Seemed appropriate to start with a fountain-type pen to start field-testing the
Exacompta Sketch Book with flexible leather-like Madeira blue cover while trying out for the first time a nice Peruvian restaurant,
Inka Kitchen. All the seafood fare and Inca decor inspired the theme of stylized Pre-Hispanic frieze decorations.
Almost managed to finish the first page of sketches before lunch arrived:
Arroz con Frutos del Mar (Peruvian Paella).
The
Rotring Art Pen F worked nicely on this paper, and the only warning would be to allow a few seconds for the ink to dry completely before allowing your hand to brush against the drawing. I just don't use fountain pens very often and ended up smearing a bit of the frieze section.
The
Staedtler Mars Professional Technical pen with disposable 0.35 mm ink refill also glided smoothly on the laid paper surface producing lines of uniform width.
Trying out
Faber Castell Pitt Artist Big Brush and original size pens to color the assortment of masks. I might have discovered a flaw in the quality of the
Big Brush Pitt Artist pens with this test. Some of them had develop a layer of white fuzzy mold around the base of their brush nibs. I sprayed them with some isopropyl alcohol and wiped them off, so hopefully that will fix the problem for now.
The bright colors of the
Pitt pens stood out quite nicely on this support.
I am not sure a golden edge sketchbook suits a manly artist like myself, but it sure is the right size to haul around and be productive while others shop at the mall for stuff that I might find boring.
Doodle test done with a set of
Sakura Pigma Sensei Manga Drawing pens of 4 different nib sizes.
While I prefer to work just on the top page of every sheet in a sketchbook, it is possible to work on both the front and back of the
Exacompta paper since there was minimal see through with all the pens and markers tested.
Used some of my favorite
Faber Castell Albrecht Durer watercolor pencils to brighten these cartoon outlines. The close up of the purple hair reveals more clearly the texture of the laid paper. While the dry pencil marks looked nice enough against the off-white sketchbook paper, I decided to moisten some of them to test how well the paper accepted light water media applications.
Used a
waterbrush to selectively blend some areas of the watercolor pencil coloring and left some areas intentionally dry to keep some variety in the textures of the images. The small amount of water delivered brightened the colors without noticeably warping the paper.
Conducted another field test while killing some more time by the food court. A compact sketchbook, a handful of sketching tools, and a nice cold beverage can readily fight boredom and make a efficient creative set up anywhere with no batteries required. Part of the beauty of analog art supplies. At this point is where the
Madeira cover proved its worth, for I had not realized there was some food debris on this table before I set down the sketchbook on it. The blue cover protected the tan board covers of the actual sketchbook from getting soiled, and it wiped clean quite easily.
For writing this page test labels, my trusty
Uni-ball Signo DX UM-151 Gel Ink Pen and the
Exacompta paper worked quite well together (no surprise there since we are talking about my favorite gel pen). All the
brush pens tested on the laid paper produced fairly smooth strokes. The
Pentel Pocket Brush Pen GFKP was a bit slow to get the ink flowing initially, but that was probably from lack of use (need to clean it and install a fresh ink cartridge). The
Platinum Long Handle brush pen (which I just realized is sadly no longer listed in the
Jet Pens website) and the
Kuretake No. 8 Fountain Hair Brush Pen were both loaded with waterproof
Platinum ink cartridges, so that their sketches could be easily colored with watercolors without smearing the black outlines.
The pages accepted the light washes of
Winsor & Newton Artists' Watercolors applied with a
Niji waterbrush quite nicely without buckling much. The
Exacompta Sketch Book would make a good choice for a field sketchbook given its convenient portable size, sturdy protective cover, and versatile paper that accepts a variety of media including light washes. For further product info and list of online retailers check the
Exaclair website that generously provided these paper samples for review.
Ooops! forgot to include this page with the graphite pencil tests. Since generally graphite is not too finicky, all the selected premium pencil brands and 2 mm leads felt pretty smooth on this paper. Yet the main reasons for getting this fine sketchbook would probably be its ability to accept wet media and work well with fountain pens.
Another quick note: the
Exacompta gold edge sketchbook's flashy and elegant look is bound to capture the interest of young budding artists as well. Thus be prepared to share or get an extra one for the little artists in your holiday gift list.
Faber Castell Pitt Artist pens and some artist watercolor tests on
Exacompta sketchbook paper.
Moving on to the next item from the Exaclair sample package, we will take a closer look at the Clairefontaine 8" X 8" watercolor pad. This wirebound watercolor sketchbook features sturdy translucent plastic covers and a rigid backboard that would make it quite an efficient choice for a compact field kit and sketch crawls. It is fairly easy to wipe the covers clean from any accidental spills, and its solid construction and ideal travel size allow artists to sketch and paint comfortably without an easel or table. While the front plastic cover displays a fairly nice image of a plate of cherries, I would prefer it to be blank so that the art created on the first page could be viewed unhindered by the cover graphics. Alternatively the cover art could be printed on a sheet of paper behind the clear translucent cover, leaving the option to remove it to the user. Though that really would be nitpicking since the 300 gsm cold press Clairefontaine watercolor paper itself is actually quite pleasant to use with a variety of wet media.
Winsor & Newton Artist Watercolors and Daniel Smith Extra Fine Watercolor Sticks color chart.
This photo taken the following day on the library patio fountain under bright sunlight shows how well these artist watercolors look on the Clairefontaine paper.
Managed to draw another couple of color charts while waiting at the mall food court.
Caran D'Ache Museum 3.8 mm watercolor leads color chart wet and dry. Holiday Maneki Neko outlines were drawn with Sakura Pigma Sensei pigment liner pens and colored with the watercolor leads using the Fixpencil 44 leadholder.
Dry marks were readily dissolved with a medium Niji waterbrush yielding bright saturated washes.
Caran D'Ache Neocolor II watercolor crayons color chart. The left side of each swatch was left dry, and the right side was dissolved with a flat Niji waterbrush. This chart was drawn on the back of another color chart, and neither one show through the thick paper. While I normally only use the front page of every sheet in a sketchbook, it is nice that both the front and back of each sheet of Clairefontaine watercolor paper could be effectively painted on if necessary (like when running out of paper while traveling and keeping a watercolor journal).
Faber Castell Albrecht Durer watercolor pencils color chart. The section of dry watercolor pencil swatches in the middle reveals the even texture of the cold press 300 gsm watercolor paper. The outer area was blended with a medium Niji waterbrush producing bright colorful semi-opaque washes.
Faber Castell Albrecht Durer aquarelle sticks color chart. This 30 colors set palette looked fairly bright on this paper. Waterproof outline was drawn with a Uni-ball Signo DX 0.38 black gel pen which skipped a bit on the cold press surface. The same Winsor & Newton Gold Sceptre II 1/4" flat brush used to paint the color swatches was used to quickly color the fantastic menagerie.
Caran D'Ache Neoart watersoluble wax pastels dry color chart. These large diameter watercolor crayons allow for quicker coverage and are suited for working in larger scale surfaces.
The dry NeoArt swatches dissolved quickly with a 1/2" Utrecht 1162 Sablette wash brush loaded with clean water. The bright semi-opaque washes spread easily on this support.
The Clairefontaine Watercolor Pad readily accepted a variety of water soluble media, and would make a fine gift for the watercolor aficionados in your list this coming holiday season. Browsing through the company website, I was quite pleased to learn that this French art paper is manufactured from sustainably managed forests while minimizing the environmental impact of the manufacturing process. It is nice to be able to pick up a fine art paper knowing that it was also created in such a green manner.
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