My first Substack video! I have no idea if I’ll do this again. We’ll see how you all feel about it.
I tend to jump around among a few sketchbooks, but I went back to my little Royal Talens one (the one featured in the video) again and again. The size is perfect, it’s light, and it can handle most of the media I use. I also used a couple of Fabriano pads, three Stillman and Birns, and a few different sizes of Bee Paper mixed media sketchbooks. Talens has definitely been my favorite, though I also really enjoyed using loose sheets of Fabriano watercolor paper (perfect thickness and amount of texture), and the smallest Bee Paper book I had.
Basically, portability and the paper’s ability to withstand lots of layers won out. It also helped if the substrate was affordable, because then I didn’t have to fight preciousness about actually using it. (I’ll have a post about getting past this urge to “not waste” supplies soon.)
These preferences, evidenced in my choices over the last year, make sense when I think about how I’ve been living since 2021 — constantly between tasks, and always having my schedule thrown off (#parenthood). In the next few years, as my kids grow, I hope to move to larger, more sustained projects.
Let me know if you enjoyed this post so I know whether or not to make more videos.
Until next year—
s
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