Guest Review Ecosystem Large Sketchbook

(When the very kind folks handling Ecosystem saw my review of the hard back blank journal, they offered to send some additional goodies for me to try. Among them was a large Onyx Sketchbook with some incredible blank paper that I wanted to keep for myself. But having no artistic talent, I did want and artist with tons of talent to spare to try it out. And it just so happens that the marvelous Mia of Jadecow fits this description perfectly. So let me turn this post over to her, with many thanks on my part.)

I'm always on the lookout for a great sketchbook. I can never get enough of them, so when Diane at Pocket Blonde offered me the large Ecosystem Artist Journal to review, I jumped at the chance. (Thank you, Diane!)

If you've never heard of Ecosystem before, you'll be pleasantly surprised at their two-fold mission: to maintain a low carbon footprint in creating high-quality recycled journals, notebooks, and planners while fostering local manufacturing in the U.S. You can find out more about Ecosystem here at their website.

Now, just a bit more of boring history. I bought the medium-size Artist Journal last year, and I was disappointed with the results. The paper, though bright and recycled, was very thin and had no coating whatsoever. (See this photo and this photo.) As I like to work in watercolor and fountain pen, the paper wasn't really suited to me. But it was smooth and bright enough for pencil, ballpoint pens, and gel pens.

With this shiny new version of the Artist Journal, I was excited to see significant changes.

Appearance and Performance

The sketchbook I received was the large hardcover Onyx (7 3/8" wide by 9 7/8" high), constructed with the classic style popularized by Moleskine: leatherette materials, rounded corners, a ribbon bookmark, back pocket, and elastic band to keep the precious contents...uh, contained.

On the front cover, running along the vertical foredge in lowercase letters, is the word "sketchbook" in varnish. This can pose a potential problem for those of us who like to work en plein air and incognito, as this one word can effectively reveal our true purpose to our targets, I mean, subjects. Hiding it is a simple solution, but I prefer not to announce to the world what kind of book I have or expend the energy to hide the cover of a large book, especially since it's hard enough to remain incognito and ninja-like while sketching random strangers.

The book lies flat thanks to sewn binding and good construction that is characteristic of Ecosystem Journals (I regularly buy their small Author notebooks to use as a daily to-do, and let me tell you, those puppies are sturdy).

The paper is 80lb text weight, "acid-free super-bright." There are no perforations on the pages, which is wonderful for folks who like to work across the gutter and work on a spread of a book.

Pencils, Fountain Pens, Pitts, Copics

Using Mitsubishi Hi-Uni pencils in the B range (B, 3B, 10B) was delightful on this buttery-smooth paper, which was able to take layers of cross-hatching and blending as well as repeated erasing using both a kneaded eraser and a plastic eraser. There was hardly a noticeable disintegration in the erasures, but when I draw I don't press hard unless necessary, preferring to build darks in layers instead.

Next I used a fountain pen, a Sailor Regulus with a fine nib and filled with Platinum Carbon ink (my favorite waterproof ink). Again, the paper was smooth and a joy to work with. The lightest touch was the only requirement to render a faithful line. There was no feathering or bleed-through from the fine-nibbed fountain pen, or the double-broad stub Nakaya loaded with Sailor's Limited Edition Doyou ink (for those of you who like to use blank sketchbooks as their primary writing notebook).

The same goes for the Pentel Pocket Brushpen, one of my favorite tools for sketching on-the-go. Faber-Castell Pitt Artist pens simply pop on the bright white paper with just the barest hint of see-through on the reverse side of the page. Copic markers, as expected, bled through the page but did blend nicely. (Not a lot of papers take Copics well, so this wasn't a surprise.) I don't use markers often, and when I do it's usually in a painterly manner.

Watercolors

I love working with watercolors. This is a requirement that usually ends up making or breaking my decision to keep a sketchbook. Some are hits, a few are misses, but a large portion of the sketchbooks I've tried have fallen somewhere in-between. The Ecosystem Artist Journal falls in this last category.

While the Ecosystem Artist Journal definitely takes watercolor a lot better than the first version, it doesn't hold up well to heavy or repeated layers of washes and eventually seeps through the page. The wax-like coating on the paper beads the water in a similar way to the Moleskine sketchbook and buckles the paper.

Final thoughts

The Ecosystem Artist Journal is a wonderful value for a sketchbook: at $19.95, the book is well-constructed, its smooth paper takes a good variety of commonly-available materials, and the "super-bright" whiteness of the paper will make your colors sing. I wouldn't recommend using charcoal or pastel on this paper -- it's simply too smooth and these dry media prefer a toothier material to hold on to. For light washes of watercolor, they're okay, but not something I'd recommend for a serious enthusiast.

This is a great sketchbook with many fine qualities that make it worth the price to me. And while it doesn't take watercolors as I'd like, it's not something I have to work hard to work around. With any sketchbooks there are limitations to its performance, but that's just the way it goes. I applaud Ecosystem's commitment to the environment and support for local American manufacturers, and the company's responsiveness to customer feedback. I'm happy to see the Artist Journal revised and upgraded into a true contender in the art materials arena.

all photos here and artwork here

Pictures: Silver Marble Huron Bulb Filler

Brian of Edison Pen Co. emailed to let me know my Huron bulb filler, in Silver Marble, is finished and ready to ship.



He also sent these pictures, which make me want to reach through the laptop screen and grab it right now!

Pretty Amazing Video

This video of UCF professor Richard Quinn dressing down his class is really powerful (approximately 200 out of 600 cheated on their mid-term and got caught via statistical analysis and a guilty conscience). He's obviously very upset, watch to the end and you'll see him breaking down a bit. More information here.

Toffee Taboo from the NYC Chocolate Show

The 2010 Chocolate Show at the Metropolitan Pavilion had a lot of new faces (at least for me), including Sendall Chocolates and their incredible box of Toffee Taboo. The company is located in Pittsburgh, PA and has a wonderful selection of treats and goodies.



The 8 ounce Toffee Taboo pictured above is some serious chocolate. The box contains two large slices of hand-molded Belgian chocolate with toffee-encrusted almonds and cashews on top and drizzled with white chocolate. If you're thinking this sounds evil and delicious, you're right on both counts


Here are Justin (l.) and the founder of Sendall Chocolates Robert Sendall (r.) in front of their wares at the 2010 NYC Chocolate Show.

While I loved the chocolate, I will note that the shipping charges are fairly high (most likely because they are mailing food items and particularly chocolate, so they have to make sure it gets to you quickly--which costs extra).

So if you're thinking of ordering, you should consider a large order of Toffee Taboo or one of their seasonal items. It's not the weight of the chocolate but the need to ensure prompt delivery that raises the cost, but it is beyond worth it.

Uni-ball Signo Erasable Gel Ink Pen

I've always thought the point of writing in ink was permanence--you can't erase whatever witty (or less than so) sentence is on the paper claiming to be your handwriting. But there are times when you do want to correct a mistake or re-write a thought that's on paper, so erasable ink pens such as the Uni-ball Signo Erasable Gel were created.

Using an erasable gel ink pen is a conscious act, one that pretty much says that you know you're going to erase something. You can't hide from that statement about yourself, so why not wear it proudly and with some style? If that's more to your taste, the Uni-ball Signo Erasable Gel's "little black pen" will be perfect for you.

This is an 0.8mm tip and I f0und it to be the right width, but JetPens has them in 0.5mm and in an assortment of colors for a very low price of $1.50. The black ink on this pen is quite different, it has an almost oily sheen to it that makes it more of a smokey black than a true black. That is probably from whatever is used to make the ink erasable, and may not be to some people's liking. I thought it was unusual and appealing.

The eraser is on the end of the cap, so once you post it on the pen you're all set. It does its job quite well, although it does leave a lot of rubber crumblies on the page. You might want to invest in a different, stand alone eraser if that's of importance to you.

One final test was how well the pen overwrote the erased space. Here is the deal-breaker on erasables, as some are not very good at that particular task. And the Uni-ball Signo Erasable Gel did quite well at this particular job. Not perfect, mind you, as there was a bit of skipping and invisible marks where writing should have been, but quite well.

If you're interested in erasable gel ink pens, or you need to round out a JetPens free shipping order, take a look at the Uni-ball Signo Erasable Gel ink pen.

Maruman Sept Couleur A5 Notebook

Maruman's Sept Couleur notebook line features the seven colors of the rainbow in a two-ring notebook that comes in two sizes, A4 (letter) and the smaller A5. Although I tend not to like ringed notebooks or vinyl plastic transparent covers, I've made an exception with these for several reasons.


The biggest problem I have with transparent covers, even if there is lots of writing or pretty pictures, is that everyone can see what's written on the first sheet. So there's an automatic skip to the next page for me. As you can see in the picture above, the Sept Couleur notebook's first sheet is a slightly heavier blank page that acts as a barrier between your notes and the world's eyes. I like that a lot, and so have taken to carrying this with me for quick jots and doodles.


The 7mm line width does make a big difference to me in writing, I don't need to pull my writing into a smaller, cramped style but can let my hand move as it wants. The page has 26 lines and there are 80 sheets of cream-ivory paper that is Rhodia-like but not quite up to it. The paper is so-so with fountain pens, friendly to some ink (Waterman did not breach the pulp) and unfriendly to others (Pelikan 4001 bled like a badly beaten boxer *snicker at alliteration).

JetPens carries this line of notebooks, both the A4 and A5 sizes, although they are slightly higher than at Kinokuniya. If you're in NYC, stop by the store on 6th Avenue between 40th and 41st, across from Bryant Park, and take a look at all the fantastic notebooks they carry as well as these Mauman Sept Couleur.

bardou

The neo-Celtic group Bardou with James Kline and Kornel Mariusz Radwanski. An intricate performance of Greensleeves with Radwanski playing a centuries-old Swedish instrument called the nyckelharpa and Kline playing a harp guitar with 19 strings.