Prat Flex Books

Comments about Prat Flex Books:

I purchased the green blank sketchbook in size 12 1/4 x 8 1/5.

Let me start with the good: I like the look of this sketchbook. I bought it because it lays flat when open. It seems to work well with a pigma micron pen. I didn't have any bleed-through to the other side when using this pen, however, I did not do extensive testing with it. I drew a quick sketch and filled in some solid black areas.

The paper does not work well with my extra fine carbon ink fountain pen. It soaks in the ink and makes the line at least twice as thick as it would normally be. going over an area more than once with the pen causes the paper to start to fall apart. You can feel the roughness of the lines marring the paper when you run your hands over your design. A black felt bled through to the other side of the paper.

I tested it with water soluble crayons as well, and as expected, it doesn't hold up well (not that it claims to). It buckles and doesn't allow the color to flow.

Comments about Prat Flex Books:

The binding of this sketchbook is a complete failure. Some of the pages were glued together at the base, which means some spreads won't stay open. I tried forcing them open, but not without damaging the paper. Prat's customer service was useless. I received a "we are working on it" email from them after my second email stating that I would like the issue resolved before leaving reviews on their retailers' website. Then seven weeks later, I have not heard from them. So here I am writing angry bad reviews. The paper quality, cover, and fabric of the binding of this sketchbook are indeed quite nice. So this sketchbook would work for you if you are not working in spreads, are okay with the base of your pages looking bent and messed-up, and have no self-respect. No, I would not recommend this to a friend. I would highly recommend this to people I despise.

Comments about Prat Flex Books:

You can lay it flat on a desk or hold it while standing with one hand comfortably. It didn't show any signs of stress when I folded the cover completely backwards. The cover is this kind of plastic and it has a little elastic enclosure. However, it doesn't have that little ribbon bookmark like most similar style sketchbooks/journals but that's okay because I usually rip them out. Paper on the sketchbook version is nice and thick. No bleeding through yet which means you get to use front and back if you like that. Its only 40 sheets (or 80 pages) but that's okay because you can use every side. It's got pretty smooth paper which is okay. I usually prefer at least a little tooth but its good for pen and ink. Not sure about watercolor. Seems very resilient and reliable so far.

Comments about Prat Flex Books:

Smooth paper. Nice for pen and ink

Comments about Prat Flex Books:

I like these better than the Art book 180. The paper is really super smooth! My black ink pens don't show through on the other side, so I Can draw on both sides of the page without having "ghosts of drawings past". I love the cover. It's durable and flexible, and the elastic closer is less cumbersome than the magnetic flap on the Canson 180 art book. This is my new go to sketchbook.

Comments about Prat Flex Books:

I like this sketchbook very much. the paper is a nice heavy weight and a brighter white than moleskine books. my biggest problem with moleskines is the ivory paper. also love the flexible spine that lays flat nicely when drawing. I wish blick carried it in the store rather than just online. the price is reasonable on the website but once you add the shipping cost it came out to a bit more than I wanted to spend for a sketch book