Strathmore (467-8 STR-467-8 48 Sheet No 140 Watercolor Art Journal, 8.5 by 11", 8.5"x11", White, 24

Love these art journals. They can be a bit pricey especially when you want the big ones but they are worth splurging on. Love everything about them!

This watercolor sketchbook is so perfect I’ve bought multiple repeat copies. The size is perfect for using one page or across the back of one and front of the other or making 2-8 small squares for small project paintings on each page.

After a few bad experiences with "Mixed Media" papers and watercolors I was hesitant to try this, but after a couple recommendations I gave it a shot and am very happy that I did. I bought the 5.5x8.5" hardbound journal. The binding is very nice. It appears to consist of four signatures of four sheets (8 pages) each and, to me anyway, the covers are a pleasant feeling nice dark brown, completely free of branding. So far the binding is staying snug. In use I've had no problems having it lie flat enough to work comfortably by opening to a new page, firmly pressing it flat and resting something like my small pencil case on the unused half. This is for the 5.5"x8.5' portrait format only so I don't know how easy or difficult it is to work with the binding of other sizes. It's certainly not as easy to work with as a spiral bound journal, which opens completely flat, but I very much prefer the appearance of this type of binding and have found that the pages don't move around like they do in a spiral bound journal. I'm even more pleased with the paper itself. It's 100% cotton (unlike their watercolor journals) and watercolors appear quite vivid when compared with some other good quality papers. It takes ink very well and even a small .2 sized Rotring technical pen writes smoothly. I've done some light wet on wet with no trouble but realize that doing anything requiring a good soaking might cause difficulty, but that's rarely what I'm using a watercolor journal for. For the combination of both watercolor and pen & ink I've used or am currently using the following *journals*: Canson Monval, Pentalic, Field Artist, Strathmore Visual Watercolor (series 400), Stillman & Birn Zeta and a Moleskine watercolor specific, and I think this Strathmore series 500 Mixed Media is my new favorite (of course changes in pricing might change that). For strictly pen & ink there are other journals/papers that I prefer but when adding watercolors to the mix this journal is hard to beat. Strathmore makes watercolor-specific journals very similar to this, but even if all I did was watercolor (no pen & ink) I'd still choose this Mixed Media journal. Their water-color specific journals use a heavier but lower quality Series 400, cellulose-based, watercolor paper, while this Mixed Media paper is 100% cotton.

I use this sketchbook (Hardbound Mixed Media Art Journal, 8.5" x 11", Toned Tan) mostly for gouache and watercolor studies, and am super impressed with the quality of the paper and binding. The paper is probably the heaviest I've used and holds gouache really well. I haven't had any problems with buckling or tearing, and only a minimum of pilling with a really wet wash, but that can be easily avoided. The paper is quite smooth and great for sketching. I've also used watercolor pencils with it, and again had great results. Will absolutely purchase again and maybe try other sizes as this one is a bit large for travel. 10/10 love this one!

Would buy again if price didn't fluctuate drastically.

I absolutely love this sketchbook! The pages are nice and thick, so bleed-throughs are impossible! Graphite pencils (even very soft ones such as 7B, 8B, etc.) are very easy to erase (unless you press super duper hard). I mainly use Arrtx Acrylic markers on this one, and the colors look absolutely beautiful on the toned paper! Also, I absolutely love the format and stickers stick well on the cover, which is very durable! I would definetely buy again!

For Professional Artists who love working with all sorts of mediums: I LOVE this book. I draw with Strathmore graphite pencils, mechanical pencils, watercolor pencils and colored pencils. The pages have great textures for all of them. There’s too different types of teeth, one for each side. They erase very well and don’t smear too much. When using watercolor, try not to overdo the water amount and it won’t get too crinkly. Plus, when one dries, you can try compacting the book on the floor with other books to help flatten the work out. I also recommend a perforating tool (which you can buy on amazon) if you want to have a hardbound where you can safely remove pages. I recommend the Excel perforation tools. Just be sure to bend the page back and forth gently before tearing. This isn’t a “lie-flat” book, but it’ll eventually lay flatter the more you use it. So for me, personally, it handles all my mediums and I can just have fun with it. It’s solid, beautifully made and everything you’d expect from this well-known company. I love the large size I got. I was like a kid in a candy store when I pulled it out of the box and opened its thick white pages.

I’ve been using Strathmore watercolor sketchbooks for years. Most of the time I use them en plein air. I carry one in my car. I carry one in a shoulder bag. I have one next to my desk. I use both cold press and hot press depending on what media I am using and I have yet to be disappointed with any book I use. The hot press is great for my pencil and my pen and ink works. Once the ink has dried I will occasionally add a watercolor wash. Many books are years old and the watercolors are yet to fade. I like them so much I have been giving them out to my grandkids and the children of my friends.

Great journal for acrylic paint. Pages barely curl, bit of warping when wet but flattens out when dry. Strong binding and cover.

I'm looking forward to using this book for drawings in black heightened with white. The mixed media paper is substantially heavier than that in Strathmores spiral bound Toned Tan and Toned Gray books. My initial tests suggest it works very nicely with ink (yielding lovely crisp lines), simple washes and acrylic pens, as well dry media such as pencils and crayons. Watersoluble colour pencils and crayons, and watersoluble graphite/carbon/charcoals also work nicely. Obviously not great for traditional watercolour because of the strong grey tone and the fact that the paper is very smooth, but it does hold up to wet media quite well. I haven't tested the paper with gouache but I imagine that would work well too. The paper has a kind of fleck to it – it's not absolutely smooth grey. The format and size is useful and the cover is Strathmore's usual hardbound with textured brown finish. This American brand of papers and sketchbooks can be relatively expensive in Australia, and not that many retailers stock them, but they can sometimes be found on Amazon AU at deeply discounted prices.

Excelente

Gostei da qualidade. O papel tem uma textura bastante uniforme. É 100% celulose mas de boa qualidade para aquarela. Serve bem. Por ser de uma marca assim achei meio caro, mas a capa tem uma qualidade superior a Hahnemule e Moleskine.