The most expensive sketchbook I've yet bought

Over three decades ago I remember attending my oldest daughter’s first parents’ evening in school. One of the comments that was made was that the teacher thought that at this stage of her education she had a bit of a butterfly mind – that is, she hardly settled on something before looking for the next interesting thing. Now, let me stress that she has since gone on to earn a University degree and is holding down an important job, so it has in no way held her back. I mention it because I’m pretty sure that it would be me that she gets it from. Throughout my life I have flitted from one interest to the next – and it’s only drawing and quizzing that I seem to have stuck with for any great length of time.

Which brings me naturally enough to sketchbooks. I usually use two types of sketchbook. For really detailed sketches I use casebound A4. I particularly like Winsor and Newton, Daler-Rowney and Mont Marte, and I usually finish each of these before moving on to another. For an everyday sketching journal I like hardcover A5 (or 21x13cm) casebound journals, of the kind popularised by Moleskine (elastic fastening, book mark – document pocket at the back). It’s this sort that I’d like to talk about.

My first travel journal was a cheap and cheerful own brand with a soft vinyl cover from defunct UK retailer Wilkinsons, and to be fair I did finish this. After that though I’ve used several different brands and not used up a whole book before switching to another. I have an unfinished Moleskine, an unfinished Seawhite of Brighton, an unfinished Royal Talens and an unfinished Amazon Basics. The stupid thing is, it’s not because I don’t like any of them. It’s just, I’ll get a ‘butterfly’ thought in my head that I’d like to buy myself a new sketchbook to try, so I do. Once I’ve bought it then I feel I ought to give it a decent trial, so I use it until I buy another one. The last but one sketching journal I bought was a Canson graduate mixed media journal, and for once I managed to stick to a resolution not to buy another until I’d used all of the pages.

I have now done so. I did enjoy using the Canson journal which coped pretty well with several different media. You can read more about it by following this link -

Travel Sketchbook

So, you’ll probably have worked out that this means I kept my resolution and was therefore free to buy a new sketching journal. Up to now I’ve been driven by the desire to find value for money. I’ve never actually bought a Moleskine, but aways been given them as presents. Now, don’t get me wrong, I think that the Moleskine journal is a perfectly decent product and I’ve enjoyed using them. But I’ve also enjoyed using the much cheaper Royal Talens Art Creations equivalent. The very competitively priced A5 Seawhite of Brighton sketching journal seems even better than the Moleskine and I’ve already mentioned the Canson Graduate mixed media journal. But the Moleskine is the most expensive journal I’ve used to this point. So last weekend it occurred to me – what if I went for something even more expensive than Moleskine? Would it necessarily mean I’d get something better? I did a bit of research and settled on a Leuchtturm 1917 A5 Sketchbook. It’s the same size as the Seawhite journal, slightly bigger than the 21x13 format used by Moleskine et al.

On today’s prices this sketchbook is about 10 percent more expensive than the equivalent Moleskine and about forty five percent more expensive than the Seawhite. That’s quite a lot. On first glance it has all the classic features of a travel sketching journal – elastic fastening, book marker and document pocket on the back cover. In fact the only obvious extra is that it has two bookmarks rather than just the one. You do get a lot of pages for your money – 112. This compares with the 72 in the Canson (which is 200gsm). The paper is smoother than in the Seawhite, although it has a little more tooth than the Moleskine.

As always, though, it comes down to how well the paper takes the medium you’re using. The cover claims that it is perfect for pencils, felt pens, markers, charcoal, pastels and chalk. Dry media. The implication being – if you want to use watercolour, on your own head be it. Fair enough. As you know, I’m mainly a fineliner guy.

I’ve only made one sketch so far in the book, so all I can give is a first impression. I am wary that what I say may simply be confirmation bias – you’ve spent all this money on this sketchbook, so you have to justify it somehow. But I made this sketch of Port Talbot’s Round Chapel in the Leuchtturm yesterday, and I really enjoyed the feel of the fineliner on the paper.

I like the way that the paper has taken the ink. This was made with a very cheap 0.05mm fineliner (the whole pack only cost £5).It looks better than similar sketches made in the jack of all trades Canson,and the Royal Talens and maybe even the Seawhite as well. The sketch below was made a day earlier with exactly the same fineliner in the Royal Talens.

Even allowing for the off white colour of the paper in the Royal Talens, you can see that the lines the pen produces here are a little cruder, and less subtle.

Sometimes you enjoy making a sketch, but aren’t fussed on the results. Sometimes you don’t enjoy using the sketchbook so much but you get good results with it. In this case, on this first sketch the Leuchtturm has given me both the enjoyment and the result. Is it worth the money, though? Well, I’ll need to use it for a bit more and see how it stands up to life in the rucksack before I can answer that one.

Urban Sketching? How do you get into that?

I’m so lucky. Since retiring from teaching in August I’ve begun a new career working in admin for the NHS. My colleagues are great people, so much so that I think of them as my friends now. They seem really interested in my interests, like quizzing and art. Now, I returned to work yesterday following my broken shoulder. When asked what I had been doing with myself, I mentioned about the watercolour challenge and urban sketching.- What’s that? – they asked. I explained and then they said – well, how do you get into it?

I know that I’ve written about this before, but it’s been a while, and so here’s the advice I can give.

Urban sketchers seek to sketch the world around us, one drawing at a time. There’s really not a lot of rules. You can do it by yourself or as part of a group. You can use any medium you like. It’s nice to post your work online, but there’s no law that says you have to. You just have to be there, and sketch whatever you’re sketching on the spot and not from a photograph.

YOU DON’T HAVE TO HAVE ANY SKILL! Seriously, you are making your urban sketches for the sheer pleasure of doing so. If you don’t find that you enjoy doing it, then maybe urban sketching is not for you. But try it first. If you do enjoy it, then that’s all the justification that you need.

How can I start?

If you’re not certain about urban sketching, then maybe start by stealth. Maybe try to sketch an object in your house, or if you have one, your garden.

What do I need?

Well, what have you got? You’re better off using materials you have on hand at first, rather than tooling up with a ton of equipment you may only use once. A piece of plain paper, a biro or a pencil will do fine. Away you go. There’s no time limit. Just commit to doing it as well as you can for now. Enjoy letting go of your everyday concerns just while you’re making your sketch. Leave it for a while and then come back and do another one. There’s a lot to be said for making at least one sketch everyday at this early stage. For now, it’s not about results at all, it’s about the process and the enjoyment you get from it.

So, when you’ve made up your mind that you enjoy this kind of drawing, then you can think about what you want to do about it. Maybe the thought of sketching in the open air where you could be seen by members of the general public fills you with absolute dread and in that case you never have to take that step. Keep sketching at home. But if you’re at least willing to give it a go, then there should be nothing stopping you. If you try it and hate it, well at least you had the guts to try and you never have to do it again. But a lot of people find that drawing in public does bring them another level of enjoyment. When you can enjoy sketching in public, then congrats, you’re an urban sketcher!

So I’m an urban sketcher. Does that mean I have to buy a lot of expensive stuff?

No. You don’t have to do anything, other than keep going out and making sketches. But during your first months and years as an urban sketcher it does make sense to try out different materials and media. This will help you learn what brings you your best results and what media you most enjoy working in. This is a good reason to join a local urban sketchers group. In my experience these groups provide a friendly and supportive environment, and you’ll learn a lot from seeing the way that other sketchers approach the same subject.

So, you’ll need something to make sketches with and something to make sketches on. I like sketching in fineliner. If I’m only going to be working in fineliner then I’m perfectly happy to use a cheap packet. On the other hand, if I might want to apply some colour, then I’ll use Uniball fineliners that are waterproof. I carry a small pencil case with half a dozen fineliners most of the time. The other essential for me is a (roughly) A5 sized hard backed sketching journal. Hard backed, in order to withstand the wear and tear of living in my rucksack 99 percent of the time. You may have heard of Moleskine-style sketching journals like this, and looked into the cost. And needed a strong drink to get over the shock. Don’t get me wrong, I’ve used Moleskine in the past on sketching expeditions and I’ve enjoyed it too. They’re a very decent product. But there are perfectly acceptable cheaper alternatives, some of which are in my opinion better than a Moleskine. If you look across at my links, I go into details about these on My Materials page.

I often carry a small pocket sized watercolour set. I’m no great shakes with a brush but it’s nice to have them on hand when the mood takes me.

I’ve made urban sketches in England, Wales, Scotland, Ireland, France, Spain, Belgium, Czechia, Germany, Hungary, Lithuania, Netherlands, Sweden, Malta, Austria, Iceland, Poland, Latvia, Denmark, Portugal, Romania, USA and Norway and thoroughly enjoyed the process. And that’s what it’s all about.