I have a lot of sketchbooks. Every time I go travelling I pick up a couple, normally in something that’s local and hard to get or more expensive in Australia (my luggage was 20% stationery by weight on my way back from our Italy honeymoon and from both Japan trips). It’s rare that I walk out of an art supply store without a new sketchbook in hand. (I go art shopping twice a year, max, that’s why I’m not buried in sketchbooks yet)

I store the empty ones in a drawer and active books in the cupboard shelf. So… what do I draw in day to day, with all these nice books at my fingertips?

Aldi sells ring bound 120 page sketchbooks for $3.69 under their Scholar label. I buy half a dozen when the back to school special buys come in January. The paper isn’t top quality and there’s no way it’s archival, but for that price it’s a sketchbook I feel like I can beat up, draw badly, write notes in, and play around with.

But, I still kept buying nice books that I’d hesitate to use. I’ve also been trying to strike the balance between “nice” and “affordable” - being Australian complicates it further with most of the online recommendations being from the USA. Plenty of people online recommend the Strathmore Series 400 softcover visual journal as an affordable everyday sketchbook - the cheapest I could find, at July 2024, is $53.15 - full price $75.95 (!!!!). I love the strathmore mixed media paper but those are Arches paper prices, not everyday sketchbook prices.

I want consistency that’s somewhat affordable, with reasonable quality. The Aldi ones feel a little mushy and the ring binding fades as you have it in a bag and the pages rub together. If a book is too expensive, I don’t use it. What if I ruin it. Blah blah blah. It’s an investment but not totally out of reach for something I’d buy two or three of a year - $75 is a nice brunch for two, or two thirds of my weekly groceries. Bit much for a sketchbook when my usuals are less than $5, though. I liked what people were doing with the lay flat books online, and I do most of my drawing at home these days unless I’m off travelling somewhere, so there’s no need for a ring bound book.

I had an art teacher who made her own sketchbooks in high school, and they laid flat, so I tried making my own in May this year. If I made it myself, I reasoned, I know that I can make another one if I run out. It’d let me try a bunch of nice paper, too - you can get good pads of paper in A3 cheaper than in a bound journal, so I can strike the balance of quality and price. Surely it can't be too hard?

Anyway I’m hooked. They're not pretty, but I made them!

My name is on the back of the left one so covered that with my brush rest! I like having the paper details on the back.

I’ve used paper pads I got from my office supply store as a test, and I used this youtube tutorial for making a sketchbook out of a drawing pad in coptic stitch. I don’t think I’ll go back to commercial books unless I need a ring bound one for some reason, but I’d like to learn a binding method I can fold back later on. I can make a book with watercolour paper, or drawing paper, or copic blending card… the possibilities are endless and it feels good to know I can make a book for every purpose. I collage the covers because it’s silly and fun. These sketchbooks are much easier to use guilt-free because I made them and know I can easily make another if I "ruin" it.