Moleskine Art Plus Sketchbook, Large, Plain, Black, Hard Cover (5 x 8.25)

New favorite!!!! No bleed through when using marker, the pages are nice and thick and its perfect for pen or pencil. Will definitely make this my go to sketchbook.

First: If you experience paper turning white when erasing, you need a better eraser. I use Staedtler Mars plastic erasers and Sanford design or Prismacolor kneaded erasers. From my experience, the kneaded erasers work best. I am an illustrator, so sketching is a daily need for me. I always battled with sketchbooks because they felt as sturdy as napkins and just as useless when it comes to archiving. Even the heavy grade more expensive ones felt either TOO thick and textured for graphite and ink or just flimsy and overpriced. I had to use bristol board notebooks for a long time (which was expensive) because I just could not find the right balance. All I have to say it - holy cow, this is THE BEST sketchbook I have ever owned. The paper is thick, poster like (very close to thin bristol board actually) and a very soft beige color. It is, thank God, untextured - very smooth yet holds on to ink perfectly. The thickness allows you to use soft traces of watercolor and diluted ink without a lot of bending. (If you want to go heavier with liquids I suggest you purchase the Moleskine Watercolor Notebook. The pages are just large enough to give you good room yet small enough so the book is portable. The book bends far enough past the first 2 pages so you can actually draw across the pages. I use my book front to back not leaving one sheet uncovered and can draw horizontal landscapes thanks to the ability to use 2 pages at once. There is a small pocket on the back to store small sheets of paper and random things you might find while wandering the streets looking for inspiration. The hard cover is very thick and sturdy plus it has so many pages for this low low price. You can't beat it. My only regret is not having owned one sooner! I will never go back to other brands. Now if only they made larger sizes... :) Edit: January 2014 - Yes, the Folio series was released after this review was written, providing larger format sketchbooks. HOWEVER the paper quality is NOT the same. The pages are much thinner, and the color is different. More of a light, minty color as the classic sketchbooks are a warm beige.

This is one of the most high quality sketchbooks I’ve ever used!!! I bought this one after finishing my tiny Talens Art Creation sketchbook as I was looking for a new one. A little expensive, but worth the price!!! Takes acrylic and water based markers as well as colored pencils well, alcohol markers bleed a little so put something under your paper to avoid bleed through. Another thing, stickers do NOT stick to the cover. I tried with a waterproof sticker I made with Cricut stickers paper and it peeled off. I also tried lightly sanding it with a nail file and then drawing on it with a paint pen which worked, if you want to decorate this sketchbook do that!!!

I was a bit skeptical at first about getting this sketchbook since I would normally get the ones from my local art store but I decided to give this a try, since I wanted a sketchbook for mixed media I was worried about the paper not holding much weight (for gauche, acrylic paint pens and copic markers) I love the feel of the paper and how personal this sketchbook feels. I would say if you use alcohol markers it will bleed through the back page not by a lot but it’s visible. It doesn’t bother me since I can just do paint pens to cover it anyway, when painting with gouache it holds the paint very well. I am definitely buying another set once my current one is done! I’ll be sharing some art to show the quality of the paper finish!

Have to admit, when I first got this book it was very intimidating. The pages were so pristine and clean, and it was really intimidating to just draw in it. Once I got over it, I found this really is a fine quality journal/sketchbook. It's handled everything I've thrown at it with only minor buckling/bleeding. I've thrown watercolor, pen, ink, marker, charcoal, and graphite at it and it's held together flawlessly. It's size is just about as big as my kindle fire hdx 7, maybe a little bigger, so I haven't left home without it since I've had it. It's just so easy to pop it open, jot down some ideas, close it and move on. So what you need to know is that YES it can handle these things, but you need precautions. you need to put a junk page underneath any page you intend to do watercolor/marker on because markers bleed through to the other side. The paper absorbs most of the ink fast, so if you're looking to blend, you'll need thicker junk paper. ink pen is perfect. I have DRENCHED the paper in ink and had no bleed through with most markers. Gel pens are going to bleed through and smear easily on the paper and on the paper before it so make sure to let it sit and dry before moving onto another page, or closing the book. All in all? I'll be buying another one of these after this one's filled. Moleskine has got themselves a very satisfied customer.

The heavyweight pages are definitely durable enough for pencil, and pen and ink work. I've used Diamine Black Onyx and Noodler's Heart of Darkness Black on these pages with zero bleed-thru. The paper has a smooth finish, similar to plate finish Strathmore 500, and has enough tooth for pencil, yet not so much that it will distort or feather an ink line. Alcohol based markers and Sharpie markers will definitely bleed through these pages, as they do on most papers. The pale cream color of the pages gives a nice classic look to any artwork done on them. Highly detailed cross-hatching and very fine gradients of shading are possible on these papers, and because of their thickness, you'll be able to use both sides of each page. I have cut a piece of 90 lb. index card stock that fits the book page size, and I use it as a shield to prevent graphite transfer to other drawings or to blank pages when working. I simply place it between the page I'm working on, and the page beneath it. Overall, an excellent sketchbook which handles fountain pen in, india ink, and all degrees of graphite very nicely, including a Pentel Brush Pen. I'm definitely ordering more. I have not applied any color media to these pages, such as watercolor, acrylic, or tempera, so I can't really say how they'll hold up under these.

Excellent buy, was a gift, recipient was most pleased. The inner pocket was much appreciated.

This was a gift for my artistic granddaughter. I had it shipped directly to her home so I didn’t see it but she seemed to love it and was thankful to her granny for the gift.

Práctico. Excelente calidad. Excelente compra

Papier épais qui supporte bien les feutres et l’encre, couverture rigide élégante, et la qualité Moleskine est toujours au rendez-vous. Parfait pour les croquis, lettrages ou projets créatifs.

Wat een genot om op dit papier te tekenen. Zo “smooth” en soepel gaat je stift erover. Kleuren komen prachtig uit op dit papier.

Sulu boya ve marker kalemler için pek uygun değil. Kuru boyalar için mükemmel. Sayfaların ipek gibi bir dokusu var ve rengi beyaz değil, daha doğal görünümlü krem gibi..

Handy paper to sketch paper is really.for arts