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------ An artist I admire on FLickr, Jessica Doyle, recommended the Fabriano Artist's Journal to me. It's a pricey book - from Blick, it was $20 for the 5x7 book. (I had a 30% off coupon)

To make it simple, let's just say that NOT ONE of the above used inks bled even a little bit in this book. It's an acid free sketching paper, and it has a little bit of tooth. Every single pen with every single ink wrote butter smooth on this paper. EVERY ONE. I did a quick drawing on the reverse side of the paper, and unless you really look for it, you can't see the opposing side through the paper.

What a glorious little book. While it doesn't exactly lie flat, you can crease the spine and force it relatively flat.

It comes with a ribbon bookmark ala Moleskine. The signatures seem securely sewn together.

The only thing that makes me really like this book vs LOVE it, is that the cover is a heavy cardboard, which seems to me could get pretty beat up, pretty easily.

192 pages, alternating between white & cream in color.

From the Blick site: "The paper is a great paper for ink, pencil, or pastels. It's mouldmade, acid-free, and lightfast."


Purchased 06/22/08 Blick
On my adventures with Rita (Faber Castell Pitt Artist Pen)

We went to Perkins & ate eggs and talked about Reptillian Alien Agendas (Lamy Safari M Noodler's Black)

We talked about how every possible decision creates an alternative universe, that it's all infinite. (Lamy Safari w/ .07 Cursive Italic nib custom ground by Pendemonium. Diamine Imperial Purple Ink)

But I sometimes think there are an infinite number of souls. (Lamy AL Star 1.1 Stub. Waterman Blue-Black probably mixed with the residue of Noodler's Black)

She said that every country but Israel & the USA have declassified their UFO files. (Lamy 2000 EF Noodler's LeColour Royale)

That the TV show the X-FIles was the way that the government was introducing the concepts to us of alien existences. (Lamy Safari EF Noodler's Aircorp Blue-Black)

She gave me Reiki on a wooden bridge near a circular pond that had trout in it. (Esterbrook J 9556 nib Diamine Imperial Purple)

She said that we were Native American sisters in another lifetime.
I petted a lot of dogs on the nature trail. (Pelikan M200 F Noodler's Red-Black)

Good find. Enchanting review! It made my brain roll over and wag its stem.

Yea, I hadn't intended it to be a review. I just started writing in the book and trying my pens (as I always do) and I was shocked at how great it was.

And trust me - my brain was spinning a bit yesterday as well. I'm still trying to wrap my head around the whole Reptilian Alien Agenda thing...

Quick update - the reverse of these pages isn't as smooth for writing as the front.

As a dry media artist, biffy, that's good for me to know. what is the page count on these? My strathmores are getting pretty full... (sketch in graphites/ charcoals, not fp's)

I've had two of these journals and loved them. The cardbord cover is kind of flimsy and will show wear quickly, but I always thought this adds to its charakter....

The paper is called 'ingres' I think. It's a hand made paper for pastells and other dry media you can also buy in sheets. I went over to binding this paper into my own books as the Fabriano's won't lie flat and is much too fat to carry around all the time.