All about watercolor sketchbooks | Etchr, Hahnemühle, Stillmann & Birn, Moleskine

Stickers of many of my paintings, some original artwork, and stone palettes can be found in my shop: www.etsy.com/s...
I really appreciate a sketchbook that uses 100% cotton! What's your favorite sketchbook?
Materials Used (these are affiliate links through dickblick.com. They cost no extra to you but your purchase supports the channel. Thank you!):
Hahnemühle Akademie Aquarell: www.dickblick....
Moleskine (please please try anything else): www.dickblick....
Paul Rubens Hot Press: amzn.to/3lLfNCv
Field Artist Journal: amzn.to/31iO6qV
Stillman & Birn Beta: www.dickblick....
Stillman & Birn Zeta: www.dickblick....
Stillman & Birn Alpha: www.dickblick....
Etchr Everyday Sketchbook Cold Press: amzn.to/3cf6Uhe
Etchr Everyday Sketchbook Hot Press: amzn.to/3rp5oxz
Etchr Perfect Sketchbook Cold Press: amzn.to/3lLZO6Q
The Etchr Limited Edition sketchbooks are sold at etchrlab.com around November each year.

[@caripete3]

This was so helpful!! Thank you!

[@dbdsar112358]

Yaaas. I like my Stillman & Birn... but I certainly don't love it. And I want to love it. But. Perhaps it's more love/hate. I do love the ones I've used but the pilling and the long dry time just drive me bonkers

[@SarahBaileyArts]

Absolutely, I've heard those complaints about S&B as well. I think we all just have to search a bit to find our perfect match.

[@dbdsar112358]

@@SarahBaileyArts Aye. There's also the "oh someone said there's pilling. I haven't really seen it. Let's test." 🧐 quickly degenerates and produces pilling 😂

[@SarahBaileyArts]

@@dbdsar112358 😂

[@robinfox4440]

This was helpful. I bought the Hahnemuhle watercolour sketchbook you reviewed at the start and I really hated it. I'm starting to warm up to its urban sketching capabilities but it is awful for following any watercolour tutorials. It doesn't respond well to wet-on-wet or layering at all - but for mixed media and for a cellulose paper, it's not bad, as you said. I also found that the pigment pooled a lot, very similar to the 2nd sketchbook you reviewed.

[@SarahBaileyArts]

I actually just bought the 100% cotton Hahnemuhle sketchbook recently and have just started using it. It's not as good as Etchr for watercolor but I like that it has less texture and the cover is more durable. I've been doing more pencil sketching lately and I feel like I can actually do both in this one reasonably well. I've been struggling for months to find something a bit smoother that still works for watercolor, that isn't just straight up hot pressed or mixed media. So far it's a winner, but I haven't used it for a detailed watercolor piece yet. Maybe I'll actually do a review on it, it's been a hot minute since I've posted anything here ;-)

[@INCWorks]

Yes!! You've cleared up so much of the confusion I've had over all of these books. Thank you! Really cool to see a flipthrough of your artwork, too.

[@SarahBaileyArts]

I'm happy to help! When I was just starting out I found the more accessible cellulose books incredibly frustrating to use so that's really the background behind me choosing to do a video like this. I'm glad it helped!

[@cheekyauschick]

Loved this, and im fussy... i hope your channel grows as your very informative....your art is wonderful..

[@SarahBaileyArts]

Thank you so much!

[@polgara28]

Very informative! Was that one portrait of Geena Davis from Thelma and Louise? 🦭

[@SarahBaileyArts]

HA, no, everyone thinks it's Geena Davis, including me! But no, the original photo was off of unsplash I think, and definitely was not her. It just kind of randomly turned out that way. 😅

[@hambot]

The Paul Rubens one I think is comparable to the baohong ones which are my favorite. I have a sketchbook that's bound by a local company but used the same paper as the Perfect one. It's weird that it's pure cotton, 300gsm and also cold pressed but the textures are completely different. I love both equally but i just like the baohong one for its price. Thank you for the straight to the point and detailed review Sarah! Very helpful and enjoyable to watch as always. (btw the dog bark edit gave me a fright 🤣)

[@SarahBaileyArts]

I'm glad you found it enjoyable Ham! I've been getting into making videos more and have been enjoying putting my art and ideas out there. Sorry my dog frightened you, I thought it was funny as she interrupted me doing the voiceover and I left it in, I thought it was cute 😂Really good to know about the Baohong paper, I've seen it around and of course I've seen you use it but haven't managed to try it yet. I will try to get some! I am incredibly curious about where they source the Etchr paper for the regular sketchbooks, I haven't been able to figure it out 🤔I always suspected it was Baohong actually but more than one person has said it's not. Thanks so much for the thoughtful comment, It's such a pleasure to have you here!

[@ilananl1004]

Yes, i totally agree on Paul Rubens and the Baohong sketchbooks. Winsor & Newton have a spiralbound a5 100% coton sketchbook as well, if you don't mind spirals.

[@nickelazoyellow7360]

I make my own sketchbooks with Artistico paper. A5 size costs about $10!

[@SarahBaileyArts]

That's a great idea! I'm not at all opposed to making my own, I just get picky about binding and aesthetics, it's my own downfall 😂

[@GeorgetteYoung]

This video was super helpful. I, myself, noticed that Stillman and Birn pills when applying multiple layers of watercolor.

[@audreyjohnson9712]

I learned alot thanks

[@Deedeedoodad]

10:37 mine is already falling apart unfortunately and I’d say I’m rather gentle with all my art supplies so I wasn’t happy to see a sheet rip off the second time I used it. The paper is great but the binding is terrible in my experience

[@SarahBaileyArts]

Yes unfortunately I've heard that as well

[@Mochicchino]

♥

[@orchdork775]

You should try the kilimanjaro WC sketchbooks from Cheap Joe's! 100% cotton and affordable and I've heard good things! Gonna try it myself next time I order stuff, but I'd love to see a review. Also, Arches now has a sketchbook, so that's something to look at if you didn't already know!

[@SarahBaileyArts]

Great idea! I've heard those are good too, but haven't tried one because I have a backlog of previously purchased sketchbooks I need to get through. We'll see, maybe I'll get one anyway 😆