Do you like to use mixed media in a sketchbook? Lovely to work with both watercolor, colored pencils ink and more in the same sketchbooks.
In this blog I compare the following mixed media sketchbooks
- Seawhite sketchbooks
- Stillman & Birn Beta & Nova
- Stillman & Birn Zeta
- Mossery mixed media
- Etchr Hot pressed
-
Talens Art Creation
An important sidenote
Mixed media is, as the name suggests, suitable for all kinds of materials. I personally only consider a sketchbook mixed media if you can work with both wet and dry materials. With wet materials I think of ink and watercolor paint. With dry materials I think of colored pencils and fineliners.
One book is a bit more suitable for colored pencils and the other for wet materials, but these sketchbooks are especially suitable for the combination. The paper is therefore not 100% made for one material, and not 100% for the other. That makes the paper suitable for multiple materials and that makes it 100% suitable for mixed media :). Do you know in advance that you will almost always use one type of material? Then choose a specific sketchbook for that material, you will probably have more painting fun with it. In this blog I share my favorite sketchbooks for watercolor. I will add more sketchbooks for drawing to the shop at the end of the year.
Seawhite sketchbooks
These sketchbooks are slightly underrated because they only have 140 grams of paper. However, they are very nice to use. In connection with the weight of the paper, I would say: use these for the drier variant of mixed media. So you mainly work with pencils and sometimes also some wet materials. However, you can certainly still work with wet materials in the Seawhite sketchbooks, without it bubbling enormously.
What is also nice about these sketchbooks: they are affordable and have (especially in the square formats) many pages. So do you want an affordable sketchbook, with many pages and where you can also use wet materials? Then I would definitely try this one.
View Seawhite sketchbooks.
Stillman & Birn Beta & Nova
The sketchbooks from Stillman & Birn are very well suited for use with mixed media. The Beta version has 270 grams paper and a cold-pressed surface. You can use wet materials in this sketchbook. You can also use watercolor paint occasionally, but I personally find that the paint is absorbed very quickly into the paper and then dries immediately. Something to keep in mind. For gouache and acrylic paint it is a winner, and because of the small structure it is also very nice for colored pencils. The Nova series has the same paper, but with a beige or gray tint.
Ps, the Stillman & Birn series has more types of paper. Only the other series are made with 150 grams paper and I have not tested well enough with wet materials. They are very nice with pencil, and with very light washes.
Check them out here.
Stillman & Birn Zeta
The Zeta series is also 270 grams paper, but is made of smooth paper. The Beta and Nova series then have a small structure. You can use these well for markers, fineliners and colored pencils, but also with more wet materials.
The paper is stiff, and therefore does not bubble easily. What I find an extra nice side effect of these sketchbooks is that you can paint them very well to the edge. Good to know: these are real mixed media sketchbooks. Your paint dries quite quickly on this paper: that makes them less suitable if you only work with watercolor in them.
View the Zeta sketchbooks here.
Mossery mixed media
A nice mixed media sketchbook if you like to work with a wirebound. The paper is 220 grams, and with a little bit of structure. The nice thing about a wirebound is that you can easily take out another sheet. The sketchbooks of Mossery are available in very nice covers.
View Mossery's mixed media sketchbooks here.
Etchr Hot pressed
This is my favorite for mixed media! Reason why I like it so much:
- The sketchbook is made of 100% cotton paper. This ensures that you can work very nicely wet-on-wet.
- This size is my favorite and I have only been able to find it from Etchr so far, the B5. This is roughly tablet size: big enough to have the space, small enough to take with you.
- I like to draw with fineliners, and color that with watercolors or do the base layer with watercolors and color that with pencils. This paper is super nice for that!
Check out Etchr's hot pressed sketchbooks here.
Talens Art Creation
These sketchbooks from Talens are a super budget-friendly option. With 140 gram paper, they can't handle a lot of paint without bubbling. But I don't mind bubbling in this sketchbook: it's a very nice sketchbook to experiment in. The paper can handle a relatively large amount of water, but you can also draw in it with dry materials. There are a lot of pages in this sketchbook. The only limitation of the sketchbook is that it has somewhat thinner paper, but that makes the room for experimenting even greater.
View the Talens sketchbooks here.
Conclusion sketchbooks for mixed media
In the shop we have a wonderful collection of sketchbooks , take a look. Now the only thing left is: choose the sketchbook that suits you best. Hopefully this blog will help you make a choice. Still can't figure it out? You can always email or call us when making a choice. Still in doubt? Sometimes the only thing you can do is: test! I tested all sketchbooks before they came into the shop, so they are of good quality.
Greetings,
Judith
