Yep! Having to deal with paint back runs as a beginner can be really daunting! This paper may be good for quick sketches but it's tough when you really want to get in the details and/or achieve particular effects

Oh my! I thought I was alone too! Mine has become a sketch book for swatching new supplies and testing color mixes. I just cannot get myself use it for any art. I feel like I have to work harder than I need to in order to get decent results.

which one do you advice for beginners?

@@MelanieCC05 I would suggest something with actual watercolor paper in it. The problem with those is they are often expensive. I like the Etcher ones, but a cheaper alternative it SMLT.

Thank you so much! I'm so happy you found this video useful 💕 hope you have lots of fun 🙂

I can totally relate! I do feel sentimental about this paper and I did enjoy it despite the frustrations (thought it was all my fault after all). I like cauliflowers but I also like to NOT have them if I don't want them :)

Ohh I didn't think of using Poscas in it! That's a great idea, thank you :)

thank you for watching! For me whole sheet washes are a no-no with this sketchbook

Thank you so much! Glad I could help 😀

Certainly not for watercolour!

I'll be covering a bunch of sketchbooks with cotton paper in the near future, I think you'll find those videos interesting :) Personally I hate having loose sheets of paper flying around, so I stick to sketchbooks and I've been keeping to try and find a really good one

That can totally work!

If you stick to drier media, I think it could be a good choice 🙂

Thank you for watching, happy you enjoyed it! Yeah, totally same story here haha. I have the Hahnemuhle cotton sketchbook waiting on the shelf until it's its turn :) Will definitely be making a review but it will take a while before I get to it. Thank you for the suggestion!

Welcome and thank you so much!

Cauliflowers can be nice if you want them but it's good if they're an option, not the default 🙂 I've tried a pad from smltart once and it seemed rather nice but I don't have enough experience with it to give opinions.

I didn't have any problems with bleeding but a bunch of other issues :)

Should be a lot better than watercolor 🙂

Give that a go. Would love to hear how it went! Actually as far as I know, at the moment there are two kinds of Moleskine sketchbooks, one made of cellulose and one with a percentage of cotton (unless something changed since last time I checked). I haven't tried the ones with cotton yet.

The one for specifically watercolor is 25% cotton

@@UJB123 I found out there are two types of watercolour products: the sketchbooks have 25% cooton and blocks have 35% cotton.

Thank you for your feedback! The etchr sketchbooks are amazing, I'll be making a video about them 🙂

@@hungryforpaint np. im a newb to anything watercolor related since im more of an acrylics user but ive been gettin into watercolor lately by watchin emma lefebvre (+ other watercolorist) & the only sketchbook ik thats 100% cotton & doesn't screw round w/ watercolor is etchr so ive stocked up with about 6 sets of the reg 3 pck canvas sketchbook + 2 perfect sketchbook (both in h & c pressed). u'll love it once u get to try it.

@@Starlit_Inspirit haven't tried the perfect ones yet, just the everyday version but I love how nicely granulation looks in it.

@@hungryforpaint I've heard paul rubens also good

I love the etchr everyday sketchbooks and find that if you buy the pack of 3 it actually works out fairly cheap for such amazing quality paper. Here in Australia if you buy the 3 and divide the cost between them it's like 20 dollars per 1, and moleskine's here are 27 dollars for the same size. It's a no brainer for me 100% cotton high quality cheaper than an at best average cellulose, it's easy to choose the cotton one. I haven't tried the Paul Rubens sketchbooks yet but from the many reviews I've watched they seem almost equal to the etchr, very similar and are 100% cotton also from as I understand it an even cheaper price if your on more of a budget. Personally I feel that moleskine is very overpriced for the quality and your paying mainly for the brand name rather than the quality. There are many cellulose paper sketchbooks that perform far better if your on a very tight budget to choose from rather than paying more for a name.

Happy to hear it works well for what you're using it for! Personally I think it's ok for smaller size stuff :)

Thank you, I'm happy you found it useful!

Happy you enjoyed it, thank you for watching! The grab bags are dropping today at 6 PM 🙂

There's a premium version of the sketchbook too, that's probably what you have. I have one of these in pocket size but haven't started using it yet. How do you like yours?

@@hungryforpaint I think it's a bad idea to use one sided pages - they work different and when you're making full spread, one side is like "oh cool", another - "wtf?!" You can work with it, you can get used to it, but... no pleasure. I use it with pressure because it was a gift, but won't recommend. There is so many much cheaper scketchbooks (with one sided cotton 25%) in my country, so in the subject of watercolor paper Moleskine is just "pay for a legendary brand". I think in your country too ^^

@@CaramelStripes yes, you're mostly paying for the brand. They only thing I really truly like about them without any caveats are the black hard covers, they just feel so nice 😅 and one sided paper in a sketchbook really is inconvenient, I agree!

@@CaramelStripes here in Australia moleskine is dearer than the 100% cotton sketchbooks, moleskine is $27 for the basic quality not even the 25% cotton version, and the etchr everyday sketchbooks are $20 for 100% cotton, so it's a no brainer as to which I choose. I've heard the Paul Rubens 100% cotton are virtually the same as etchr and are even cheaper, I haven't tried them though as I'm so in love with the etchr there's no reason to change, but according to the many reviews I've watched if you're on a tight budget it's a very highly recommended sketchbooks with high quality paper at a low cost. If your budget is tighter still there are many cellulose paper sketchbooks that perform far better than moleskine at a cheaper price, you are definitely only paying for the name rather than the quality if you're buying moleskine books. If you're a beginner I feel it's really important to put the most money as you can afford into the paper or book your working in, it will make learning far easier for you than if your struggling with the paper. If you use bad quality paper all sorts of things will go wrong and you'll become frustrated thinking it's you making mistakes when in reality it's the surface you're working on that's too blame. You can get away with the cheapest paints and brushes if you just have decent paper, so I'd advise all beginner's to invest in paper first and you'll get the results your looking for with much more ease.

Mine is 25% too. It’s a “sketch book”. I think people don’t are confused as to what a sketchbook happens to be.

Actually it appears that quite a lot of people like them, just not for watercolor 😀 for watercolor, that's pretty much a no-go for me too

Thank you so much for your comment! For quick sketches and fewer layers of watercolours without caring to much about smoothness of the wash etc, Moleskin is totally fine! 300g is perfect but thinner paper can still perform nicer than Moleskines (in my opinion), for example the Global Art Materials sketchbook that I made a video about, or the Pink Pig sketchbooks that I'm working on a video about 🙂 BUT if you love your Moleskine, that's amazing and that's everything that matters 💕 Thank you for watching, I appreciate your input

Definitely not a good paper for wet washes!

And how are you enjoying those?

Not a fan myself 🙂

Thank you for the feedback. I'll keep it down in the future