Big Stillman & Birn Giveaway!

Oops, I forgot to do a giveaway with the review of the Stillman & Birn Zeta series sketchbook.  The company has generously offered 5 prizes– a choice of either a 5.5 x 8.5 hardbound or 6 x 8 wirebound (spiral) sketchbook for each winner. I will select the 5 lucky winners from entries received in … Continue reading Big Stillman & Birn Giveaway!

Review: Stillman & Birn Zeta Series (and Winsor & Newton Watercolors)

The Zeta is the latest addition to Stillman & Birn’s excellent line of sketchbooks. I’ve reviewed the others here, so I won’t go into too much detail about the basics of their construction. The key difference with the new Zeta line is that it offers their heaviest paper in a smooth surface as opposed to … Continue reading Review: Stillman & Birn Zeta Series (and Winsor & Newton Watercolors)

Carnival of Pen, Pencil and Paper

I’ve gotten way behind on carnival administration and we missed doing July… but here it is, at last! Thanks for everyone who has submitted posts. Future months are open for carnival hosts, so if you have a blog about pens, pencils, paper or anything related, please contact me to learn more about hosting. art supplies … Continue reading Carnival of Pen, Pencil and Paper

Queen Victoria’s Sketchbook

Great Britain’s royal family has long been artistically inclined. Their work is now the subject of an exhibition called The Royal Paintbox, which runs from June 22, 2013 to January 26, 2014 at Windsor Castle. Here’s a wonderful example: Exhibition curator Lauren Porter holds a book owned by Queen Victoria containing various sketches drawn in … Continue reading Queen Victoria’s Sketchbook

Moleskine Monday: An Extra Page

This is one of the weirdest things I’ve found in a notebook. In a Moleskine pocket sketchbook I bought a couple of years ago and just started using, there is an extra sheet of paper glued in. Usually, these notebook have 80 pages. It’s pretty straightforward– notebook page counts are always in multiples of 4, … Continue reading Moleskine Monday: An Extra Page

Notebook Addict of the Week: Baron Schwartz

This week’s addict blogs at xaprb, where he’s done an in-depth comparison of various notebooks to find the brand that works best for him. Here are the candidates: And here are the criteria: So what do I want? The size. It needs to be large enough to write on easily, leaving readable margins, without wasting … Continue reading Notebook Addict of the Week: Baron Schwartz

Daily Sketching Tips

Some good tips from the blog “Teach Kids Art” on how to establish a daily sketchbook routine, including suggestions for a lightweight, portable sketching kit. I can second the recommendation for most of these materials as I use them too: To ensure you have a sketch­book at your side when oppor­tu­nity (or inspi­ra­tion) strikes, you’ll … Continue reading Daily Sketching Tips

MOLEHOUSE Frames

This is a great idea– why let your favorite notebook pages go unseen? You don’t have to rip them out if you use one of these frames. I hope this Kickstarter project is a success! They need $40,000 by August 15 and have only raised about $2,500 as of this writing, so spread the word. … Continue reading MOLEHOUSE Frames

Notebook Addict of the Week: Peaches

Peaches emailed me lots of photos of her collection, and some musings on the various brands of notebooks she’s tried… but I think she’ll keep trying even more:   “I still haven’t found the 100% perfect notebook, which would have thick, off-white plain paper and be a hardback just under A5 size. The closest I … Continue reading Notebook Addict of the Week: Peaches