Sitting outside with my cat and a watercolor sketchbook to test out on a summer evening was a relaxing "assignment." When you make art with the plan simply to experiment and test supplies, it takes away any expectation of perfection. You're just playing.
I drew a series of circles (tracing the rim of my water cup) and rectangles (tracing my phone), and filled each in to tell the story of the scene before me.
I enjoyed this approach!
These sketches were made in a Strathmore 400 series Watercolor Sketchbook.
What I liked:
- The sturdy, sewn binding allows the pages to lie flat.
- The thickness of the paper
- Paper didn't buckle when wet.
- Pen and ink flowed smoothly over the paper.
- No bleed-through -- you can use both sides of the page.
- I was able to do some wet-in-wet, and use granulating pigments to good effect.
- It handled the pen and ink well.
What I didn't like:
- The paper seemed thirsty. I wonder if I could do a full-page painting and keep it wet long enough for good wet-in-wet effects. I'll have to try this out, too.
- Has textured paper on one side. It's not deeply textured, but I prefer a smoother surface to work on for travel journals.
Overall, my tests showed this journal is of good quality. I can recommend it for general watercolor sketch purposes. I think this journal would work fine as my travel journal.
I used this 400 series Strathmore Watercolor Journal as my travel journal on my Transatlantic Voyage in 2022. You can see that here:
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