that you took my suggestion in the last video to paint in real time! 😊 although I guess a lot of people may have been asking for one.... but I’m still really happy you took my suggestion! I’ve only been subscribed to you for a month or so but I can really tell that you really care about your subs and I really feel loved, thank you! Can’t wait for the next video and your absolutely positively amazing! EDIT: Can I ask where you got that small strathmore sketchbook you used for marker swatches? I’m looking for a somewhat small sketchbook and the one you used looks perfect! I live in Canada so sometimes Amazon doesn’t ship things to here.
I have a tip! sometimes I test out drawing and shading color pencils and I put water on a brush and go over it and let it draw its so smooth! I use the tip alot
You can just use clear water and a brush to prevent it from smudging! Just go over all of the drawing and let it dry, you wont be able to erase it afterwards etc ^~^
Great ideas! I am a good way through my sketchbook. It's the first time I've really gotten pretty far into my sketchbook. I hope to finish it, I have never finished one before. 0:
For the bleeding problem, I take a piece of thicker paper (like construction paper ect. does not have to be expensive) and put it between the paper I’m drawing on and the page under it and it helps soak up / prevent the extra medium from going onto the next page. However, this will ruin the back of the page you are using but it would’ve already been ruined had I not been doing this anyway.
The size I like is 8 x 5 but I’m JUST getting into scketchbooks. Since I already have a display drawing tablet. (Which is the Huion Kamvas pro 13) and it’s active drawing area is 11.54 inches. And I didn’t really want a very small or big scketching book. So I chose a 8 x 5 inch 60 pound scketchbook.
I used to super love spiral bound sketchbooks because of all the reasons you said, but I find that smudging happens with them no matter what I do, so I've come to really hate them LOL. For instance, even with just one side having ink (INK!!!) lineart or something and nothing on the other end, the pages rub together so much that it's inevitable. That's why I prefer hardbound sketchbooks at least :)
I use a Canson Mixed Media sketchbook, and I totally recommend it! :) It holds watercolor and acrylic paint, and the paper is thicc 98 lb paper is good! The Canson paper can hold my Copic markers, but it does bleed, so I always put a thicker piece of paper behind the page I’m drawing on :) ❤️ I have tested spiral bound and hard bound sketchbooks, and I like hard bound better personally because I carry around my sketchbook in my school backpack almost all the time and the spiral gets messed up :,0
Yes, hairspray is a good, cheap alternative to fixative. However it yellows with age and may ruin a piece. Use it on pieces you don’t plan on showing or selling only.
I have an idea, if you want to use both sides of each page, but have "bleed through" on one page, use post it notes or small card stock paper sheets, scribble on those, and tape them on the back of each sheet.
I keep two sketchbooks with me. a cheaper mixed media sketchbook I use for everyday doodling and putting down my ideas, then I have my better one for my best pieces
For graphit and charcoal I cute a price of tracing paper to fit and tape it on one side of the page, then if pages rub it rubs the tracing paper not the drawing, contains the graphite to that page, and you can just flip it up when you want to look through your sketches
For cheap, I recommend taping some baking/tracing paper over the top (either on the top side or on the bottom too) and this doesn’t transfer over and you can still see it.
