Pentalic a la Modeskin Traveler's Pocket Sketch Journal
Lamy Safari sitting on three journals
Size comparison. Large Moleskine, Pentalic, and Rhodia ePure.
Flexible vinyl cover, elastic band for closure, long ribbon bookmark. It comes in the following sizes: 3x4, 4x6 & 6x8. (Sizes are approximate)
Pentalic logo on bottom rear of book.
Notched cover firmly holds the elastic band in place.
Cover has rounded edges, paper edges are squared.
Extra long ribbon bookmark
Large expandable pocket inside rear cover
160 pages of 60lb/100gm cream colored unlined acid free recycled paper. Unlined is the only option. (It is meant to be a sketch book)
The book opens very flat, but lays almost flat because of the design of the book's cover. (The spine creates a bump)
Sewn binding, with each signature having 12/24 stitches per signature. (Yes! Really!) Flexible cover allows it to be easily folded backwards.
Multiple inks tested in various fountain pens. Smooth paper, ink dries average. Minute feathering that required a magnifying glass to see it. Reverse of page shows only 2 tiny blood dots - so yeah, I'd say it's pretty darn fountain pen/ink friendly.
The paper happily accepted a light watercolor wash, little buckling and no bleed through. The colors blended nicely on the page.
In conclusion - this is a SEVEN DOLLAR JOURNAL. It's fountain pen ink friendly. It may not have all of my preferred features, but I'd definitely consider buying another in the future.
It is made in China, which may explain the low price - but it also might have something to do with the fact that they are doing one product, with one kind of paper, in 3 sizes. That might make production more cost efficient than other manufactured that have plain/lined/graph papers. Either that, or we are just paying way too much for our Moleskines...
Buy them online at the Fine Art Store.
5 comments:
it's crossed my mind that with the global economic downturn thing going on - that people might suddenly start waking up to the fact that they're really being gouged on the full retail price of moleskines. As you point out they're just notebooks made in China.
Or not - people are weird after all.
They have TONS of these at my local art store. I really do like them, especially for the price.
Love the primary colours of the photos!
Love all the new journals you got! And your photos are fantastic to!
I can only find most of these online as my local art shops don't carry them.
Groc - exactly... I mean this Pentalic isn't everything I want in a journal, but it does have a number of things going for it.... especially the price!
Thanks Kata - it is a pretty spiffy book, and thanks for commenting on the pics.
Jessica- I live in a fairly urban area, and I only have 2 art supply stores in my area. The pickings are slim compared to what's available online. Most of the journals I have been reviewing have been found via the web. I like to by local as much as I can, but it seems like the days of local specialty mom & pop shops have gone the way of the Edsel. So I guess we do what we have to...
I really like these journals. I have bought MANY of them. So far I haven't used them for drawing/sketch, but I really like using them for journals. I especially like that they are easy to slip into a coat pocket or backpack and take everywhere.
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