Comments about Pentalic Nature Sketch Book:

I was in search of a small, quality sketchbook to give as a gift to a boy scout for nature sketching. Recalling the frustration of cheap art supplies as a student, I wanted to give a quality gift that would encourage versus discourage him. This one turned out to be perfect. It's sure not super expensive and the small book was the right size for his kit bag. The paper is ideal for multi media experiments. Now I want my own and plan to order more to give and keep on hand. I'd like to see a hard cover version that's still in a decent price range. So many sketchbook brands available but either the paper curls, pills, plain won't do the job, or the cover is not as sturdy as i'd desire. Until this comes in hardcover I think this is about as good as can be found for portability with versatility.

Comments about Pentalic Nature Sketch Book:

I really love these books. Best of all, I have never had the pages fall out even with heavily embellished pages and wet media. My books get fat so this is a great feature.

I agree with others that the paper is among the best for the price. At one point Stonehenge made a much better limited edition wire bound book but at 5 times the price for less pages!

Not everyone likes the wire binding for artist journaling since two page spreads get broken up too much, but this doesn't bother me.

I have used acrylics, gesso, water colors, water color pencils and crayons, spray inks, ink pads. Note that I do not use heavy wet applications such as super saturated water color washes. The only category that does not work are Copic, Sharpie and similar markers which bleed right through.

Finally, I do a great deal of collage and I really appreciate that these pages are heavy enough that even black papers do not show through on the reverse side.

Comments about Pentalic Nature Sketch Book:

These "sketchbooks" are really just nice paper bundled up into sketchbook format....the paper has a great texture for pen+ink (not too textured to accept little detail) and works fantastic with watercolors...I really like the texture and weight of the paper and I actually use the sketchbook for some simple watercolor paintings by just cutting off the spiral edging and stretching, etc..It's much better than canson's 140lb watercolor paper

Comments about Pentalic Nature Sketch Book:

I use the 5 X 7 size as a portable sketchbook for watercolor and mixed media. This has become my favorite sketch book for watermedia because of the unique paper. This is 130 LB paper, very close in weight to the 140 LB watercolor I use for larger paintings. Although isn't identical to any of the watercolor sheets I have used, it has all the properties that you need for watermedia. It doesn't buckle, the surface has just enough tooth to take a good amount of color, but isn't so textured that the surface becomes a distraction. As other rviewers mentioned, you can re-work your page, adding or lifting color withut ruining the first layer. The paper also works well for oil pastel,ink,crayon and all the regular dry media such as pencils and charcoal.

Although I use this for sketches and testing color combinations, some of the pages turn out so well they can stand alone as actual paintings.

PROS: versatile paper for many media, heavy weight paper is durable, spiral bound pages turn easily and don't fall out of the books, the price is reasonable
CONS: None. This is the best watercolor book I have found so far. Try it!

Comments about Pentalic Nature Sketch Book:

I keep this sketchbook with me at all times because it's small and easy to carry. I use it for a sketchbook journal using graphite, charcoal, pastels, colored pencils and watercolors (I'm sure acrylics would also work quite nicely). It is easy to work with on planes, trains, in waiting rooms - ANYWHERE because it's so easy to hold! I cannot think of one thing that is a negative with this product.

Comments about Pentalic Nature Sketch Book:

The 6 x 12 size is my favorite sketchbook for pen & ink with watercolor plein air sketching. Watercolors don't mingle as freely as on actual watercolor paper but the paper is beefy and thus can handle generous washes and glazes quite nicely. The paper also has a lovely texture and warmth that makes it pleasing to look at and work with.

I agree that the cover is a little lightweight. I usually take a new sketchbook apart to reinforce the cover edge that lies inside the spiral binding with a narrow strip of fiber tape. This prevents the cover holes from pulling loose due to handling wear and tear. Before putting the sketchbook back together, I reinforce the front cover by gluing heavier same-size paper to it, then paint with acrylics in some interesting way. This results in a more substantial cover that is less prone to damage from handling, water, etc.

But even if you don't go to all that trouble, this is an awesome product that I love.

Comments about Pentalic Nature Sketch Book:

I am ordering my fourth Pentalic Nature Sketch book today. I have filled two and my current one has just a few pages left. That's almost 150 pen and watercolor sketches using this product. The best thing about these sketchbooks is the 130 lb. 25% rag paper. I work in my sketchbook mostly in watercolor and pen, sometimes in marker, and occasionally in water soluble graphite pencils or watercolor pencils, and the paper accepts all of these wet media beautifully. More than just light washes are possible, an entire small painting can be developed with multiple layers of watercolor. The pages rarely buckle and color can even be lifted if necessary. A really excellent product for wet media sketching!I wish the front cover were made of something a little heavier and that the plastic spiral binding didn't come out from the first few holes ( it can be threaded through again if it comes out, nothing serious, just an inconvenience ) but other than that I LOVE this sketchbook!

Comments about Pentalic Nature Sketch Book:

I'm a private art teacher and this pad is wonderful to take with me to my lessons as I can do watercolor, charcoal, pen work and acrylic lessons in the book.

Watercolor travels a bit odd on the paper so play with it a bit before you do any real work on it.

I've asked my students to buy this pad also.

Comments about Pentalic Nature Sketch Book:

Very nice product at a very nice price!

Comments about Pentalic Nature Sketch Book:

the texture, absorbency and weight of this sketchbook's paper make it excellent for watercolor sketching. i prefer this over both the old and new versions of the aquabee "super deluxe" sketchbook, as well as the moleskine watercolor books, the canson cloth-covered watercolor sketchbook and the canson all-media field sketchbook.

this paper is thick, creamy white and hasn't buckled yet. it has a pleasing texture, lightly cold-press. it's of more than good enough quality to mat up for bin pieces. i use it with a waterbrush, and always have one size or another of this sketchbook in my bag.

the assortment of sizes is a good one. i think the 6x12 size is particularly neat. i use it vertically, like a reporter's notebook, for bird and plant studies. the 5x7 size is nicely hand-friendly and inconspicuous.

i like the thick coil binding, as well. the only room for improvement i can see is that these sketchbooks need a thicker, more wear-resistant cover. if they had a cover like the aquabee sketchbooks, they'd be perfect. nonetheless, this is a five-star product hands down.