Top 10 Best Sketchbooks

best sketchbooks

Choosing the best sketchbook is no easy task. It’s an important choice and one that can have a huge influence on your work. For example, a sketchbook with heavier, thicker paper is more feasible to be suitable for artists using watercolors and markers, whereas lighter paper is a more suitable choice for dry media. 

All plans have to start somewhere, for most designers that begin with a sketch. Whether you are a traveler, designer, architect, or student you are certain to find the right sketchbook for your requirements. And it’s important to pick the one from the best sketchbook brand.

The Best Sketchbooks to Make You a Better Designer

A sketchbook is the ultimate artist’s partner. Similar to a close friend, you’ll spend a lot of time with it and report your inner feelings (by drawing, painting, and writing). Many artists will routinely fill their pads with a bevy of designs. Some are so elegant that their books seem like mobile art galleries. But, gorgeous covers aren’t the point of keeping a sketchbook. These books are private stations to record your doodles, ideations, and views without the pressure of sharing them with the world. If you want to, that’s exceptional—but first a foremost, a sketchbook should be a room just for you. And it doesn’t matter if you choose cheap sketchbooks or expensive ones.

So here is my list of The 10 Best Sketchbooks That Will Make You A Better Designer.

1. Moleskine Art Plus Sketchbook

Moleskine Art Plus Sketchbook

Volume: 5 x 8.25 inches | Book layout: Hard-bound, side, portrait | No of pages: 240 | Paper weight: 121lb

The Moleskine Art Plus Large Sketchbook is produced with top-quality heavy paper and is ideal for on the go drawings, sketches, and tempera colors. Every Moleskine product is wire wrapped and has a cardboard binding with rounded corners, acid-free paper, a bookmark, an elastic finish, and an expandable inner pouch that contains the Moleskine history. Moleskine sketchbook in one of the best sketchbooks for markers. This product comes from one of the best sketchbook brands so be sure that you will have a great experience with it.

2. Leda Art Supply Premium Sketchbook

Leda Art Supply Premium Sketchbook

Volume: 8.5×12 inches | Book layout: Hard-bound, portrait | No of pages: 160 | Paperweight: 81lb

  • PERFECT PAPER: Dense 81 pound paper model for pencil, ink, pen, pastel, charcoal, and even a beam water-color wash.
  • HUGE SKETCHBOOK: 8.5 x 12 inches provides you plenty of surface for art-making.
  • PREMIUM: 160 pages of smooth, cream-colored paper with small tooth accents your colors.
  • SOLID: Flexible all-weather protection and the stitched thread-bound book lays smooth for easy sketching.
  • PROFESSIONAL: Awesome look and feel will match your passion for art.

3. Strathmore 400 Series Sketch Pad

Strathmore 400 Series Sketch Pad

Volume: 9 x 12 inches | Book layout: Spiral-bound, portrait | No of pages: 50 | Paperweight: 60lb

Strathmore’s specialist papers are created with specific uses in mind, paying meticulous attention to color, absorbency, weight, and texture. For licensed artists, the Strathmore 400 Series Sketch Pad is one of the most reliable sketchbooks around, with a fine-tooth that carries graphite, colored pencils, and pastels fine. This is the most petite pad, but it appears in a wide range of sizes (all the way up to 18 x 24 inches) if you need more scope to work. This top-quality generic purpose pad is perfect for structural sketches, though the price per sheet suggests it’s probably a little too expensive for practicing. But this Strathmore sketchbook is something to consider if you value quality. It is one of the best sketchbooks for pencil.

4. Pentalic Traveler Sketchbook

Pentalic Traveler Sketchbook
  • Anywhere you go, capture life as it appears with this art journal created to fit anywhere.
  • 160 pages of acid-free recovered 74 lb. (120 gsm) paper is excellent for sketching, notes, and fieldwork, great for alcohol-based markers.
  • Incorporates an elastic enclosure, ribbon marker, back page pocket.
  • Flexible Italian produced the cover.
  • Art Alternatives “Very Big” Hardcover Sketchbook
  • Each sheet sizes 12.5-x-10.75-inches. Ideal for small or large scale drawings in multiple media.
  • 600 pages ( 300-sheet) volume to fill with fun drawings and artistic creations
  • 75lb – acid-free bright white paper with the ideal texture for drawing
  • Makes a magnificent coffee table book and awesome gift-perfect for artists and students.
  • Pack with artwork from you and your friends and family or watch your art process overtime in one huge book.

5. Canson XL Marker Paper Pad

Canson XL Marker Paper Pad

Another great wet media sketchbook from Canson, the Canson XL Marker Paper Pad provides 100 pages of thin, lightly translucent paper that’s quite unique, but serves well for sketching and tracing. The surface is flat with little in the way of the tooth, so you won’t require to worry about your markers snagging, and the ink won’t flow through to the next page. It is something you expect from an art pad. The translucent paper suggests you’ll be able to see your sketches on the reverse, so you won’t be able to draw on both sides, but there are plenty of sheets for this not to be an issue. It is considered by many to be the best sketchbook for markers.

6. Strathmore 400 Series Toned Tan Pad

Strathmore 400 Series Toned Tan Pad
  • Best quality with finer sheet formation, harder surfaces, and a variety of arrangements that work with a wider range of media and styles.
  • The selection of paper is one of the most significant decisions you’ll make as an artist.
  • Understand how color, absorbency, texture, weight, and size provide to help you build different artistic effects.
  • 400 Series Recycled: Most high-grade quality recycled paper comprises 30% post-consumer fiber that is rated Grade A for freshness.
  • Strathmore encourages environmental explications that don’t settle paper performance, appearance, or price.
  • Superior sheet formation, firmer surfaces, and varying textures work with a wider variety of media and styles.

7. Moleskine A3 Art Plus Sketchbook

Moleskine A3 Art Plus Sketchbook

The Moleskine Art Plus A3 Sketchbook has 96 wide pages in high-quality thick paper, paragon for tempera colors. 160 gsm/111 lb. acid-free paper. It’s one of the best watercolor sketchbooks.

Specs: 

  • Design: Plain Paper
  • Dimensions: 16-1/2″ x 12″
  • Hard Cover including a flexible closure and bookmark ribbon.
  • Appearance: Black
  • Pages: 96
  • Interior Accordion Pocket
  • Paper Weight: 165 gsm/111 lb.; FSC Certified Paper; Acid-Free (pH Neutral)

8. Leda Art Supply Softbound Cover Sketchbook 

Leda Art Supply Softbound Cover Sketchbook
  • PERFECT PAPER: Dense 81 pound paper paragon for pencil, ink, pen, pastel, charcoal, and yet a light water-color wash.
  • Wide: 7 x 10 inches just right sketchbook volume.
  • PREMIUM: 160 pages of smooth, cream-colored paper with small tooth accents your colors.
  • FLEXIBLE: all-weather cover preserves your art and provides assistance in the field.
  • SOLID: stitched thread-bound book sets flat for easy sketching. Offers an impressive gift.

Leda Art Supply Softbound Cover Sketchbook is a great product all around and rightfully considered to be one of the best sketchbook for ink.

9. Canson Artist Series Universal Sketch Pad

Canson Artist Series Universal Sketch Pad

Several sketchbooks are roughly A4-sized, but there’s no obligation to confine your work to such slight spaces. This report of the Canson Artist Series Universal Sketch Pad is two feet high, giving you period to draw easily. Its paper doesn’t possess many teeth, so it’s most suitable for use with pencils and charcoal. The spiral wrapping lets it lie even as you work, the hardcover gives protection and support, and every page is easy to assassinate for storage in a portfolio. Keep an eye out for multipacks of Canson sketchbooks, as these are usually a suitable way to stock up.

10. Pentalic Wire-Bound Sketch Book

Pentalic Wire-Bound Sketch Book

At the other point of the scale, we have the great little Pentalic Wire-Bound Sketch Book, which is short enough to fit in a pocket, and strong enough to survive some harsh treatment. Its hardcover limits damage from everyday thumps and bumps, and its double wire spiral bounding withstands bending. There are no breaks for tearing out pages, so this is more suitable for exercises and rough work than parts you want to keep in a portfolio. That’s fine by us, though, and its affordable price suggests we’ve no doubts about filling it. One of the best sketchbooks for an expert on the move and one of the best sketchbooks for copics.


I hope that you found this guide on the best sketchbooks helpful. You’re welcome to share your thoughts in the comments below.

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