Mixed Media Sketch Pad, 9 x 12 inches, 60 Sheets (98lb/160gsm) Heavyweight Drawing Papers, Top Spiral Bound Hardcover Sketchbook, for Wet and Dry Media, Drawing, Painting

I am a painter, but don’t like to draw. I’m too impatient. However, to keep in practice for art making, I need to draw, so- I make sure that I draw, every day. I’ve been working my way through “Cours de Dessin,” a collection of drawing lessons from the 1800s I found here on Amazon. I had heard about it in art school, but had forgotten about it until I came across it here. In lieu of attending a life drawing class, it’s proved to be great practice. I wanted a sketch pad that would hold up to a lot of erasing and to some wet media, as along with regular graphite I like to use water soluble graphite pencils, gouache, and India ink. After looking through a lot of sketchpad choices and reading reviews, I chose this one. By the way, if you love to draw with graphite pencils- check out Blackwing pencils. Amazon sells them. They are expensive, but they are totally worth it. I heard about them from a cartoonist friend who draws for six or seven hours a day and he uses nothing else. I apologize for sounding like a constant commercial, but I often approach drawing with a slight sense of dread, so having recently discovered items that actually make me look forward to drawing is still a bit hard for me to believe. In case someone else out there is going through this, I wanted to pass on my discoveries. Drawing, I have found, is invaluable to keep in touch with the parts of the brain that are engaged in art making. If I hadn’t found tools like this sketchpad, drawing would be nowhere near as pleasurable. The sketchpad has a surface that readily accepts the graphite (meaning it is not cue ball smooth) and the buttery Blackwing pencils just glide across it. The paper is a robust 98 pounds, so it definitely stands up to scrubby erasing and washes. The spiral binding gives me the option of choosing landscape or portrait orientation, and to not have to worry about the sketchbook flopping closed on me. You get a lot of pages for the price, the paper is acid free, the spiral binding is well made, and the cover is sturdy- like a hardcover library book. I will definitely be re-purchasing this sketchbook, and I recommend it. Happy drawing!

The paper is just the right texture, thickness and durability. Great for any sketches with pencil, pastels, or markers. I instantly fell in love with this ringed sketchbook - it's the perfect size to carry around as well. So happy with this purchase and can't wait to fill the pages with my art!

Good quality and great price for a pair of multi-use art paper. This will be for anything from sketching, chalk and charcoal to water colors. The paper thickness isn't full water color or oil thickness, but will do well for water colors not to bleed through when one is looking for a pad that will do various medias. The texture has just the right amount of roughness for art mediums to grab to the page. These are a gift along with other art implements and I have no hesitation that it will do the job.

Excellent functionality! Thick pages and good for all media.

Love the quality of this paper! It does not rip easily or bleed through!