Review: Pen & Ink Sketchbooks : Much Nicer than Moleskine

From Pen and Ink Small Blank Sketch Book

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.)

From Pen and Ink Small Blank Sketch Book

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

From Pen and Ink Small Blank Sketch Book

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.

From Pen and Ink Small Blank Sketch Book

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.

From Pen and Ink Small Blank Sketch Book

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.)

From Pen and Ink Small Blank Sketch Book

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.

From Pen and Ink Small Blank Sketch Book

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.

From Pen and Ink Small Blank Sketch Book

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

From Pen and Ink Small Blank Sketch Book

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.

From Pen and Ink Small Blank Sketch Book

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

From Pen and Ink Small Blank Sketch Book

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

From Pen and Ink Small Blank Sketch Book

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.

From Pen and Ink Small Blank Sketch Book

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.

From Pen and Ink Small Blank Sketch Book

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

From Pen and Ink Small Blank Sketch Book

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.

From Pen and Ink Small Blank Sketch Book

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.

From Pen and Ink Small Blank Sketch Book

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

From Pen and Ink Small Blank Sketch Book

Versus the Moleskine Sketchbook (on the right)

From Pen and Ink Small Blank Sketch Book

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....



PS- This was my first, and probably last time attempting to use Picasa Web to link images to my reviews. I appologize for the smaller than usual images.