Before I say anything else. I must express my appreciation for all the wonderful and thought-full comments on yesterday’s post.

I read every word and plan to visit all of your blogs. Thank you for taking your time to join in this fascinating conversation.

 

Today I want to tell you about a Moleskine knock-off journal I found at Hobby Lobby.

© 2009, Jessica Wesolek, Santa Fe, NM

It is called “The Art of Watercolor” and there is also “The Art of Pen & Ink” version for dry media. They are in the sketchbook section and cost something like $12 for the large size. They are the same size as the Molekskine, have the back pocket, the ribbon bookmark, the elastic closure band, and a smooth black cover which has a more rubbery feel than the Moleskine cover. They also come in a pocket version that is the same size as the small Moleskine Sketchbook.

 

Inside the Watercolor version are bright white pages of watercolor paper. Moleskine also makes a Watercolor book but not in this vertical format.

The manufacturing seemed of the highest quality except for the fact that every 3rd page or so, two pages would be stuck together for about 1/4” at the gutter. I don’t know if that was a problem just with this book since I didn’t have another for comparison.

 

First thing I wondered was whether this could be a substitute for the Moleskine Sketchbook in the art journal role - white pages instead of cream and more friendly to watercolor washes. That could be appealing.

 

Pitt Pens worked fine even though the paper surface is textured, as you can in the note I made upper left.

 

Watercolor pencils also performed beautifully.

 

But I really was not fond of how Sheer Heaven transfers worked (middle left). Photo transfers to the smooth Moleskine pages are almost perfect, but here the rougher paper texture shows through as white spots.

 

Because I personally use so many transfers in my journaling, that’s a problem for me.

 

But nothing wrong with using this as a watercolor sketchbook.

As you can see, there was very little paper buckling even with a full page painting.

 

 

I have always been a tube user because I want my watercolor brilliant, But tubes are not very portable for journaling or sketchbooking. After years of searching and testing, I have finally found the pans of my dreams. The brand is Yarka St. Petersburg and they are made in Russia by a company that has been making paints for a hundred years.

 

These are the professional grade (student grade are *not* recommended) and several things about them are outstanding. They are wet poured - yielding a semi-moist paint that liquifies easily with very little water, so they work perfectly with a waterbrush. (See how neat and clean my sets are?) Of course, they also work wonderfully with red sable and other good watercolor brushes

 

The colors are really interesting and unusual, pigment rich, creamy, and extremely brilliant.

 

And they are very affordable compared to other professional brands like Schminke and Winsor Newton which generally run $5 - $8 for each half pan.

 

Each Yarka set has 24 *full* pans (twice the size) for $100 list, but Dick Blick has the sets for about half of that.

 

 

 

My students often ask about my favorite paints and these are far and away my favorite pan watercolors. I use them all the time and love them.