I Tested The Strathmore 400 Series Hardcover Watercolor Art Journal for 45 Days. This Happened

[@HelenAveryArtChannel]

Strathmore 400 Series Hardcover Art Journal (Jackson's) tidd.ly/4hnG3PM If you want to see a Hahnemuhle or Talens review, please give this a like and subscribe! Thanks for watching, I appreciate you!

[@elizabethwarick3042]

Agree with you about the Strathmore watercolour paper as opposed to Canson XL. I took a watercolour course during the summer and suffered through the recommended XL until the end when I decided to try out different papers. Strathmore is superior. I looked at that journal about 20 times in Michael's but I wanted a cotton journal to take away with me on a trip. I wanted a landscape format and ordered one online but then I went a bit crazy in an art supply store and ended up picking up a Hahnemule square. I love a square book. Ended up taking that one because it was lighter and more compact.

[@HelenAveryArtChannel]

This is all relatable and none more so than "I went a bit crazy in an art supply store"...hahaha! I too am one for careful consideration at Michaels: they don't seem to sell that many journals for watercolor other than this one, where I live, and perhaps elsewhere. Good thing it's such a nice one! I love my Hahnemuhle, I got the tiny portrait one...but my gosh did I overpay...also relatable, I bet! Thanks for the comment, Elizabeth!

[@lesleyegbert4807]

Our journeys with this sketchbook have been very similar. I've had mine for a long time and haven't used it very much. I did a few fairly dry pieces with Inktense or watercolor pencils, and just like you I thought, "Meh." Then, just the other day I had a watery mix of paint left over from another project, and I randomly applied it as a wash onto one of the pages of this journal. I was shocked at how even the wash was, considering I had to stretch the paint out to cover the entire page. Plus it dried completely flat! (Though I did tape it down before painting.) Looks like we're both viewing these sketchbooks with new eyes.

[@HelenAveryArtChannel]

Right? It's a shocker when you start to use it differently! If I were more intrepid it would be cool to see just how much it can take (though I feel that my experience layering on gouache, more watery watercolor and then more gouache was a pretty good test, lol!)

[@lesleyegbert4807]

Hard agree on the absolute hideousness of the Canson XL product covers. I mean...Canson is an art supply company, right? They probably have aesthetically minded people on staff, or could at least find some with whom to consult. So how on God's green earth did they come up with covers like *that*? Garish colors, awful graphics...yikes. I'm looking forward to using up all that paper and never buying it again.

[@HelenAveryArtChannel]

Yes exactly, it's so aesthetically challenged...for an art brand? Walmart in Canada offers a dupe / cheater brand spiral notepad in basically the same cover colour, and even THAT is less aggressively ugly than the Canson. It even has a hard cover. Not sure this link will work for you but here's what it looks like www.walmart.ca/en/ip/north-shore-watercolor-paper-7x10/6000205448792

[@OkieSketcher1949]

I’ve been using Strathmore 400 Series Hardcover Watercolor Journals for several years now, mostly the A-5 size, but a few of the larger sizes like the one you showed. I do pencil sketches first followed by pen and ink. Once the ink is dry I erase the graphite and go back in with watercolors. Every book I’ve used has been great! I’ve had no issues whatsoever. Even when the paper buckles a bit all I need to do is close the book and put a heavier book on top. Normally the next day the buckled page is flat again. Around here these books are relatively inexpensive (although the costs have been rising here of late). I have not had the cover issues you mentioned on any of my books so I am wondering if you just purchased one of those “made on Monday or Friday” types (the types that were not manufactured to the specifications). When I go afield I keep my journal in a zippered bag with an over the shoulder strap. I use the same bag’s compartments to hold my pens and pencils, watercolor palette, and perhaps a tin of watercolor pencils. There it is relatively protected. When I get to my sketching site I simply pull it out of the case, draw, paint, let it dry, and put it back into the bag.