Whether you are an experienced artist or novice, purchasing the best artist sketchbook is beneficial. Sketchbooks are blank pages for sketching or doing some drawing and painting. They are a great companion for artists who love practicing art.
Sketchbooks allow artists to give out their thoughts in writing, drawing, and painting. So, one will not have to share ideas with the world so long as a sketchbook is in place. Besides, you’ll meet a variety of sketchbooks around the market, bringing out a lot of confusion when picking one.
So, how do you choose the most suitable sketchbook? Go through this informative article to land on a perfect sketchbook. We got the best options by confirming the quality, size, binding, and number of pages. Also, the buying guide will give you the considerations to ease the buying process for the right pick.
Our Favorite Best Artist Sketchbook
Top 7 Best Artist Sketchbook: Our Top Picks
1. Artist’s Sketchbook Hardcover- 200GSM
Do you want to increase your productivity and creativity as an artist? It is good you consider purchasing the best artist sketchbook. Artist’s Sketchbook Hardcover- 200GSM is an outstanding sketchbook and a quality one that can help you craft your thoughts into drawings.
Moreover, its design is also unmatched as you will have comfort when placing it on your desk. Again, it’s also light and robust, so moving with it to any place should never worry. Additionally, you can use it with your pencils, markers, acrylic, charcoal, oil paint, and watercolor. The only disadvantage is that you can’t tear paper cleanly as they are not perforated.
Key Features
- Capabilities: Artist’s Sketchbook Hardcover- 200GSM is a book you can use to take your sketching creativity to another level. It is easy to bring out your inner though through sketching, drawing, and painting. This 200gsm paper is ideal for colored pencil, charcoal, watercolors tools, and oil pastels.
- Quality artist tool: Increase your art creativity by using this outstanding sketchbook. Besides, it’s a quality paper, large enough for any kind of sketch. The thickness is suitable to prevent ink from leaking through the next page.
- Binding: The wire bidding of this sketchbook makes it flexible when perusing for the next page. It also brings out flexibility when drawing landscapes or portraits. It is fun to create memories, so think of this paper.
- Strong cover: You want to keep your artwork safe? Then you can consider this artist’s sketchbook. Indeed, the cover is heavy to decrease the chances of wear and tear.
Pros
- It’s a quality sketchbook
- No bleed of ink through paper
- Robust and flexible wire biding
- Game changer for drawing portraits and landscape
Cons
- You can’t use watercolor paint
- The pages are not perforated
2. Castle Art Supplies Artists Sketchbook
If you have a vision as an artist, you must invest in a quality sketchbook. No one can help you increase your art creativity if you are unwilling to use your money and buy the required art material. The Castle Art Supplies Artists Sketchbook has impressive features to make your sketching easy.
It’s a 200 pages book with a laminated cover to ensure your content is fully protected. Again, the papers are smooth bleed-proof, so no worries when using your ink. The bidding is suitable for a quick turnover. Unfortunately, it doesn’t work well with watercolor.
Key Features
- Versatility: The castle art is a premium sketchbook that is erasable. Also, it is smudge-resistant while giving artists the joy of using 200 beautiful sketching pages to craft art ideas. Trusted by thousands of artists, this sketchbook is perfect for pencil, graphite, charcoal, and other dry media.
- Quality: With the sketchbook, you don’t need a drawing board. The reason is it’s solid and hard-backed to give you pleasure when drawing or sketching. You can use your sketchbook anywhere at any time. Again, it’s smudge-resistant erasable, and the pages are perforated to easy removal of pages. The pages are acid-free, non-fade, and have a good texture for easy drawing.
- Binding: Built for artistic work, this sketchbook with wiro bidding gives you an easy time to turn pages when capturing images. More, the pages are perforated for fast removal without damages in case you want to display some of your images.
- Perfect purchase: The experience is exciting as you’ll have time to sketch your art ideas for reference later. This is the best way you can have a record of your journey as an artist. Another thing, if you are not satisfied with the sketchbook, you can get a refund.
Pros
- Smudge-free
- It doesn’t fade so easily
- 200 blank pages
- Highly versatile
- Wiro bidding
Cons
- It’s not very smooth
3. Bachmore Sketchpad 9 x 12” Inch
Meet Bachmore, a sketchpad you can consider if you want to practice drawing. Still, it’s a book you can keep your drafts or remove some pages for display. Whether a professional artist or beginner, it is one of the best sketching pads you use during art classes, drawing at home before going for canvas.
Also, it can be a perfect gift for people who love painting. Additionally, its features and design are something you’ll love about this sketchpad. This 100 pages sketchpad is slick-smooth to make your sketching and drawing easy. But, sometimes, you may experience bleeding when using markers or ink.
Key Features
- Impressive characteristics: The good thing about these papers is that they are acid-free, thick, durable, and smooth enough to enhance your sketching capabilities. You can use this paper with oily colored pencils, sketching sticks, charcoal, and other media pencils.
- Appealing features: Bachmore sketchpad got a wonderful top spiral making it the right book for left-handed people. Not only does it serve right-handed people, but it’s smooth for drawing. You can tear pages from this sketchpad with punctures. Still, you can buy it for your kids.
- Quality sketchbook: The quality is unquestionable because of the handmade hardcovers. This is what protects your artwork all through.
- Money-back: Never feature when going for this sketch as you can get a refund of your money if you are satisfied with the product. Still, you can request a replacement.
Pros
- Handmade hardcovers
- Acid-free paper
- It’s beautiful and smooth
- Perfect bidding
- Micro-perforated for sheet removal
Cons
- Smudges after erasing any drawing
4. Leda Art Supply 160 Pages Sketchbook for Artists
Made for creative artists, Leda is an excellent sketchbook to consider. This 120 grams book is what every professional artist or novice should have at hand. Besides, it’s a book one can use to sketch or do some drawings, not forgetting it’s a way of watching your art journey.
Additionally, it’s smooth, so you can consider charcoal or graphite when drawing. Due to its design, you will love to walk around with this sketchbook. Also, it comes with enough pages (160) for daily use. Unfortunately, this paper is not the best when using markers, as you must do it with a lot of care. Mind you, it’s not ideal for heavy wet media.
Key Features
- Durable cover material: The texture of this sketchbook cover is suitable for any person. Again, it is made of leather, and it can bend to lay flat. Remember, it is water-resistant. This is the best sketchbook you can consider for fieldwork.
- Large paper: Leda Art Supply is a 7×10- inch sketchbook that allows you to sketch on a large surface. Besides, it’s a journal for art that can allow you to trace your art journey.
- Quality: We can’t argue about the high quality of this sketchbook. The 160 premium pages are smooth with cream accents to make your sketching and drawing enjoyable. Moreover, it’s acid-free, so that you can use it in any environment for decades. Also, the elastic bands keep the pages intact. The back pocket is there for photo and pencil storage.
- Binding: Check out the stitched thread- perfect as the book can lay flat for comfortable sketching. This makes this sketchbook more durable.
Pros
- Best for art creativity
- Smooth paper
- Expandable back pocket to store pens and photos
- Leather cover
- Can lay flat
Cons
- It can work for heavy wet media
- You may experience ink bleed
5. 9” X 12” Sketch Book- Fuxi Sketchpad
Be happy with your drawing by purchasing a durable sketchbook. You can look at the Fuxi sketch pad designed in a more portable style with a thickness of 68lb/100gsm. Moreover, its lightweight enables easy transportation as you can have it in your backpack.
Whether you are trying art for the first time or you are an artist, the experience is overwhelming with this sketching book. The texture is rough to sketch with a sketching stick, pen, charcoal, and pencils. Unfortunately, you can’t trust this paper with markers and a watercolor pen. Fuxi sketchpad got a thick cover that can be used as a drawing board.
Key Features
- Spiral-bound: You’ll note the spiral bound at the top of the sketchpad- it aids you when flipping the pages to convenience your drawing. Additionally, it keeps the pages in good shape to better your drawing.
- Durable product: The sketchbook is extremely strong with much toughness giving you hopes of durability. Due to its rigid material, you can erase any drawing without damaging the paper. Also, it is can be best for all kinds of dry media, not forgetting it can accommodate multiple drawings. Further,
- Portable: The sketching book is compact in design with a protective cover to enhance mobility. Again, this 100 sheet sketchbook is 9 x 6 inches in size so that you can stash it in any backpack. So, you will ever be ready to sketch or draw in any place.
- Acid-free: Fuxi Sketchpad is made from acid-free, recyclable drawing/painting paper that reduces the possibility of drawing smudges. This also reduces imperfections while protecting your art from losing its original color. Your art will ever be vibrant and colorful to last for several years.
Pros
- Acid-free paper
- It doesn’t fade so easily
- The presence of spiral bound
- Portable
Cons
- You can’t use a watercolor pen and markers
6. Sketch Book Pack 9 x 12 inches Pad
This package contains two grade 9 x 12 sketchbooks. The two spiral-bound sketchbooks got 100 sheets each which are acid-free. More to this, the thickness is at 65lb/100gsm with an appealing tooth that can’t allow ink bleeding through the paper when drawing.
With these pages, you can use pens, markers, charcoal, pencil, and dry media. Again, the edges are perforated to easy detaching of pages when you so wish. The sturdy backing is to lay the pages flat when sketching. We don’t recommend this sketchbook if you love painting.
Key Feature
- Durable product: Apart from being versatile, it’s a durable sketchbook that can stand against wear and tear. The cardboard cover is sturdy enough to enable you to draw while seated. You can have it in your backpack to sketch while on the go.
- Thick and acid-free: You can consider this premium 65lb/100gsm acid-free paper known for the neutral PH. Further, it is fade-resistant, keeping your work beautiful all through. Moreover, the 100 sheets of paper got a decent tooth decreasing smudging. The papers are thought enough that assures you that ink won’t bleed through.
- Spiral-bound: You will never worry about your art with this sketchbook due to spiral bound. The spiral-bound makes things simple as the pages can flip and lay flat when sketching. Still, you can willingly remove pages as they are all perforated. You will be sure that you won’t mess with paper shreds. Taste this valued sketchbook.
- Versatile: The multi-use sketchbook is best for colored pencils, pencils, pens, charcoal, pastels, markers and other dry media.
Pros
- Thick enough to reduce the chances of ink bleed
- It’s durable
- Sturdy cardboard
- Acid-free paper
- Spiral-bound
Cons
- Pricy
7. SuFly Sketchbook, 5.5 X 8.5 inches
You can only write your inspiration and draw your ideas and thoughts by purchasing a good sketchbook. These inspirations and drawings can turn into excellent artwork. If you are an artist or love drawing, owning a strong sketching book is beneficial.
SuFly is a sketchbook you can purchase if you want a smooth drawing experience. It’s a two-pack with 100 pages each. However, it’s a quality book with a hardcover to protect your content. The only downside is that the cardboard is not that stiff.
Key Features
- Quality paper: The 200 sheets are made from premium materials. Undoubtedly, it’s a quality, acid-free paper with a neutral PH. The thickness is at 68lb/100gsm makes it one of the durable papers that can withstand various erasures while maintaining its texture (rough). Again, no kind of yellowing ensures you a long-lasting art.
- Perfect binding: Be keen on the ring binding design, making the papers sturdy for easy flipping for pages. Moreover, the spiral binding ensures the papers can lay flat or rotate at 360 degrees to enhance flexibility when sketching.
- Versatile: You can use the sketchbook widely. You can write, draw or paint artwork using charcoal, graphite, pencil, crayons (colored ones). Indeed, it’s a great choice if you love art or you are eager to learn.
- Designed for all skill levels: Fuxi Sketchpad is one of the best gifts you can award your kids, teens, beginners, professionals, and even adults. Sure, they can explore their skills as they develop new drawing skills. Lastly, if you buy this product and find it’s not fit for you, you can immediately return it for a refund or replacement.
Pros
- You can use it to write, draw or paint art
- Compact design for portability
- Sturdy binding ring
- It’s a quality paper
- Acid-free
Cons
- The cardboard is not stiff enough
Best Artist Sketchbook- The Ultimate Buying Guide
When shopping for the best artist sketchbook, you need to take your time. With the many options in the market, it can be hectic to pick the right one. It is never a one-time thing as you must do a lot of research to determine what fits you. Having the best options in mind is not enough to make a good choice. Together with the below considerations, we assure you of a suitable sketchbook to enhance your artwork.
Size of the Sketchbook
If you are an artist, you know the scale you usually sketch. Some artists can use the entire page, while others can’t even sketch a quarter of a page. Take note of this to ensure you buy a sketchbook that fits you. If you love drawing big, it is advisable to use a sketchbook that can handle big art. But for small drawings, small sizes can work perfectly.
Cover of the Sketchbook
People got different preferences when it comes to the sketchbook’s cover. As you shop, you meet different types of covers. Some are bounded with leather, others paperback, and others come in hardcovers. Each cover got its pros and cons, which you must be aware of. But, you can go for leather-bound if you want the sketchbook to last for many years.
Weight
Another consideration is the weight of the sketchbook. If you want to be sketching all the time, you can go for a sketchbook with more pages. But remember it will be a bit heavy. If you need a sketchbook for quick sketches, you can consider a light one instead of burdening yourself with a heavy-duty sketchbook with many pages. The weight of a sketchbook should be the first thing to consider if you are ever on the move.
The Bidding
When buying a sketchbook, all you think about is the longevity of the content. A solid and reliable is all you need, which is why you must be keen on the bidding. It must be strong enough to hold the pages tightly to avoid falling. But if you can’t get such binding, you can go one with a leather cover.
How to Make a Sketchbook Cover?
You need to make a sketchbook cover yourself; here is how you can make one, but you must have some necessities.
Requirements
- A sewing machine, pins
- Fabric (two 21 x 12-inch pieces and the other two of 21 x 8 inches for the pocket
- A different fabric for ties
- Iron together with an iron board
- A threat that matches with your fabric
Let’s get to the process.
Take your fabric and iron both sides. Ensure the interfacing is unto the wrong and should be adhered to the fabric. Have the pocket fabric at hand and put the two wrong sides together. Now it’s time to sew the shorter two sides.
Then, take your pocket, turn it out, and iron around the edges. Hold the pocket at the top and fold the two sides and iron. Check the folded sides are open, and you need to sew them. It’s time to take the pocket and position it in the middle of the inside piece.
Next, pick your sketchbook and pens and place them inside to confirm where you need to divide. Also, you need to check any other place that needs sewing. Make sure the top and bottom are sewed, not forgetting the sides. Take the ties and fold half long ways making sure the wrong side is facing in.
Sew the tie downwards and turn it to come to the other side. Sew your tie while ensuring the seam is at the middle. Just ¼ “fold one end of the tie and iron and topstitch the edges. Straight to the pocket, take your tie, and pin it. Repeat the same with the other side of the pocket.
Check out the inside and outside of the fabric and sew the open top edges after folding ½”.Sew around and turn the case for sewing. Now sew it when it is close. You have your sketchbook cover!
How to Make a Sketchbook?
It is not that hard to come up with your sketch. You need to have A4-sized sheets of paper, two pieces of cardboard, thicker thread, a pencil, a folding board, and scissors. Take 12 to 18 sheets of paper but A4 size and fold them. You can divide the papers into files which are known as signatures. Ensure you have folded each signature. At the folding end, make four lines across the paper and make sure you touch each sheet of paper.
Take one paper and open it to make holes at the marking for binding. After that, you can take like five papers and make the holes until you are done with every sheet of paper. After that, take your string and needle and sew the signatures together through the binding holes. You can sew one signature at a time while attaching two signatures at a go.
You now need front and back covers for your art book. Have your cardboard and take measurements for you to have the required size. Cut your sketchbook spine that should be the same height as your covers. Take your cardboard and trace your cover paper, and cut. Then, glue the cover paper and spines and stick to your sketchbook signatures. There you have a sketchbook!
How To Avoid Roadblocks To Your Creativity
Whether you’re a designer or a writer, a painter or a photographer, you can’t escape the occasional dry spell of creativity. Think of it as a more generalized form of writer’s block: a block in creativity that can make you lose any incentive to do innovative and thought provoking work. These creative roadblocks often pop up in front of you without warning, threatening to foil your project before you can finish it. These roadblocks can be annoying at best, a mere annoyance as you go about your work. But when deadlines are looming and you’re grasping for ways to execute your designs, these roadblocks can spell disaster.
Luckily there’s a lot you can do to prevent these roadblocks from derailing your creative work; it’s just a matter of being proactive about it. Here are a few tips I’ve learned along the way that might help you stay creative when times are tough.
Use the web sparingly
The novelist Jonathan Franzen (of Freedom fame) famously stated that anyone writing fiction while using an internet connection must not be writing very well. His point was that the web can be a crutch for many people with short attention spans who might be more prone to reading up on the latest blog update rather than putting hard thought into their creative work. Doing away with the web entirely seems like too harsh a point for me, which is why I advise using the web sparingly. Most designers use the web for inspiration (if not completely for work purposes), but there’s a fine balance between use and abuse.
Change your surroundings when you get restless
Restlessness is a formidable enemy to creative professionals. If you feel restless while you’re working on a project, you probably won’t get into the proper right-brained state of mind because you’re too busy trying to get comfortable. The solution is simple: if you find yourself plagued by endless restlessness, do something about it. If you’re at home, move your computer and working materials to another part of the house (or apartment). It might be harder to move your workspace in your office, though many creative firms will allow you to do so. You might have to wait until after work to change your environment, but the wait could mean a difference in your creative process.
Don’t fret over what’s practical
To someone outside the creative industry, it might sound counter-intuitive to dissuade someone from being practical. But that’s exactly the thing that can hold back a designer from their process. Worrying about logistics outside of your control—things like deadlines, budgets, and client meetings, for example—can take a huge toll on someone whose job is to produce content that looks and feels organic and artistic. You need to free yourself from unnecessary stressors in order to do your best work. Let managers and administrators worry about the numbers; your job is to focus your imagination.
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Don’t force inspiration
Sometimes you’re just not feeling it: a creative roadblock has set itself up in front of you, and you feel completely unenthused about the task at hand. Some people will tell you that the best course of action is to try another creative task that might inspire you, but I disagree. I think the best inspirational material comes to creatives when they least expect it, not during exercises meant to “jump-start” the creative process. So if you’re feeling like you have nothing interesting to say about a topic, or if a subject fails to move you, just give it time. Keep it on your mind while you work on other projects, and something will come to you out of the blue. The important thing is that you keep your creativity flowing no matter what.
FAQ
What Is the Best Sketchbook for an Artist?
Leda Art Supply 160 Pages Sketchbook is the best choice for Artists. The reason is it’s a premium book with soft and smooth 160 pages. Again, the cover is made from leather materials, making it an ideal book that can keep your content safe for a long. It is easy to use as the stitched thread makes it lay flat.
What Sketchbooks Are Suitable for Painting?
Bachmore Sketchpad 9 x 12” Inch is a kind when it comes to painting. Though it’s a sketching book, it can be a perfect gift for people who love painting. Again, this 100 pages sketchpad is slick-smooth to make drawing and painting easy. You can use this paper with oily colored pencils, sketching sticks, charcoal, and other media pencils.
What Sketchbook Is Best for Beginners?
Sketch Book Pack 9 x 12 inches Pad is the best sketchbook a beginner can consider. The thing is, it’s the best sketchbook for pens, markers, charcoal, pencil, and dry media. No kind of ink bleeding, and the backing is sturdy.
How Do I Choose a Sketchbook?
When shopping for a sketchbook, there are several factors that you need to consider. Apart from checking on your financial status, you should the cover, weight, size, bindings, and page count of your preferred sketchbook. Knowing all this will help make a good choice.
What Sketchbook Has the Most Pages?
“My 800-page sketchbook” is the most oversized sketchbook you can consider as an artist. You can do your drawing, sketching, and painting without the worries of exhausting the papers.
Conclusion
With the best artist sketchbook, you can gain courage with your artwork. It creates a platform for any artist to reveal their inner thought regarding art. Luckily, we have outlined the best options to make your sketching easy. For you to pick the most suitable one, you need to go through the buying guide to help you choose a sizable sketchbook that can fulfill your needs.