Finally, another person who does not love these books! I have felt crazy for years. As someone new to watercolor this was one of the first papers I used, eventually I figured out there was better paper out there :) But it seems so many people love these books, even watercolor people. They must use it very differently like than I was able to :)
Yep! Having to deal with paint back runs as a beginner can be really daunting! This paper may be good for quick sketches but it's tough when you really want to get in the details and/or achieve particular effects
Oh my! I thought I was alone too! Mine has become a sketch book for swatching new supplies and testing color mixes. I just cannot get myself use it for any art. I feel like I have to work harder than I need to in order to get decent results.
@@MelanieCC05 I would suggest something with actual watercolor paper in it. The problem with those is they are often expensive. I like the Etcher ones, but a cheaper alternative it SMLT.
I've only just started using watercolors and gouaches and was searching for a notebook to doodle and this review is absolutely perfect - so much info and exactly what I needed to know, you deserve way more views! thank you for this video, I ended up getting the pocket moleskine and super excited to doodle away in it.
I had gotten one of these because they were popular when I was new to watercolor, and it didnt take too long for me to not like it. Everything was blotchy, it felt like that watercolor sat on the top of the paper and as some others had mentioned, I had some spots that seemed water resistant. I have since swapped it from being used for watercolor to using it with my Posca markers. The paper texture works really well with them, I dont feel like I tear up the paper as much compaired to other papers.
Honestly, i used to use this sketchbook a lot and its how i started watercoloring at first, not knowing anything about watercolor or watercolor paper. I don't really have any on hand anymore that aren't fully filled with illustrations and paintings anymore, and I haven't repurchased simply because of the price point, i could get lots of loose sheets of watercolor paper for that price. However, i will say there is something really charming about the way the paper reacts to watercolor, as well as the blooms. I know its a frustration point for people trying to achieve smooth even washes, but I like the blooms, its one of my favorite things about watercolor. That being said, yes, I have definitely moved on to cotton paper.
I can totally relate! I do feel sentimental about this paper and I did enjoy it despite the frustrations (thought it was all my fault after all). I like cauliflowers but I also like to NOT have them if I don't want them :)
Just the other day I opened my watercolor moleskine for the first time and decided to do a watercolor wash on an entire sheet. The blending of the gradient paint was whomp-whomp. Thank you for making this review; I was really puzzled by the results of the watercolor paint in this paper.
I appreciate your review. I saw several artists complain about Moleskin 'watercolor' sketchbook and how thin it is and how much bleed-through you get. I also find it weird, since watercolor relies on leaving white spaces, that it's cream and not white paper.
I took out my old, neglected Moleskine A4 watercolor sketchbook a couple days ago and while painting, remembered how much I hated the paper for watercolor, at least for my style of painting. 😅 So, just to make sure I wasn't imagining things, I went searching for reviews and yours felt so validating! Your sketches are beautiful though, I especially love the cats!
it's not for watercolorists. quick sketches? sure. but the sizing is really weird and inconsistent. I gave up on sketchbooks and just ended up using sheets or pads as it was the only way to get consistent experience.
I'll be covering a bunch of sketchbooks with cotton paper in the near future, I think you'll find those videos interesting :) Personally I hate having loose sheets of paper flying around, so I stick to sketchbooks and I've been keeping to try and find a really good one
Thank you for your honest review. Paper that allows previous layers to lift is a major pet peeve of mine, and this is sometimes promoted as a good thing since beginners look for papers that will let them erase mistakes.
I really like it if I'm painting small details because i love the way the paint lies in little cobbles or mixed paint separates, especially cobalt colours. It gives interesting and unexpected results. Definitely not if you want large smooth washes. I love Fluid 100 small 8x8 inch block pads which are 💯 cotton and at this size cheaper than moleskine
It’s not good if you want to really wet it down and get a lot of water on there to move the paint around. But, I have to say I love these books. The paper has an off white color, which I like as the starting base. It holds pen and ink lines really well, which is what I mainly use it for. Then putting a light wash of color over the pen and ink.
honestly, moleskine sketchbooks are better for either quick pencil drawings + color pencils & ig some pens otherwise if you're lookin for a sketchbook thats made for watercolor (acrylics can be used on it also) would be etchr's sketchbook as they have both H & C pressed w/ a canvas-like cover + they have another line called perfect sketchbook made w/ fabriano paper.... the con is the price: w/ the reg canvas-like reg sketchbook, it comes as a 3 pck for $60 & the perfect sketchbook (both h & c pressed) goes for $106 each.
@@hungryforpaint np. im a newb to anything watercolor related since im more of an acrylics user but ive been gettin into watercolor lately by watchin emma lefebvre (+ other watercolorist) & the only sketchbook ik thats 100% cotton & doesn't screw round w/ watercolor is etchr so ive stocked up with about 6 sets of the reg 3 pck canvas sketchbook + 2 perfect sketchbook (both in h & c pressed). u'll love it once u get to try it.
I love the etchr everyday sketchbooks and find that if you buy the pack of 3 it actually works out fairly cheap for such amazing quality paper. Here in Australia if you buy the 3 and divide the cost between them it's like 20 dollars per 1, and moleskine's here are 27 dollars for the same size. It's a no brainer for me 100% cotton high quality cheaper than an at best average cellulose, it's easy to choose the cotton one. I haven't tried the Paul Rubens sketchbooks yet but from the many reviews I've watched they seem almost equal to the etchr, very similar and are 100% cotton also from as I understand it an even cheaper price if your on more of a budget. Personally I feel that moleskine is very overpriced for the quality and your paying mainly for the brand name rather than the quality. There are many cellulose paper sketchbooks that perform far better if your on a very tight budget to choose from rather than paying more for a name.
My husband and I both have one of these sketchbooks but have different experiences. I don't like it for watercolour as I like lots of wet in wet techniques. However, my husband likes it for his style (he has an acrylic and oil background). I have tried other media in it as I don't like to waste paper. It works well for gouache, but I really like it for inktense and water soluble graphite. I think this is why people are so split with their opinions on Moleskine. I won't buy it again but my husband might.
@@CathyPowellGlass what an interesting perspective! Thank you for leaving a comment. I haven't properly tried this paper with inktenses but imagine they could work nicely
I just started to use one as it was considerably cheaper in a sale. Not much complaint so far, except that in some spots it seemed to resist a bit to watercolour and needed a few more strokes with the brush. That can be anything though and it was only small spots. What I enjoyed in it so far (I just did some swatches and two small pictures) that it dries slower than my previous one, so I can achieve better the seamless blends. I just got it for small sketches and practice, I am not doing anything in it I am precious about LOL
There's a premium version of the sketchbook too, that's probably what you have. I have one of these in pocket size but haven't started using it yet. How do you like yours?
@@hungryforpaint I think it's a bad idea to use one sided pages - they work different and when you're making full spread, one side is like "oh cool", another - "wtf?!" You can work with it, you can get used to it, but... no pleasure. I use it with pressure because it was a gift, but won't recommend. There is so many much cheaper scketchbooks (with one sided cotton 25%) in my country, so in the subject of watercolor paper Moleskine is just "pay for a legendary brand". I think in your country too ^^
@@CaramelStripes yes, you're mostly paying for the brand. They only thing I really truly like about them without any caveats are the black hard covers, they just feel so nice 😅 and one sided paper in a sketchbook really is inconvenient, I agree!
First time viewer and I thank you for your review! I have a love/hate relationship with my Moleskine watercolor sketchbook. I love the quality of its construction but man does the paper fight me sometimes lol. Hahnemuhle released a 100% cotton sketchbook, have you tried it? I’ve been curious!
Thank you for watching, happy you enjoyed it! Yeah, totally same story here haha. I have the Hahnemuhle cotton sketchbook waiting on the shelf until it's its turn :) Will definitely be making a review but it will take a while before I get to it. Thank you for the suggestion!
I use the A4 and A3 Watercolour pads and enjoy using them with pen & ink (dip pen) and Watercolour predominantly and haven't had any issues - they have taken double sided watercolour with no bleeding or issues.
thank you for reviewing this sketchbooks =) I wish I see it before I’ve bought mine (few)! By the way, according to moleskine official sight, the paper is not pure cellulose, but cotton-blend which doesn’t help at all =) Using mine for swatching lately. And thinking of guache - I have the japanese kuretake watercolours which are more creamy - now I must try them in this sketchbook, they could work! Will check this theory! Thanks again!
Give that a go. Would love to hear how it went! Actually as far as I know, at the moment there are two kinds of Moleskine sketchbooks, one made of cellulose and one with a percentage of cotton (unless something changed since last time I checked). I haven't tried the ones with cotton yet.
Okay i know everyone hates moleskine sketchbooks but i exclusively use them. Not sure why, but i just find the off white color, and size perfect for me. I hate the watercolor version though, even though I'm a watercolor artist. Im a hot press girlie and that paper texture is awful 😂
thank you for tgis video :) I actually like the "cauliflower effect" in some cases :) but moleskine doesn't really speaks to me. I'm searching for the good and affordable watercolor sketchbook but haven't found it yet can't wait to see your nexte video. Lately I used the watercolor album from Smltart (celullose too) that it's 280gsm but I'm still not convinced, do you know this brand ?
Cauliflowers can be nice if you want them but it's good if they're an option, not the default 🙂 I've tried a pad from smltart once and it seemed rather nice but I don't have enough experience with it to give opinions.
Thank you for the informative video....I love watching your vids 🙂 I would love to grab a grabbag from your shop, but cannot find any..... Have a great day and best wishes from Cologne Angelika
It looks that you'r a little bit severe with Moleskine. It's ofcourse not the ideal paper for wet on wet technic. For that type of watercolor you need at minimum a 300gr, but as you know Moleskine is 200gr only. However when traveling I like to use such a quality sketchbook, not to make wet on wet classic watercolor, (that's for my workshop), but making watercolored loosed sketches to have a souvenir of what was my trip. I use 3 sketchbooks A4 a year for this purpose, imagine with 300gr my backpack will be more heavy and the size much bigger. Also having a full Moleskine collection of all my trips is a plus! Expensive but serious ! Anyway, thank you for your videos, I'm fan ! Michel
Thank you so much for your comment! For quick sketches and fewer layers of watercolours without caring to much about smoothness of the wash etc, Moleskin is totally fine! 300g is perfect but thinner paper can still perform nicer than Moleskines (in my opinion), for example the Global Art Materials sketchbook that I made a video about, or the Pink Pig sketchbooks that I'm working on a video about 🙂 BUT if you love your Moleskine, that's amazing and that's everything that matters 💕 Thank you for watching, I appreciate your input
