New Budget Sketching Journal - Shore and Marsh A5 hardback

Yeah, I’ve been buying again. It’s another A5 sketching journal. Well, look, I had to reward myself for finishing the Seawhite journal a couple of weeks ago.

So what is it? It is an A5 sketching journal by Shore and Marsh. Shore and Marsh. Shore and Marsh are a brand exclusively sold by Hobbycraft. Not surprising since Hobbycraft own the brand. I guess that they maybe think that Shore and Marsh sounds a little more exclusive and Arty than Hobbycraft does. But is the name the classiest thing about it?

Well, it’s a cloth bound hard backed casebound journal. It is a true A5 size. There’s no elastic fastening, no document wallet and no integral bookmark so if those are essentials as far as you’re concerned then this is not a sketching journal for you. The paper is 140gsm and there are – get this – 92 sheets which is 184 sides of paper for drawing on. So, on paper (should you pardon the pun) this looks like incredible value. Hobbycraft currently sell this at £6 a pop, although I have seen it said that this is a sale price , and the usual price is £8. Well, my calculations are based on the £6 I paid. This means that each side of paper costs you about 30p. Which is incredibly cheap.

Well, all I can give you are my first impressions. As has become my custom, I’ve christened the first page with a drawing. 

It’s ink fineliner – 0.1mm and 0.5mm. Bear in mind that for the last couple of weeks I’ve been pretty much exclusively drawing in my Derwent Academy journal. In that journal the paper is pretty smooth. The paper in this Shore and Marsh journal is a real contrast. It has a rougher texture, and I did find quite a bit of resistance to the pen, especially when I was using the 0.1mm pen. I don’t mind a little bit of resistance, but this seemed excessive to me and it meant that I didn’t enjoy making the drawing as much as I’ve enjoyed using the Derwent, When I finished the drawing  turned over the page and could clearly see some dots where the fineliner had come through. This is disappointing considering that both Seawhite and Derwent use paper that is no heavier than this journal, but neither of the has this problem. I will when I get a chance test coloured fineliner and watercolours, but I’m not hopeful that this journal will be able to cope.

It is a shame, because I do most of my drawing in fineliner. I would recommend this above the Crawford and Black (The Works’ own brand) journal, but that really isn’t saying much. Even if you’re only planning to use dry media and cost is an issue for you, I would still recommend spending a little bit more and buying something a little more forgiving and a little more easy on the pen.