Choosing the Right Journal for Your Creative Journey ✨

Your journal will be your companion throughout this process.

Before rushing out to buy one, take a moment to think about a few important questions:

• Do you want it large or small?
• With a spiral binding or without?
• Landscape or portrait orientation?

Once you’ve decided on the look and size of your journal, it’s time to move on to the paper type.

Paper quality should match the materials you plan to use. If you like mixing different mediums, using glue, or working with a lot of water, you’ll need a journal with thicker pages so they won’t tear and ruin your creative flow.

Every sketchbook is marked with the paper weight (gsm). The higher the number, the thicker the paper. Personally, I can’t work with anything under 100gsm—it’s too thin for my water-heavy style. If I must, I glue several pages together before starting to paint.

Some Journals I’ve Tried

Art Creation – Found in art stores, available in many sizes. A bit more expensive, but the 140gsm paper is sturdy and has never torn on me.

Flying Tiger – Surprisingly, this lifestyle store has a large art section with journals, sketchpads, and supplies. Affordable, but usually around 100gsm, so they work best with pencils, markers, or glue not watercolors.

Max Stock – Another pleasant surprise with a wide range of journals at affordable prices. Quality varies, and stock changes often, so a favorite item may not always return.

AliExpress – A world of endless options at low prices. The downside: you don’t always know exactly what you’ll get, or when it will arrive. I usually order ahead and keep extras in storage. Recently, I found a 300gsm watercolor journal there that I truly recommend.

An Alternative Approach

One more option—not everyone’s favorite, but one I personally love—is repurposing an old book.This technique, called “Altered Book,” transforms a finished book into a journal. Instead of blank pages, you work directly over printed words, creating a unique dialogue between text and image. The possibilities are endless—it’s a wonderful exercise in creativity, and I highly recommend trying it at least once.