Picked this Creative Mark "
Reflexions" bound sketch book on a whim at the
Miami Jerry's Artarama mostly because it was discounted.
The sketchbook features a elastic band to keep it closed securely just like a
Moleskine.
Both sturdy covers are embossed with the "
Reflexions" logo. The back label indicates the dimensions of the sketchbook (5.5" X 8.5") and that it was manufactured in China.
The back covers features a elastic loop for holding a pen, pencil, or other slender sketching tool.
Bound in ribbon place keeper and page of test doodles drawn with the
Pentel Slicci Metallic 0.8 mm gel pens and a couple of brush pens. The metallic gel inks and waterproof black inks went down quite smoothly on this paper.
During the graphite doodle tests done with
2 mm F &
HB leads and a couple of 0.5 mm and
HB & B leads, I found that pencil marks smeared quite easily on this support with the slightest contact. The sharpened 2 mm leads scored deep depressions into the soft paper rather easily. Thus erasing unwanted areas with the
Pentel Hi-Polymer and
Sanford Tuff-Stuff erasers proved to be rather challenging. Despite repeated efforts, some ghost outlines and smears remained after trying both erasers in succession. Since both erasers have proven to be quite effective on other sketchbooks, it would seem that the fault must lie with the paper of the
Reflexions sketch book.
Uni Watercolor Pencil set #2 color chart with right side dissolved with a
waterbrush.
A closer look of the back of the sheet of paper with the watercolor pencil chart reveals that this 110 gsm paper warps easily due to its quick water absorption.
A few test doodles drawn with brush pens and markers that were later colored with some light washes of Daniel Smith
watercolor sticks.
The
Reflexions sketch book adequately accepted brush pen inks, gel pen inks, and light watercolor washes applied with a Niji waterbrush. I did not like how easily HB graphite marks smeared on this rather soft paper surface. While this inexpensive bound sketch book has some nice features, I would not recommend it for pencil sketching.
Time to start testing another Exaclair paper sample: the Clairefontaine cold press 10 sheets watercolor block. Rather than doing a single review post, I plan to try this "Fontaine" watercolor paper with different water mediums and document my observations in multiple posts.
Decided to start testing this paper with a few Daniel Smith watercolor sticks and some Faber Castell Albrecht Durer aquarelle sticks.
Initially just drew a simple color wheel with 3 primaries using Aureolin (Cobalt Yellow), Quinacridone Coral, and Cobalt Blue. The secondary colors were mixed directly on the paper. Then just spontaneously started to doodle some random faces and a dragon.
This icon on the cover clearly indicated where to insert the palette knife.
Once the paint dried, it was fairly simple to release the painting from the block by sliding a palette knife along the 4 glued sheet edges of the watercolor block.
It had been a while since I practiced sketching with actual brushes given my reliance on waterbrushes. For these tests, I doodled mainly with an old trusty #4 Winsor & Newton Series 7 and a similarly sized #6 Escoda 1212 Kolinsky round sable brushes. I find the former's brush head to be the most responsive and easier to control of the two.
Both 100% cotton watercolor blocks kept the pages flat while the doodles dried up. The 300 gsm/140 lb Clairefontaine Aquarelle paper surface has a bit more texture than the slightly thinner 280 gsm/136 lb Cartiera Magnani Acquerello paper. Colors come across quite brightly and the brushstrokes look fairly smooth on both supports. This 9" X 12" block size is quite portable while still providing plenty of room to work on.
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