Review: Pen & Ink Sketchbooks : Much Nicer than Moleskine

[biffybeans]

Click here for full review with lots of pictures

 

Pen & Ink small (3.5x5.5) blank sketchbooks. Medium weight (80gm) and heavy weight.(145gm)

 

Pen and Ink products are specifically created to be sold in independent art supply stores. I can readily find them online at Fine Art Store.com and also via Amazon.com. (See links at the bottom of the post.)

 

The sketchbooks come in a variety of options:

 

3.5x5.5 Medium Weight Blank Sketchbook 9.99

3.5x5.5 Heavy Weight Blank Sketchbook 9.99

3.5x5.5 Medium Weight Lined Sketchbook 9.99

3.5x5.5 Medium Weight Grid Sketchbook 9.99

3.5x5.5 Medium Weight Blank Landscape Sketchbook 9.99

3.5x5.5 Heavy Weight Blank Landscape Sketchbook 9.99

5.5X8 Medium Weight Blank Sketchbook 12.99

 

Almost identical in appearance, a Moleskine and Pen & Ink sketchbook stand next to each other. To the touch, the Pen & Ink cover is softer, and appears to be better made than the Moleskine.

 

The Pen & Ink is slightly wider than the Moleskine becasue of the way the spine is constructed, and because the edges of the book slightly overhang the pages. In my opinion, this would help to better protect the edges of the paper.

 

The edges of the cover and the pages are rounded on both books. (This image shows the Mole sketchbook and the thicker medium weight P&I which has more pages than the heavy weight version.)

 

Comparing the three. Each book has stitched signatures, but the spacing of the stitches isn't the same in each. In the Moleskine sketchbook and in the heavy weight Pen & Ink sketchbook, there are two wide stitches spaced near the top and bottom of the book. The mid weight Pen & Ink book has two smaller stitches, and they are not set at equal distances from the top and bottom of the book. The bottom stitch is closer to the center of the book, which troubles me. If you quickly flip the pages from the bottom middle of the book, you can accidentally pull up a signature.

 

Kind of like in this image:

 

The Pen & Ink books have a rounded spine unlike the squared spine of the Moleskine. I like the way the rounded spine feels in my hand, and I do not think that it would get as "wrinkly" looking over time like the Moleskine spine does.

 

The Pen & Ink covers have some flex and are not as rigid as the Moleskine covers. Becasue of the way the spine is constructed on these Pen & Ink sketchbooks, you can fold the cover back on itself, which is something that cannot be done with a hard cover Moleskine. I don't know if the P&I would take consistent use with the cover folded back. It seems to put a strain on the signatures in the heavy weight version.

 

The inside front cover on each of the Pen & Ink sketchbooks is blank.

 

Each of the two Pen & Ink books open flat, and sit just about, though not perfectly flat on a flat surface due to the construction of the spine.

 

Each P&I book has a ribbon bookmark, and it's finished on the bottom which will prevent it from unraveling and becoming frayed.

 

Close up of the P&I spine when opened flat.

 

Each Pen & Ink sketchbook has an expandable pocket in the back.

 

And now, the fountain pen ink test in the medium weight Pen & Ink sketchbook.

 

The Pen & Ink medium weight sketchbook has 192 pages of ruled/squared/plain cream-colored pages. (80gm) The paper in these books is most comparable to the paper in a regular Moleskine notebook. For comparison, the Moleskine notebook has 192 pages of ruled/squared/plain cream-colored pages. (Weight unknown)

 

The 80gm Pen & Ink paper is smooth, but not shiny. When viewed with a magnifying glass, each ink feathered - some less, some more. The wider nibbed pens (.07 CI and M Sapporo) seemed to do the worst, but to the unaided eye, it's only really visible with the .07 CI at the top of the page.

 

Bleedthough? Yes, some, but mostly again, with the same wider-nibbed pens. With thinner nibs, there is an occasional blood dot. If you aren't using a super wide nib, it seems to be pretty decent paper.

 

Using a Niji Waterbrush and watercolor paints, the 80gm paper held up well to a light wash. Almost no buckling.

 

And now, the fountain pen ink test in the heavy weight Pen & Ink sketchbook.

 

The Pen & Ink heavy weight sketchbook has 96 pages of plain cream-colored pages. (145gm) The paper in these books is most comparable to the paper in a Moleskine sketchbook. For comparison, the Moleskine Sketchbook has 80 pages of top quality buff-colored heavy paper for drawings and tempera colors. (Weight unknown)

 

The 145gm Pen & Ink paper is slightly darker in color than in the mid-weight, but isn't near the unsightly yellowish hue in the Moleskine sketchbooks.

 

Under magnification, no ink feathered except the Midnight Blues in the .07 CI, and even that was minimal. None of the tested inks bled through the 145gm paper.

 

Now here's the big difference between the Moleskine and the Pen & Ink sketchbooks. The paper in the Moleskine sketchbook has the consistency of a Manila folder. Like "Oak Tag." It's got a shiny coating that doesn't take water color very well at all. The P&I has no problem with watercolor, and there was almost no buckling of the paper. (Niji waterbrush and watercolor paint) Oh, and the Pen & Ink has more pages than the Moleskine. 96 versus 80.

 

Color difference of the mid weight versus the heavy weight paper in the Pen & Ink books.

 

Versus the Moleskine Sketchbook (on the right)

 

In conclusion, these books are pretty comparable in price, but The Pen & Inks just seem so much nicer than the Moleskines. They are both made in China, but the Pen & Ink sketchbooks feel better in my hands and the paper seems to be of better quality. They take fountain pen inks fairly well and I like the way that they are geared towards art retailers rather than anyone who will have them. Makes them a bit of a specialty item.

 

Additional Pen & Ink reviews will be coming in the future. Watercolor book, Sketch & Draw Book, Fountain Pens....

 

 

[El Mocho]

Thanks for the detailed review!

 

I concur! I use the ruled version as my standard "little black notebook" for daily use, quotations, phone numbers, addresses and the like. I have found the paper a skosh bit better than Moleskine, and the cover just feels nicer. I've even gotten compliments along the lines of "You use a Moleskine like me and... wait... it's nicer!"

 

I get mine at Arizona Art Supply. Occasionally they have sales, and I can get them even more cheaply.

Edited November 19, 2008 by El Mocho

[chainwhip]

Thanks again for the great review BB!

 

I found one for $6.49 @

 

http://www.artsuppliesonline.com/catalog.cfm?cata_id=11310

[rcannonp]

Thanks for the review. I've seen those in Sam Flax before, but they are always shrink wrapped so you can't really get a good sense of how they will work out. I've been using the Moleskine sketch books because I haven't been able to find anything that works any better(not because I really like them). The heavyweight Pen and Ink book looks like it might be a contender.

[Palladin]

Biffybeans, is the horizontal-type sketchbook good for writing or is it really a sketch book? I find that the Moleskine sketchbooks are not very good for writing, neither with pen or pencil, because of the density of the paper, so I have to use the note-books. I like how that Pen and Ink pad looks, though!

[biffybeans]

Good question, because it's all a bit confusing.

 

Pen & Ink has "sketchbooks" and they have "sketch & draw" books. The sketchbooks are suitable for writing. The mid-weight paper is like regular Mole paper, and the heavy weight is more like paper than the Mole sketchbook coated stuff.

 

I also have the sketch & draw books, but have not yet wrote up a review. I will say that both the cover materials and the paper are different in the sketch & draw.

 

 

Biffybeans, is the horizontal-type sketchbook good for writing or is it really a sketch book? I find that the Moleskine sketchbooks are not very good for writing, neither with pen or pencil, because of the density of the paper, so I have to use the note-books. I like how that Pen and Ink pad looks, though!

 

[rcannonp]

I went out and bought one of the heavyweight sketchbooks, and so far I like it a lot. The paper isn't quite as opaque as that in the Moleskine sketch books, but it's close. The surface of the P&I paper is much better than the Moleskines. Now I have a notebook in which I can use my Noodler's Red-Black and Sailor brush pen. It might be the new favorite.

 

[Palladin]

This is all pretty hopeful. Maybe, at last, there is a better note-book...

I'll make the modest investment in one of those P+I sketchbooks.

[Phthalo]

I found the paper feathered a fair bit in the landscape Sketch & Draw notebooks. :/

 

I noticed my local art store has these now with colored covers, has anyone noticed a difference in the paper compared to the originals which were only released with a black cover?

[biffybeans]

Something I had not initially realized, but the large Pen & Ink books are larger than large Moleskines. Slightly shorter & wider. Same size as a large ePure and a large Ciak.

[biffybeans]

Quick update. I just finished my large P&I sketchbook. Cover to cover in a little more than a month. Sadly, with two pages to go, the binding split at the back inside cover. ( It did help me to determine that I prefer using a blank book, but I'm not sure that the Pen & Ink book is right for me. There is an odor about the book that drove me crazy the whole time I was using it. I think it's the glue, or material that's used to adhere the cover material. Ever find a really old piece of paper with a piece of super old yellowed Scotch tape that comes off right when you touch it? That's the smell. Old tape glue.