Art, Mairtini, My Collection, Notebook Reviews, Places to Buy Notebooks, Sketchbook

Chris W. / Mairtini Watercolor Notebook Review

November 15, 2022 Nifty Notebook 3 Comments

The first question about this watercolor notebook is what its brand name actually is. The Amazon listing and the label on the shrinkwrap list the brand as “Chris W.” But the paper band and the stamp on the notebook itself say “Mairtini.” I guess I’ll call it the Mairtini Watercolor notebook, since that’s what’s on it.

This is a pretty typical sketchbook similar to Moleskine and other brands: black faux-leather cover with an elastic closure. There is a back pocket, but no ribbon marker.

Cover overhang is on the larger side, but everything is square and symmetrical. The Mairtini brand name is stamped on the front cover, aligned as if this was meant to be used vertically like a reporter notebook.

But when you open to the inside front cover, there is a Cezanne quote printed in landscape orientation, which is how most people use watercolor sketchbooks.

Inside the Mairtini Watercolor notebook, there are 24 sheets of very thick 300 GSM watercolor paper, all of which are perforated except the first and last pages, which are glued to the end sheets. The spine is a bit stiff and needs some breaking in so that the notebook can open fully flat.

I fiddled around with some water soluble markers and watercolor paints using a mop brush and a water brush, and also tried my Platinum Carbon Ink pen. The paper seemed to hold up well, not warping too much or disintegrating with lots of wet overlapping brush strokes. For my purposes, I’d say this paper is great, but I’m not an expert watercolor user. The reviews on Amazon are mostly positive, though a few users seemed to have issues with the paper for certain kinds of watercolor techniques. There wasn’t the least bit of show-through from any of these materials.

The current price for the Mairtini watercolor notebook is $11.99 on Amazon, significantly less than comparable products from Moleskine or Stillman & Birn, but not necessarily the cheapest watercolor sketchbook available on Amazon. I’ve seen other watercolor notebooks with 300 GSM paper listed at $9.99 or $10.99 (I haven’t tried them, but you can see some other watercolor sketchbooks I’ve reviewed here and here if you are interested in portrait format watercolor sketchbooks).

So what is the verdict on this notebook? I’ll probably end up using it someday as it seems to work fine and nothing about it really bothers me too much. It’s not the best or the worst. It’s not the cheapest or the most expensive. I can’t say there is anything about the Mairtini / Chris W Watercolor notebook that is really special or unique or distinctive, to be honest! I bought it out of curiosity so if you are curious too, go ahead and try one! Or maybe I’ve saved you the trouble…

Alwych, Clairefontaine, creativity, Emilio Braga, Links, Moleskine, My Collection, Notebook Addict of the Week, Other People's Notebooks, Penguin, Places to Buy Notebooks, Writing Notebooks

Joan Didion’s Notebooks

October 29, 2022 Nifty Notebook 6 Comments

It looks like Joan Didion would qualify as a Notebook Addict of the Week— she left behind at least 38 blank notebooks when she died. Joan Didion’s notebooks are being sold as part of an auction of many of her belongings, including books, artwork, furniture, sunglasses and more.

I’ve written about Joan Didion before– her essay “On Keeping a Notebook” is an essential read, and The White Album and Slouching Towards Bethlehem are books that I’ve revisited many times over the years.

I had no idea what sort of notebooks Joan Didion used– she’s been famously photographed with cigarettes and her Corvette, but I don’t recall ever seeing an image of her holding or using a notebook. But from the auction catalog, it looks like she used Clairefontaine, Moleskine, and some other brands I couldn’t identify. I think I spotted an Emilio Braga notebook in one photo, and some notebooks with blue page edges that could have been made by Alwych.

It will be interesting to see what Joan Didion’s notebooks end up selling for. On the one hand, they are just ordinary blank notebooks, to which “from the library of Joan Didion” bookplates have been affixed– in some cases the bookplate is just stuck on to the shrinkwrap of unopened notebooks. But on the other hand, people are obsessed with Joan Didion and some of her fans would apparently pay money for even a paper clip that she’d touched. And the website for the auction seems to be crashing a bit today, perhaps from an overload of interested shoppers! Can’t say I’m not tempted myself…

Read more about Joan Didion’s notebooks and the rest of the estate sale in this weekend’s New York Times: Joan Didion’s Life in Objects

Art, creativity, Links, Other People's Notebooks, Sketchbook

Nicolas V. Sanchez Sketchbooks

October 24, 2022 Nifty Notebook 1 Comment

Nicolas V. Sanchez does amazing drawings in sketchbooks, using ballpoint pens with stunning skill and delicacy. I love the section of his website where he presents a series of notebooks he’s filled with his incredibly vibrant drawings:

See more at Nicolas V. Sanchez– Books and on Instagram at @nicolasvsanchez .

creativity, Links, Notebook Addict of the Week, Other People's Notebooks, Planner, productivity, record-keeping, Writing Notebooks

Notebook Addict of the Week: John Rogers

October 7, 2022 Nifty Notebook Leave a comment

I found this week’s notebook addict via a blog post by our previous addict, Warren Ellis.

He linked to this Twitter thread , where screenwriter John Rogers talks about methods for notebook-keeping, and shared the photo below:

It accompanies his first principle of notebook-keeping:

First, a dedicated notebook for every project. This notenbook is creative — questions, rebreaks, notes from the room that require in-depth consideration, etc. This is the creative/thinking space.

In addition to the project notebooks, he has a notebook where he tracks “EVERYTHING,” across all projects. His system seems to have elements of Bullet Journaling and GTD, but he’s added and changed things to come up with his own workflow for his own unique needs. He’s obviously given it a lot of thought, as he also has a notebook dedicated to ideas about his workflow! A notebook for ideas about notebooks… now why didn’t I think of that?!

My Collection, Nostalgia, WIlson Jones

Vintage Looseleaf Notebook Made by Wilson Jones

October 3, 2022 Nifty Notebook 6 Comments

This looseleaf notebook was a recent eBay purchase. I bought it because it was a pocket size looseleaf from the 1950s, described as being 3×5″, and the brand name was unfamiliar. That was interesting enough to me, and the notebook wasn’t expensive, so I thought it would be nice to have it in my collection of very similar looseleaf notebooks from different brands/eras. But when I received the notebook in the mail, it was a surprise to see that it was actually quite different from any of my other refillable notebooks.

This is the smallest 6-ring pocket binder I’ve ever seen. (There are similarly sized Japanese binders like Plotter‘s Mini 5 size, but they only have 5 rings.) I thought my DaVinci binder was pretty small, but this is smaller. Though the ring spacing is standard, it’s the binder that is 3×5″ (actually more like 3 1/16 x 4 13/16″) not the paper, which is only 2 1/2 x 4 1/2″. I haven’t been able to find any listings for paper this size being sold today.

Wilson Jones looseleaf between pocket Moleskine and Nolty diary

It was made by Wilson-Jones, as you can see from the brand mark inside the cover, which shows the model #310-02. Inside, there are textured black end pages, then a 1958-1959 calendar page, and blue lined paper.

Wilson-Jones made various kinds of binders and office supplies. I found a listing for a similar, larger binder on Etsy.

It looks like Wilson Jones still exists as a brand name, as part of the Acco conglomerate (which also owns Mead, Esselte, At-a-Glance, Derwent, Daytimer, Hilroy, Five-Star, Swingline and other office and craft supply brands). According to the company history on Acco’s website, Wilson-Jones was founded in 1893 and was the inventor of the three-ring binder. (This is disputed by a history of the company at the Made in Chicago Museum.)

A few pages of my notebook turned out to have been written on in pencil. The writing is a bit hard to read, but from what I can make out, the original owner of this notebook must have been a farmer, as there are references to a “John deer” seeder, grass seed, a pasture, oats, and a pig barn. Some of the notes are dated in the 1960s. Maybe there used to be more notes that were torn out before the notebook was sold, or else the farmer wasn’t very consistent about writing things down. The notebook does show signs of wear and tear from being used, but doesn’t seem as grubby and beaten up as you’d expect it to be if it had been in a farmer’s pocket all the time.

I’m glad I stumbled across this little notebook. I love vintage notebooks as an excuse to explore the history of the many independent office supply companies that are now long gone, and I’m always happy to have an unusual one in my collection.

Links, Other People's Notebooks, record-keeping

Marlon Brando’s Notebook

September 20, 2022 Nifty Notebook 1 Comment

You’d think a headline like “Marlon Brando’s Little Black Book” would have caught my eye, but I missed this article on Slate when it was published in 2013.

Marlon Brando dropped this battered address book on the stage of New York’s Barrymore Theatre while appearing in A Streetcar Named Desire in 1949.
The loss of the book must have been significant to the young actor. Brando scrawled on the flyleaf: “On bended knee I beg you to return this. I lost eight others already and if I lose this I’ll just drop dead!”
Slate, “Marlon Brando’s Little Black Book,” by Rebecca Onion

I’d love to see more of this little address book, or the eight others that Brando says he lost! It is part of the collection at the Harry Ransom Center at UT Austin, which sounds like an amazing collection that must include a lot of other interesting notebooks.

Art, creativity, Links, Other People's Notebooks, Sketchbook

Rick Barton’s Sketchbooks

September 4, 2022 Nifty Notebook 1 Comment

An interesting piece in the New York Times: Unearthing Rick Barton, a Boho Bard of North Beach, about a Beat-era artist whose work is now on view at the Morgan Library in NYC.

Rick Barton was a somewhat obscure artist who lived in San Francisco in the late 1950s and early 1960s, often sketching in cafes or on the street. His work is now being rediscovered: incredibly detailed drawings, some of which were done on long fold-out scrolls of Japanese paper, bound into folding books so he could work on them while out and about.

rick barton folding book sketchbook drawings

The Morgan Library is one of my favorite museums for spotting notebook-related art and curiosities, so I’m hoping I’ll have a chance to see this exhibition before it closes on 9/11/22.

Diary, new products, Nolty, Places to Buy Notebooks, Planner

Nolty 2023 Diaries Now Available

August 23, 2022 Nifty Notebook 6 Comments

It’s that exciting season again, when next year’s planners are announced by Nolty. This year there are a few changes to their product line-up– a couple of discontinued versions of the diaries, and some new formats. Fans of B6 size planners will find some new products. There are also some new notebook/diary options where you can combine inserts into a cover.

I also noticed some new colors on the Nolty undated Daily Book that I don’t remember seeing before:

For me, the most exciting thing was the new international ordering process on the Nolty/JMAM website. It’s very easy to use, basically a built-in proxy service that pops up on each page as you are browsing. You can click the WorldShopping “add to cart” button and then check out with a credit card or PayPal. It is a two-step process: you are basically instructing WorldShopping to buy the product, which they then ship to their warehouse. At this point, you pay only for the product. You don’t know what the shipping cost will be, though they link to some tools that can help you estimate based on weight and size. (My shipping for two small notebooks ended up being around $34.00.) Once the product arrives at their warehouse, they send you a bill for the shipping and handling charges.

The good news is that the exchange rate between US dollars and the yen is pretty favorable right now. The shipping charge from Japan isn’t cheap, but I ordered just 2 Nolty 2023 diaries (my beloved Nolty Gold, and the Efficiency Notebook #1221, same as my Nolty 2022 purchases) and once I had paid for the product and shipping, I compared the price to what Kinokuniya was charging for these items. I saved over $10, since Kinokuniya really marks up the prices even though they offer free shipping for orders over $50. If I’d been buying a larger number of diaries, the World Shopping order from Japan would probably be even more advantageous. (And if you’re just buying one inexpensive diary, Kinokuniya might be a better deal, as the shipping from Japan may cost more than the diary itself.)

I’m excited for my Nolty 2023 diaries to arrive, even though they’re the same exact ones I’m using this year, and it will be months before I start using the 2023 models. I’ve gotten so addicted to these little planners, I’m just happy I know I can stick to my routine for another year!

creativity, Links, Notebook Addict of the Week, Other People's Notebooks, productivity, Writing Notebooks

Notebook Addict of the Week: Warren Ellis

August 12, 2022 Nifty Notebook 3 Comments

This week’s addict is a writer of graphic novels and creator of the Netflix series Castlevania, among other creative ventures. On his website, he talks about his shift away from digital tools to capturing all this thoughts in notebooks like these:

I almost exclusively think on paper these days. The first page of each notebook is used for a numbered index. When I’m jotting down something I know I’m going to want to refer to later, I assign it a number on the index page and write the same number on the top right hand corner of the piece I’m referencing. I write in it pretty much every day. It serves as work book, commonplace book, personal journal, anything I want to be. The numbering on the spines is done with a Pentel white-out pen.

You can read more at about Warren’s notebook habits at this post and others on his website.

My Collection, Notebook Reviews, Places to Buy Notebooks, Sketchbook, Talens

Talens Art Creation Sketchbook Review

August 9, 2022 Nifty Notebook 1 Comment

I’m continuing to make my way through my backlog of notebooks to review! I ordered this Talens Art Creation Sketchbook from Blick in January 2021 after seeing a few mentions of them online. The prices at Blick start at $7.25 for this pocket sized sketchbook, less than half what many competing brands are charging these days! Can it possibly deliver good quality? Let’s take a look…

pocket size talens art creation sketchbook

talens art creation sketchbook back cover

When I first unwrapped the Talens Art Creation Sketchbook, I was disappointed. Big, wide overhang, which I hate! The exterior of the sketchbook is 3.5 x 5.5″ but the paper inside is more like 3 5/16 x 5 5/16″. But otherwise, I like the feel of the cover and the chunkiness of the notebook, which is just under 3/4″, noticeably fatter than a Moleskine and more like a Handbook Journal.

talens vs moleskine — Talens on left, Moleskine on right

talens art creation vs moleskine — Talens on top, Moleskine below

Talens art creation sketchbook vs moleskine — Talens above, Moleskine below

The overhand is even bigger than the Herisa notebook I reviewed recently:

talens art creation sketchbook vs herisa notebook — Herisa on left, Talens on right

The features are pretty typical– black faux-leather hardcover, with a ribbon marker and elastic closure, but there is no back pocket. The only branding after you remove the paper band is the stamped logo on the lower back cover.

The Talens Art Creation Sketchbook is bound with 20 sewn signatures that have been lightly and carefully glued at the spine. They open nice and flat so you can work across a page spread without too much trouble. There are 80 sheets/160 pages of cream-colored 140 GSM paper. Moleskine pocket sketchbooks are 40 sheets/80 pages.

The Talens paper is not quite as stiff as the card-stock pages of a Moleskine sketchbook (at least the old ones), and the color is much lighter when you compare it to the yellowish tone of the Moleskine paper. It seems somewhat similar to the paper found in the Art Alternatives Pen & Ink sketchbook (the heavyweight paper version). The paper also isn’t as smooth as Moleskine’s, but depending on your preferred drawing tools, this is probably a good thing.

Talens sketchbook vs moleskine sketchbook paper color — Talens in back, Moleskine in front

The problem with Moleskine sketchbook paper was always that it could be a bit TOO smooth to work with certain types of pens and watercolors, leading to colors beading up. Happily, the Talens sketchbook doesn’t have this problem! Fountain pens write very nicely on it, with no bleed-through except in a couple small spots where I was applying some pressure to flex a nib and lines overlapped. There was only a tiny bit of feathering with one or two pens. There was hardly any show-through.

The paper also held up nicely to watercolor and markers. This is really nice, versatile paper that will please anyone who wants to keep an illustrated journal or do a lot of mixed-media sketching.

talens art creation watercolor and marker test

The left-hand page below is the back of the watercolor/marker test page shown above.

talens art creation back of pen test page

This is a nicely constructed, good quality sketchbook with great paper and it’s only $7.25*! What’s not to love? That overhang. But if you don’t care about overhang, go buy one! They come in other sizes and colors too, at Blick or Amazon. Whether you use it as a sketchbook or just a notebook, it’s a great addition to the list of Moleskine alternatives.

*Prices may vary at different times and different retailers. As of this writing, the pocket size sketchbook is $7.25 at Blick, and as low as $5.45+ shipping at Amazon.

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