I never wanted to buy one of those expensive Moleskine sketchbooks. I did not see the point in buying a sketchbook that cost as much as three to five sketchbooks with decent paper. I’ve seen a lot of people running around in advertising agencies and taking down notes or slogans for bears who clean their bottoms with this super soft toilet paper – onto these notebooks.
Moleskine felt like showing off, like not being somebody who really draws a lot, but only carries a Moleskine with him because he thinks that he can impress somebody with it.
This was until I got my first Moleskine as a present. And, to be honest, I was blown away by the quality of the paper. It is a watercolour sketchbook with not too thick pages that have a great structure and do not get curly when soaked with water. So I went and got me another Moleskine, one with a smooth surface. And the same happened again:
The paper was just great. You could draw clean inked lines as well as use pencils or coloured pencils. Watercolours did not work very well with it, but that would have been too much to ask for. 🙂
I use sketchbooks a lot to nail down ideas for (short) films, like here, here, or here…aaaand here. It’s cheaper trying out ideas sitting alone on a train than shooting without a plan with a whole crew inolved. 🙂
I create worlds. John E. Brito's Blog 
Was actually considering buying one of these too, but wasn’t sure about it. Many thanks for the encouraging review!
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My pleasure 🙂 they got sketchbooks with ink paper, pencil paper and watercolour paper as far as I know. I use the one with ink paper the most. I think, they got thinner paper for notes as well.
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I was the same as you: why pay so much when (seemingly) equivalent stuff was half the price. Then my gf bought me one… 🙂
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Yes, the quality of the paper is really great 🙂
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I’ve been using Moleskine notebooks for years. I love them, but hate the bad name that has been associated with them because of the “scensters” and “hipsters”.
The price was never an issue because I look for quality, and you get what you pay for, right? Hmmm, now that I think on it, you don’t necessarily get what you pay for. Sometimes you’re a tool paying for a logo. In this case I think you’re getting a worthy product for your money.
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That’ true, these are the same two reasons why I never wanted to buy one. Untill now 🙂
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Hi John, really enjoying your blog. Love the post about Moleskine, lol at bottom…. I tend to use seawhite of brighton sketchpads, nice thick paper and good value. Im not crazy over the moleskine but… i bought an A4 landscape watercolour for mixed media collage sketching and it was fab! I love the way it didnt buckle, has a luxury feel to it and the pages lay flat. One thing I have learnt though is you dont need anything expensive to sketch!
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You’re right. I also don’t like a lot of money on drawing paper and have a lot of cheaper sketchbooks at home which are great, too. It just depends on what technique you want to use. I think, the trick is just to sketch whenever you can, no matter on what brand (or no brand). Just love the paper at the moment 🙂
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Reblogged this on Writing Space!.
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