Allow me a moment to go “oo oo oo!” like a monkey.
Okay. Monkey-moment is past. Down to business. Anyone who’s seen one of these in person and knows a little about watercolor painting and paper, I’ve got a couple of questions:
* Is the paper hot press, cold press, or rough (this describes the texture of the paper, hot press being smooth, cold press being that bumpy texture you probably associate with watercolor paper, and rough being highly textured)?
* How many sheets of paper do you get per Moleskine?
* How is the book set up to deal with paper curling or buckling while you’re painting on it (i.e., watercolor blocks may have all the pages lightly stuck together along the edges to prevent buckling, while taping loose sheets down to a board or other surface is the traditional way of dealing with a larger or loose sheet of watercolor paper — in a Moleskine, how do you keep everything from curling up)?
* Besides the lovely cover, is there really an advantage to watercolor paper in a Moleskine format when you can pick up those postcard sized blocks cheaply at any art supply store? (Not to mention, you can use watercolors to some extent in the sketchbook Moleskine.)
And, a bonus question: how many different types of Moleskines does your local retailer carry? How many types will be introduced before people get sick of stocking that many different, highly specialized “flavors” and just stock one or two? I ask because on a recent trip to the local B&N, I noticed that they no longer carried the plain pocket-sized notebooks. Their display had been reduced to sketchbook and lined in the pocket-sized and grid, lined, and plain the larger format.
I’m a big fan of small-format watercolor pads, and a Moleskine version sounds right up my alley. Since you’d want it to lay as flat as possible and have minimal curl but still hold paint and be a notebook, I’d say a 90lb. hot press, something like the one offered by Lanaquarelle, would be perfect.
I bought one to take along on a Caribbean vacation. Easy to pack, very light & easy to carry, and *delicious* for field sketches. The paper’s soft-ish but all curl is eliminated when the book is closed and the elastic re-placed.
I used every other page for pen&ink with watercolor and it worked great. Highly recommended.
Allow me a moment to go “oo oo oo!” like a monkey.
Okay. Monkey-moment is past. Down to business. Anyone who’s seen one of these in person and knows a little about watercolor painting and paper, I’ve got a couple of questions:
* Is the paper hot press, cold press, or rough (this describes the texture of the paper, hot press being smooth, cold press being that bumpy texture you probably associate with watercolor paper, and rough being highly textured)?
* How many sheets of paper do you get per Moleskine?
* How is the book set up to deal with paper curling or buckling while you’re painting on it (i.e., watercolor blocks may have all the pages lightly stuck together along the edges to prevent buckling, while taping loose sheets down to a board or other surface is the traditional way of dealing with a larger or loose sheet of watercolor paper — in a Moleskine, how do you keep everything from curling up)?
* Besides the lovely cover, is there really an advantage to watercolor paper in a Moleskine format when you can pick up those postcard sized blocks cheaply at any art supply store? (Not to mention, you can use watercolors to some extent in the sketchbook Moleskine.)
And, a bonus question: how many different types of Moleskines does your local retailer carry? How many types will be introduced before people get sick of stocking that many different, highly specialized “flavors” and just stock one or two? I ask because on a recent trip to the local B&N, I noticed that they no longer carried the plain pocket-sized notebooks. Their display had been reduced to sketchbook and lined in the pocket-sized and grid, lined, and plain the larger format.
cool!
but when and where are they available??
i want one now, of course
Alia,
Looking at the graphic, it is 60 or 72 pages.
When will these be available? Gotta get one, looks good for sketch crawling!
I’m a big fan of small-format watercolor pads, and a Moleskine version sounds right up my alley. Since you’d want it to lay as flat as possible and have minimal curl but still hold paint and be a notebook, I’d say a 90lb. hot press, something like the one offered by Lanaquarelle, would be perfect.
Make one with some hot-press, 90lb. Lanaquarelle and I’ll buy a dozen! Well, I’ll buy at least one.
Oo-oo-oo! Now. Me. Lots. Now! Now!
Check out the images here: http://www.moleskineart.com/#150
I bought one to take along on a Caribbean vacation. Easy to pack, very light & easy to carry, and *delicious* for field sketches. The paper’s soft-ish but all curl is eliminated when the book is closed and the elastic re-placed.
I used every other page for pen&ink with watercolor and it worked great. Highly recommended.
How does watercolor Moleskine compare to a Strathmore Field Watercolor 400 series cold press