Today’s blog post, Khadi Sketchbook Review, is the third in my series of sketchbook reviews in which I share the things I like and the things I’m not so keen on about each sketchbook.
As I mentioned in my previous posts, we all paint in different ways so a sketchbook that one person loves may not suit another. Also, some people like to have one sketchbook on the go whilst others like to have many! I always have several on the go at the any one time. I’m always on the lookout for the perfect sketchbook but I haven’t found it yet!
Khadi Sketchbook Review
The sketchbook I’m sharing with you in this post is a hardback Khadi sketchbook approximately 25cm x 21cm. Mine has 40 sheets of 210 gsm cotton rag paper with a slight texture, similar to a NOT surface.
Things I like about this sketchbook!
I particularly like the way only two sides of the paper have been trimmed leaving the third edge with a beautiful deckle edge.
I really like the look of this sketchbook with its lightly textured brown paper cover, I feel it has a beautiful simplicity about it.
The paper is stitched in sections and the book opens completely flat which makes it easy to use. Although some of the stitching in this sketchbook is on the surface on some pages I quite like the almost ‘rustic’ feel of this book.
For me it doesn’t feel too precious, so I’ve been happy to use it for experiments and for playing around with ideas.
I do like the paper being 100% cotton rag and find it interesting that Khadi use T-shirt cuttings to make their rag paper.
Although I had intended to use this sketchbook for purely watercolour sketching, I didn’t end up using it for that, and I’ll talk more about why not in the next section! I did however enjoy using it for mixed media experiments.
Things I’m not so keen on about this sketchbook!
I read lots of positive reviews about these sketchbooks and saw some wonderful sketches other people had done in theirs before I bought this one. I really liked the look of it when it arrived with its lovely, deckled edges and the soft paper covers however I was disappointed to find I didn’t really enjoy painting on this paper with purely watercolour.
I found it quite difficult to lift colour once my washes had dried, so I had to be careful not to apply the colour in the wrong place! I often blend my washes together on the surface of my paper, both on wet and dry paper, gently softening areas to achieve lost and found edges. I achieved the effect I was after if I first wet the Khadi paper, but found it quite difficult when working on dry paper.
The paper has a NOT, cold pressed, surface texture however because of how the paper is made the surface does vary from page to page.
I have read other people really like these variations, however I personally prefer my paper to be the same surface texture throughout a sketchbook. This is especially true for me when painting across a spread because otherwise the way the watercolour settles and dries can look quite different from one half of the spread to the other.
My overall thoughts on my Khadi sketchbook review.
I found for me the best results were achieved by applying the colours, wherever possible, in one application rather than building it up in layers. When I wanted to blend colours together on the paper I found it worked best if I wet the paper first.
I did enjoy using it for mixed media experiments especially using watercolour, inks and gesso together, the handmade feel of the paper seemed to work well with these studies.
I like the look of this sketchbook, it feels quite ‘arty’, but personally I found the paper didn’t suit me.
It would be great to hear if you have used this sketchbook or have any thoughts about it.
If you would like to see more of my sketchbook studies please click here.
The next sketchbook I’ll be reviewing is a Hahnemuhle Watercolour Book.
Happy painting,
Ingrid
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