Canson XL Series Medium Grain Sketch Book, 60-Page
Last updated: August 6, 2023
We looked at the top Sketch Books and dug through the reviews from some of the most popular review sites. Through this analysis, we've determined the best Sketch Book you should buy.
Product Details
In our analysis of 66 expert reviews, the Canson XL Series Medium Grain Sketch Book, 60-Page
placed 15th when we looked at the top 17 products in the category. For the full ranking,
see below.
From The Manufacturer
Canson XL Mix Media Pads were developed as the answer to the demand for a heavyweight, fine texture paper with heavy sizing for wet and dry media. This paper can be used for: sketching, drawing, light washes of ink and watercolor, collage, journaling, and more. It has quickly become the most popular paper in the Canson paper family. Mix Media paper erases well and blends easily. The wire bound pads have micro perforated, true size sheets. These pads were developed in consultation with art professors and combine performance with value for the art student. These pads contain 60 sheets of 98 pound/160 gram paper, acid free, 7 x 10 inch paper.
Amy Markham Artist and art educatorArtist and educator Amy Markham is the creator of Starling, a podcast dedicated to helping artists develop depth in their creative practice. A graduate of Virginia Commonwealth University, Amy has been an art educator since 2001. Today, she teaches middle school art at a school outside of Memphis, Tennessee. Her personal artwork explores myth-making and symbolic understandings. Through her brand, Starling Creative Living, she leads others to explore art production as a method for enriching their life experience.
Expert Reviews
What reviewers liked
This one is a lot cheaper, especially in the US
The papers are heavyweight and hence, do not easily let water or oil based paints soak through. This makes it easy for you to use any paint like acrylic, watercolors or simple sketch pens. The acid-free nature of the sheets also makes it environmentally friendly.
This sketchbook has perforated pages so you can remove your projects any time you’d like to.
Perfect for a variety of mediums including acrylic, watercolor, and pen or pencil, and perforated pages for easy removal
Holds up to blending and erasing
The thing about the Canson sketchpad is that the paper does have a good surface which won’t snag nibs and erases nicely. Water doesn’t absorb very rapidly, which can be nice if you are spattering or doing wet in wet.
Micro-perforated sheets make the sketchbook lightweight
I really dig the side spiral binding, largely because I like to be able to A: lay my sketchbook open flat, and B: flip the previous pages around behind what I’m working on; and the latter results in such a nice, low-profile size that I find myself carrying this book around all over the place.
What reviewers didn't like
The paper is bright white and isn’t as absorbent as I’d like meaning drying times were longer.
Only 60 pages
60 pages in total may not last that long for an architect who sketches a lot and goes through a lot of paper.
It’s not an overly generous pad. While the cover says there are 60 sheets, there are in fact 30, and you would certainly never use both sides of this paper, except maybe for pencil. At 90lbs it’s not really heavy enough to be ideal watercolor paper, so it will warp if you aren’t very careful.
Only 60 pages, which is too less for the price
The main issue I’ve had with this book is that the texture, though slight, does interfere a tad with some of my pens, particularly when making quick marks. If I’m sketching quickly, I find that bits of my lines are lost in the texture, where the pen tip loses contact with the paper. It’s a bit of a double-edged sword really, because this very same texture can be beneficial when using watercolour.
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