Moleskine Watercolor Notebook

I think from time to time I will try to do a product review because I like to experiment with different products and from my experience found that there's a scarcity of comprehensive information readily accessible.  My inaugural review will cover the Moleskine watercolor notebook. The Tombows that I have been using were adequate in the Moleskine classic but they neither blended well as watercolors on the paper nor was the nib fine enough for my inking taste.  I was therefore impressed to try the watercolor notebook as most enthusiast recommend it for journaling and field studies. 

Moeskine Watercolor Notebook

The books come in a pocket sized 3.5" x 5.5" and a larger but still extremely portable 5" x 8" landscape. With 60 and 72 pages respectively, there's an ample amount of creamy, thick 200gsm, 25% cotton cold pressed paper and unlike some other thread bound sketchbooks, I like that the pages lay flat for use when open.  The cover has an elegant yet professional leather texture with an elastic closure similar to the classic series. 


I purchased my large notebook from the University Co-op art store for $19.99 but subsequently found them for much less from online vendors such as Dick Blick.  Tragically, a quick assessment of my art cache revealed a shortage of any decent watercolors paints so for this demonstration, I was relegated to using the Tombows ABT duel brush pens and some Fiber-Castell watercolor pencils. 


Voila! A quick study of barn owls.

Mix Media on Paper, 5"x8"

The owl on the left side was painted using the pencils while the pair on the right, a combination the brush pens and micron.  I primarily used a #5 Royal Aqualon round that I purchased in a variety 3pk on clearance for $0.01.  For that price, I couldn't resist trying them out and found them quite favorable at least for this application.  The watercolor pencils are a scholastic grade so it was hard to get the intensity and pigmentation to do proper gradation and blending.  I found this frustrating to the point of turning me off to watercolor pencils but I will definitely try a better grade and see how I fair.

The versatility of the brush pens became more apparent when using the proper paper.  I was able to easily blend using the colorless blending pen or a brush, control the intensity of color by dipping the tip in water and building up hues by glazing.  I liked them enough that I ordered a set of 10 beyond my usual shader colors.

The paper held up extremely well even with heavy washes with no bleeding whatsoever.  There was only minimal warping and doubtful any with lighter applications.  The slight tooth of the paper is also ideal for techniques with other media such as charcoal, graphite, and pastels that cannot be achieved with the classic smooth paper.  Needless to say, I am extremely pleased thus far with this notebook and suggest it as an companion to those who already love the classic Moleskine.

On a related note, I just ordered my first Kolinsky sable brushes and of course some artist quality watercolors.  I am beyond giddy.