what sketchbook(s) do you use? im trying to find something small and compact enough to carry with me when outdoors.

and related to that, if anyone has recommendations for a decent small-ish shoulder bag for one's art supplies, please do share.

I usually buy whatever is cheapest at Walmart.

>>7590702
all the cheap stuff around here seem to only come in A4, which is way too big to carry with.

>>7590699 (OP)
I like the 4x6 and 5.5x8 sketchbooks from Art Alternatives. Actually after seeing this thread I just grabbed four more from Jerry's Artarama, they've got a deep discount right now. The last one I got was a 6x6 from Canson and unfortunately the paper is very thin and smudges a lot. But it's still great for doing little doodles or 60 second figures, and if that's all you need it for then brand doesn't really matter. For my bag I use the Shujin Academy bag from the Persona 5 collector's edition lol. Not the best option but I like it.

>>7590710
>Jerry's Artarama
hot damn, never gotten this before.

I use the one you posted weirdly enough.

>>7590699 (OP)
I like getting Midori MD books
They aren't super expensive, though not super cheap either
The book is made so they can lie flat
The paper is thin, but sturdy, they take my ink and highlighters well without bleed
They are notebooks by design, but the pages have different styles, including blank, which make for good sketchbooks I think
The A5, B6, and A6 books are decently sized for a small bag
176 pages, so they last a decent bit of time too
I usually get them on Jetpens

>>7590699 (OP)
Portable? A packet of business card sized thin index cards and a plastic box that fits them. Got both from Daiso

>>7590714
any complaints?

>>7590716
damn, these are gorgeous.

>>7590721
They genuinely are
Gotta be careful if you come to like them though, they are easy to get carried away buying them
I started with one and very quickly grew to 10

>>7590699 (OP)
maruman croquis are my favorite

>>7590699 (OP)
I stopped using sketchbooks. They're a pain. Unless you draw in public or traveling, which I don't.
I just use typing paper like pic related . I can tape it to my art desk , Also easy to throw away if it's a trash sketch.

>>7590699 (OP)
I make my own with acid free printer paper for pencil/pen sketching or the cheapest fabriano for color pencils and markers.

>>7590834
how do you cut and bind the paper?

>>7590790
>buy one pile of 1000 sheets
>will probably take me 10 years to clear it at the pace i'm drawing
SHEEEEEEEET

>>7590699 (OP)
>something small and compact enough to carry with me when outdoors
Talens is cheap and good

>>7590718
nta but they aren't good if you want to use dip pens or ink in general. They bleed and sometimes the ink looks weird, like it fades.

>>7590699 (OP)
Those Talens books are fuckin awesome. I would say the paper is on par with Moleskine. Moleskine is still better, but not by much imo. The Talens are also cheaper than the Moleskines. I love them.

>>7590982
i take it you don't use inks with them?

>>7591019
I haven't, no.

>>7590699 (OP)
>if anyone has recommendations for a decent small-ish shoulder bag for one's art supplies
I have one of these, super expensive, though

https://nutsac.com/products/sling-plus

>>7591073
There's also this https://guerrillapainter.com/products/guerrilla-sketcher-sketchbuddy-binder-v-20 -- I have one and don't feel it's worth the price, but fuck it, it matches your criteria.

>>7591073
goddamn, that is a steep price. it does look great though.

>>7590835
nta but you buy the paper double the size you want to make (a3 for a4, a4 for a5 etc) and the cardboard covers and make different bundles of paper folded in half then sew them together and to the covers using something called a coptic stitch, or a textbook stitch if you want to glue the cover on and give them a spine. its great because its way cheaper and you can choose the paper you like best but they're not very pretty and they tend to be thicker than store bought

>>7591084
got any pics of ones you've made?

>>7590699 (OP)
This anon >>7590717
again

I didn't see the bag question at first. I just use a fanny pack, mechanical pencil, eraser, and a brush pen.

>>7591159
oh a fanny pack might work nicely. can even sling it over the shoulder for comfort

>>7591162
Anything but actually grabbing a pencil and draw

>>7590699 (OP)
I do like the soft cover booklets that don't have too many pages, because I hate bringing a sketchbook to a trip that is over 50% full. Why carry old drawings around? The Fabrianos are the nicer ones, but cheap is my priority here, I don't really care for great paper for sketching as long as it isn't terrible. I usually look to pay around 2,50€ per A4 booklet and you can find them cheaper in packs.

>>7591211
>Why carry old drawings around?

you know, that's a fair point. but do those booklets keep a flat surface when drawing?

Do you guys have any recomendation if I want to use a brush pen with a sketchbook? Not sure what to look for. I want something not super small.

>>7591252
They lay super flat and you can also fold them over completely flat if you work on only one page. Only downside is that they only come with like 16ish sheets / 32 pages, but I consider it as an upside. The biggest selling point for me is the low price though and the Fabrianos actually come with good paper.

>>7591454
pentel art brush or Kuretake MANNEN MOUHITSU for a black refillable brush pen.

this is probably a better question for this thread than the art supply general thread so i'll try it again:


what's everyone's artist EDC look like?

i have some thin pocket sketchbooks i want to take to work for break or sitting in the car but no matter what i try it just feels cumbersome to carry in my pockets, especially with the pen/pencils

>>7591512
what is the size of the sketchbooks. If you are drawing at work or in your car don't you have some sort of backpack you can put it in?

>>7591512
Either you use some folio case like pic related from Amazon where you put stuff in you need anyways or you have to limit yourself to just one pencil. I stopped bothering with pencil cases and just use a mechanical pencil and even use the included eraser for everything. I do like the folios because I have other stuff in it too like my e-reader, random coins etc.

I've used the Artist's Loft sketchbooks the most since that's what I've been gifted often, I'm not sure how anyone else feels about them but I find them perfectly adequate for my desire to doodle constantly.

>>7591510
I'm sorry, I meant which sketchbook would be ok if I want to use a brushpen. I already bought the Pentel Pocket Brush Pen and I've been having a blast.

>>7591091
this is a5, a6 is the same just smaller obviously, each bundle of pages is 5 sheets so its 50 pages and its a little thinner than a regular 80 pages sketchbook

>>7591533
I like the spiral bound books they have
Problem is I like a thicker paper, so I've backed away from them a decent bit for now, the mixed media and watercolor books are too rough for my pens a lot of times

>>7591565
weight is probably what you want to pay attention to when getting a book for a brush pen. A regular moleskin notebook has a weight of 70 gsm, the sketchbook in the OP has a 140 gsm, and a good watercolor sketchbook has a 300 gsm. If you are only using a brush pen then get anything around 70-140 gsm would be good.

>>7591585
thanks! i think i might try this for the upcoming week, see how it feels. got some leftover printer paper that i may as well use for an initial attempt.

>>7590835
Either buy full sheets and cut them to double the size I want or get the paper already cut from my local paper provider.
Then just fold in halves and saddle stitch, trim and corner.
These are 36 page A5 and 24 page A6 ivory printer paper with kraft paper covers (yellow one's an old manila folder). Cost me about $8 for sixteen A6s or ten A5s.

>>7591847
that looks really nice actually. looked up a tutorial for saddle stitching, and might give it a go later today

>>7591454
In general you want something that's not too rough or absorbent, no "sketch" paper or watercolor since some inks will just feather out as the paper sucks the ink up. But how close to smooth depends on your preference. A lot of artists love bristol but I find it to be too smooth for me. I prefer heavyweight index paper and Canson The Wall paper, but I also do work with markers so its costly and may not be needed for you. Copic makes some sketchbooks that are great with inks but they're expensive.

Canson does make quite a few different options in their graduate line that are between bag and standard printer size, and these are usually in office supply stores' art sections.

>>7592041
update: i messed up the stitching, but i got a little a6 booklet done as a test. gonna take it with me to work today, see how it feels.

>>7591211
>Why carry old drawings around?
To reiterate?
Usually my small sketchbooks I just draw the same thing again and again using them more like collected thumnails than finished drawings.

IDK if it's retarded but I bought an ipad air and i use it for literally nothing other than sketching at work during lunch

flying tiger sketchbooks and bullet planners. cheap and great paper

https://flyingtiger.com/en-lv/products/sketchbook-with-100-pages-285x365-cm-1450161
https://flyingtiger.com/en-lv/products/bullet-planner-a5-3029014
https://flyingtiger.com/en-lv/products/bullet-planner-a4-3029013

>>7595495
If you are near a Tiger shop they seem to rotate their stock weirdly often so they always have "last season's" sketchbooks and everything else on sale with ridiculously good discounts. Mine did anything but then they closed down. They are cheap regardless but it's worth checking out

>>7595505
yeah i like to raid them now and then, they have great enough paper (for that price range, for pencils and ballpoint), and now i have more than i can probably use for the rest of the year

>>7592545
I had been at the store the other day, I had wanted to mention these, but then I saw you did
But then I wanted to get one myself
I don't get the point of having one labeled just for manga, when it's just a different type of paper, not even framed or anything

>>7596519
>I don't get the point of having one labeled just for manga
Ever since the 2000s there has been a marketing trend for listing random shit as being somehow related to manga. Often (but not always) lower-end stuff. It's to get teenagers who know nothing to tunnel vision on it. Generally it's limited to some lines of paper with less tooth to it, pens, and markers. Despite manga rarely being colored with markers, there's a persistent... myth? assumption? among people younger than 25 that colored manga images are done mostly with markers rather than watercolors or digital (I know some exceptions exist but those are rare).

The Canson Graduate line is one of their lower end ones but I honestly like a lot of what's there. I considered getting the manga sketchbook because it has a nice texture but I already have a good stock of paper. I legitimately like their graduate black paper a bit better than their XL black paper too.

>>7596557
This one isn't specifically labelled as manga but they went for multiple markets at once with the anime furry catgirl in a 2000s webcomic situation.

>>7596557
>>7596560
Canson also has had this abomination of a product line for 2 decades.

>>7596557
See pens though I can see it making more sense, just a general idea of "this ink will last and dry fast, you can ditch a nib or brush if you know what you're doing"
My thing with the book is just, there's nothing special to it I think, it's just me talking, I'll put manga on any paper if I want, so I just get the feeling like "the croquis and drawing books could do this as well and have more pages"
I also have a big paper stock, so yeah, there's that too
But just the senseless gripe I have, i guess, I just really wanted the croquis book.
I got the book Daydream Hour from Kui Ryoko, and it makes me wanna draw complete nonsense again for once, I'm expecting great things from canson again for once
>>7596561
I think I just saw some of these books, too
I don't remember if they even had any ruling either, though

>>7596645
Isn't manga paper just bristol?

>>7596519
>>7596557
XLs are meant for dry media and more specifically pencils, they don't feel like they're good for anything other than that. Faber Castell has leant really hard on the manga side of things by packacing pitt pens in "manga" themed sets of like 4 each and charging more for them. it's the same pitt pens of their regular series though.

>>7596560
Sakura markets Pigma Microns as "manga pens" to the point where they have a "manga pack" which featured a tutorial for people to follow. They really like that one.

>>7596682
From what I remember, Manga paper is both smaller and thinner feeling than your usual Strathmore Bristol which might be used for professional comic art in the west.

>>7596709
>XLs are meant for dry media and more specifically pencils
I use their black papers for gel pens. I just like that its nice and smooth. The XL are thicker though.

>Sakura markets Pigma Microns as "manga pens"
This annoys the fuck out of me. Western comic artists use them, but it's rare to hear about a mangaka using fineliners at all. Even then, I know that Takao Saito preferred copic multiliners. But most use g-pens or digital.

This is made worse because microns aren't alcohol-resistant, despite being in the same western young-person cultural consciousness as copic markers for the faux "pro mangaka" ideal.

>>7596682
Bristol pads a lot of times are sold with comic art as a described major use as I've seen
I'm not super sure the paper in the canson graduate book was Bristol though
As >>7596709 said, manga paper is usually pretty thin and smooth compared to Bristol I think, but it is pretty sturdy
I like using cardstock myself though, I suppose I don't exactly like regular manga paper's feel too much

>>7596709
Yeah I've avoided Faber Castell a lot for that
Sakura is like sold for manga a lot, so them leaning into it isn't weird

>>7596725
Saito I think was using them mostly by the time he died
I don't remember him touching a nib pen on manben, just different markers
Fuyumi Soryo was another big story there using them, she does use sakura specifically, at least she was at the time she was on manben, she told how after arguing with an editor to do it, she just started using them without saying anything, to no detriment versus a nib pen
I don't use alcohol mediums, so if they don't stand up to that I don't really care, they do hold up to water real well though, so I can paint over them, I like to use the sakura pn myself

is there a downside to spiral bound books that im not seeing? seems like they'd be much easier to work with than the glued together ones but im not seeing any recommendations for them here in the thread.

>>7596891
I suppose the only downside I'd necessarily feel to point out is what if you fuck up the spiral
But that feels like a real "what the fuck are you doing that would cause that" issue
I like them cuz I can just turn the book over and scan it with the single side I need
A lot of them also have perforation, which I guess for the sake of preserving the book might be a potential issue, if that grows weak, but also is good if you decide you need to pull a page out

>>7596725
>>7596725
>it's rare to hear about a mangaka using fineliners at all. Even then, I know that Takao Saito preferred copic multiliners
If you're talking about Manben, he was using Microns. Pretty much all of the Manben guys used them, they seem very commonplace. You recognize them because they use the japanese ones as opposed to the western ones. They have a different design. Google them, because for some reason this isn't allowing me to upload pics...

>Yeah I've avoided Faber Castell a lot for that
Sakura is like sold for manga a lot, so them leaning into it isn't weird

I actually think FC's fineliners are the best you can get in the market when it comes to quality of nibs and inks. In both departments they are better than Microns.

>>7596918
I found recently I don't like nibs very much
I wanna try a brush soon, but my main pen is the PN like I said
I used to use the microns, but I don't feel like I get good work out of them, so what I have left of those is more for nothing doodling
I like felt and brush pens otherwise
I think Takahashi Tsutomu is the mangaka I take to the most supply wise from what I saw on manben

>>7590699 (OP)
If I had to use papers, I generally use 9x6 scratch papers in binder clips. This is because I prefer to re-organize my drawings by subject and I couldn't really do that with regular sketch books.

I used to re-thread or re-bind old spiral bound sketch books, but there is just no way for me to do it in a very clean way, the page don't turn properly when I rebind them, but I don't really have time or money to invest in a new hobby like that.

>>7590699 (OP)
Anyone got any coquille board recommendations and/or Square sketchbook recommendations?

>>7596918
Micron is a specific product line of felt-tip fineliners by Sakura. I've only seen the occasional GenXer comic artist refer to fineliners overall as "microns" (like calling tissues "kleenex".)

>>7597029
see?

>>7597029
>>7597033
Oh fuck I just realized he actually uses multiple different brands for different sizes. My mistake. I guess he really just did not give a fuck at that point.

>>7590834
>>7591084
>>7591847
Any idea where to get gigantic paper? I usually use 11 x 14 sized sketchbooks so I'd need something that's like 22 x 28 or some such size.

>>7597041
Art supply stores have them in flat files at the back or on large racks around the perimeter.
Office supply shops also often have big paper but it's cheap stuff, typically in big pads or rolls and just for kids' projects, posters, doing presentaitons, stuff like that. Functional things, not art things. But it can work for practice.

>what sketchbook do you use?

>>7597038
fineliners are not made equal. the 0.2 nib on pigma microns is famously shit. that's actually a point in favor of stell nib tech pens, because some specific nibs follow the ISO standard so lines will be exactly as thick (or thin) as the barrel says. This never happens with fineliners.

>>7597029
hey we call them rapidographs here in cyrillistan

>>7597067
been here done that and it sucks if you need a little bit of texture. my advice is to take them to a copyshop or a bookbinder and have them bind 200-300 pages into a DIY sketchbook, it feels much better than just drawing on one or two loose sheets on a clipboard

I usually use art talens, A4 or A5 size

>>7597067
I stopped doing this when I filled my third binder. Those plastic doccument sheets feel awful and even the "archival" ones react with lead and ink over time.
There's also no browsing-friendly way to bind loose A4's without losing an inch of paper so unless you had that planned from the start it's a problem.
Nowadays I only use loose A4 printer paper for shit I don't mind going to the trash like tracing a drawing off a sketchbook before transfering it into watercolor paper or canvas with my lightbox.

>>7597252
Meanwhile I am the opposite. I usually buy sketchbooks and cut the papers down + out because that is the only way they sell some paper types and they don't come in letter/a4 size. I use a clipboard to draw. If it's a good spiral bound in those sizes then I might use it from the pad and cut it out later though.

>>7597351
>document sheets
I just stack them in plastic boxes from daiso and staples. If I really need to I'll put acetate sheets or parchment paper or something between them.

>>7597377
That's even worse for browsing.
If all you're doing is grinding mindless "studies" that's fine but if you have real projects, being able to look back at previous iterations is valuable.

>>7597897
This is a thread about sketchbooks

>>7597897
I scan or photo all my finished work so I just check it on the PC. And in the boxes I make sure to store it in chronological order as best I can.

>>7597920
I never check my scans folder
It's like once somethings digital it stops existing to me

>>7590699 (OP)
do you only use right side page on these book like sketchbooks?

>>7598488
With pencil, yes, even eith thick papers drawing on both sides is a sure way to smudge everything to shit.
With acrylics or gouache I can paint on both sides.

>>7599580
doesnt it wobble as fuck on the left side?

>>7599674
You rest on the side you're working on.

>>7599678
ive only ever used spiral bound sketchbooks i guess i will give it a try

I mainly use blocks.
I bought some A5 and A4 and some smaller i can carry in my pocket. I made some from watercolor ir kraft paper very cheap.

>>7590705
So buy A5?

>>7596891
You might smudge or damage whatever was on the previous page if you flip it all the way round and then use it
Other than that not really

If you get bleedthru past just the other side you can mitigate it by keeping a piece of plastic (acetate works well) as a "bookmark" behind the page you are working on.

>>7590702
This. I get the Daler Rowney 5.5 x 3.5.

I wish places sold paper test packs.

>>7603157
Legion does that, they're these tiny booklets. But that's most likely cause their stuff is on the pricier end

>>7591162
It looks pretty alright even just at waist if put on the side. It's kind of too showy on the shoulder.

>>7603704
i ended up buying a second hand purse/bag for like $5. really soft material, and perfect measurements for an a5 sketchbook. highly recommend scouring online auction spots/thrift stores for anyone looking for a starter bag.

>>7605042
A couple years ago I bought a bag from temu for 2 dollars
Didn't really think it would last long, just some knockoff little thing, but it's been crazy to me how well it's held up even when I've over stuffed it at times

>>7605688
Neat.
I don't go out enough anymore to need a bag so I don't even know what I'd want from one.

>>7590699 (OP)
I use an A4 Talens and a 12x12cm one for thumbnailing and ideas. It has the best paper for sketching, lineart, marker, and holds watercolour pretty well too.
Out of the others I've tried, I liked the Strathmore mixed media at the time but probably wouldn't get it again because it's more textured.

I got so many paper samples I don't know what's what anymore or where I got it from.
All I know is there's a bristo vellum from some random stationery company that's a million times better than the Strathmore 400 one I bought.

>>7606298
>I don't go out enough anymore

You ought to, Humanity has evolved to have higher thinking but we're still animals. We need to move around and have the sun, rain bless our skin from time to time, That's why chronically online people are majorly depressed, because they aren't taking care of the human animal.

Get a good audiobook, go on long walks and draw something that captivates you

>>7609921
I got 20 blocks of park right outside my house, I just don't go to gatherings anymore.