Delightful for watercolor sketching and writing
I think this will be a delightful travel journal for both watercolor sketches and written notes.<br /><br />The pages are a soft, off-white paper with a strong imprint of the screen on which it was pressed. As you can see in the photo, this gives it a canvas appearance with dry-brush strokes, but it's not so pronounced that wet strokes don't flow smoothly. The paper is thick enough that it remains relatively flat when using watercolors.<br /><br />The string closure is simple and adequate. I merely wrap the string around a couple times and then tie a slip knot around itself to hold it closed. This works well enough, and a more secure closure wouldn't hold any better given the soft leather covers.<br /><br />This book is more like a substantial softbound book than a hardback. That makes it quite flexible, even considering the thickness (about an inch). This flexibility adds to the casual feel of the book in the hand, which I find conducive for quick sketches. The page size (about 6-5/8 inch square) begs for more expansive sketches than my previous small (3-3/4 x 5-3/8 inch) travel notebook, but doesn't fit into the pocket as well. I think this one will be filled more with watercolor sketches than written notes, the opposite of my smaller notebook which was easy to carry non-stop when traveling. This one is more likely to be brought out when I have watercolor sketching in mind.<br /><br />I don't know what city plan is embossed into the front cover, but seeing it makes me want to travel again. With the Covid pandemic conditions, it's been too long since I have. Now that I have this notebook, I want to travel again to Europe.
Rating: 5 stars