Def the best value sketchbook out there. Similar to the Leuchtturm, but less than half the price. No brainer. Takes ink, watercolour, pens, gouache well. A5 landscape for a portable sketchbook. A4 for the sofa on a cushion. I get the least desirable colours, which are often cheaper. Their Cobra oil water-miscible paints are excellent.

@TheColourCave

Ай бұрын

I have to say I was very impressed. I've also tried their water-mixable oils and loved them too!

I absolutely love the Talens Creation sketchbooks. I have a few sizes and as a mixed media artist I have to say they literally take anything I throw at them. Watercolour will go down but will buckle - that’s expected - but if you use less water or Gouache it takes it beautifully! The pages are cream coloured but if that’s not an issue then I would recommend these books without hesitation. Thank you so much for an in depth look at all the media this book can take :)

@bethmegansmith4642

8 ай бұрын

I love these Talens Art Creations Sketchbook I have golden and Lavender I can use paints in them and Neo colors and pencils . Maker will bleed

@VolodymyrKelembet

8 ай бұрын

I've noticed they started selling the new sketchbook options with completely white paper. Those are sketchbooks with a cork, art deco (black & gold) and still life covers. Maybe some others too, but I'm sure about the sketchbooks mentioned above only.

@RebecaNavarro

7 ай бұрын

I bought one a few weeks ago and was love at first sketch. I like it more than moleskine sketchbook. My big surprise was that this sketchbook handle soo good the watercolor 😱. Im using it for fashion designg sketches. Something I saw is that moleskine bleed with my carbon ink but the art creations work PERFECT 🤩 then i tried with a fountain pen and 😵😵 👌🏻⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

I am properly amazed by that sketchbook. I too like the A5 landscape format. I’m going to buy one. 😊

This video convinced me to get an art creation after thinking about it for a while, and I've got to say, I absolutely love it and see why others do too. It's a joy to use because it takes the mediums I use without a problem, the pages are smooth but with a satisfying subtle tooth that the paper feels like paper and not plasticy, and most of all it doesn't feel precious so I feel free to experiment! My one criticism is the page spread which the ribbon bookmark was in upon arrival left a dent in the page, but it's two pages out of 160 and it was so cheap I find it more amusing than anything.

I have the small square version of this sketch book and happily use it for pen, ink, acrylic marker, pencil and water based marker. I hadn't thought to try alcohol markers, but will certainly bear it in mind in the future. :-) My only note of caution is that pigment ink liners take a long time to dry fully. If you intend to go over the top with a water based marker, give it a LOT longer than you would if drawing on standard cartridge pen, or the ink will move. Generally these are very nice sketchbooks for the price and I'd certainly recommend them. I'm not at all unhappy with mine and would definitely buy it again.

I love when you try stuff out! I appreciate the methodology you use and it's fun to watch. I think this Inktober I going to finish up my sketchbook that I low key hate and be in the market for a new one. So I will keep it in mind.

So I recently bought one of these - an A4 portrait version - and I am in love. I use it for art journaling and use watercolour on it all the time. Yes it buckles, but a couple clips holding the paper down takes care of that. Really really love it.

i use them too and have all sizes availible . its easy accessible as a dutch (talens is dutch)use it mainly for watercolour and watercolour pencil and it does pretty well and erasing too , using couache feels like painting silk . they also have some with a fancy front cover design from famous dutch painters the milkmaid and some with flowers and black and gold japanese design and a cork cover design they contain white paper .

@TheColourCave

8 ай бұрын

All the variations sound wonderful!

@darklittlepeople

5 ай бұрын

i love them too! although not a fan of the yellowy paper, i was super happy to see the cork cover ones had white paper. sadly, the white paper was immediately pilling with watercolours, while the yellowy one takes them no problem... go figure! i'd love to get one with flowers on the cover, but they are way more expensive - at least here in france.

"just for fun - let me!" left me no choice but to subscribe. it also made me want to give you a hug for some reason 😂 EDIT: i WILL fight whomever wouldn't let you have fun! 🤣

I love this sketchbook! i use it all the time, mostly with gouache or light watercolour washes. It's great for art on the go too!

I have a small square royal talens as my low effort and travel sketchbook and I'm really loving it. I'm really impressed with how it's holding up to wet media

Thanks for the lovely and detailed review. I really like these sketchbooks. I only wish it had pure white paper, but that doesn't stop me. You ca n happily apply watercolour ground and then watercolour on top of that. But I see no major issues with some watercolour straight on the paper.

I love these sketchbooks. I've used them for projects as mini diaries as they take media so well and are lovely for writing in too so I can draw on one page and write on the other as so little ghosts through. Fab little workhorses.

I love these Talens Art Creations Sketchbook I have golden and Lavender I can use paints in them and Neo colors and pencils . Maker will bleed .so I stick two pages together or use clear gesso Happy coloring

Thanks Gem ,enjoyed

Hi, Gem! I did a 160 day sketchbook challenge with the 9 x 13 portrait version of this, and I used pencil, w/c pencil, graphite, ink, iridescente paint, Faber Castell brush pens and line markers, and watercolour. I had no problem with erasing with my kneadable eraser (aka Blu-Tak!!! Much cheaper and more efficient than all the named kneadable erasers I've tried), and a supermarket white eraser (less than a euro for that). I did a couple of my abstract watercolours, which involves using masking fluid to mark off shapes / outlines, then wetting the paper, dropping in paint and encouraging it to flow freely across the page. The paper was taped all round, was puddle-wet. I left it to dry, and it dried completely flat, and I could use the 'back; of that page. There was no problem removing the masking fluid, or the masking tape., or with going over my outline with a broad gel pen. I also glued things in with a PVA glue and brush, and with double sided tape, with no problem. The binding stood up to the beating it took (160 days - both sides of the paper), except for the very end of the book - where I propped the right hand side of the paper to make it level with the rest. With this tiny sketchbook, it was needed. I can see that I stretched the stitches on that section a bit, but the pages are fine, and haven't fallen out. The book has stayed together really well, in spite of the work it endured and the human-handed stress on the binding at the end. With the A5 landscape, there's no problem, as the book is wide enough to lay flat without stress. It also has coped with all the above media, including the wet-in-wet and using watercolour pencils, activated, layered and re-activated several times for a full page abstract. Adding 2 drops of glycerine to 100mls water helps to activate w/c pencils so that they flow freely, with no effort, which is probably one reason that this paper didn't struggle with the reactivating (plus the fact I was using a decent watercolour paint brush, not a water brush). All but one of the comments here have sung its praises (and it's evident from his comment that mjpete hasn't tried the sketchbook, so he didn't comment on that - only other sketchbooks), as of 11.30pm 03.09.23 - surely this is something of a record for an art supply on YT??? 😄

@TheColourCave

8 ай бұрын

It may well be a record haha! Thanks for sharing your experiences!

Very interesting and detailed test! Maybe i wouldn't have bought it because of the thin paper...but i am impressed now and want to try it out😁👍❤️

Gem, I recently purchased the Magnus set of Albrecht Durer’s and filled it with the newly released colors and it is just the BEST lil set of watercolor pencils and robust enough for traveling in a pencil case! I just wanted to pop in with this comment.🤪

Fun and informative review. Thanks for sharing!

Hullo Gem, I enjoyed watching you put this Sketchbook through the “paces” I believe if you want a traveling book that will take any medium spend the money and get the Render brand! I have also found that unless you get a watercolor book with sizing you must work quite dry and avoid large washes. Urban sketching like the sort Jess Karp does works on many different brands. I found the illo books work pretty well for most mediums and I like the Leuchtturm & Handbook Journal books are my most purchased books. Now for a bit less and for very budget books the U.S. Art Supply brand has bargain basement prices through Amazon! Now this brand from the tests you have done in this video should bring it to everyone’s consideration. Wonderful video Gem, thanks!

Yeah I love the art creations sketchbook. I bought a little 12cm square one to test it out, can't wait to work through it so I can get a larger one. I've used it with light watercolor, acrylic and gouache. The only thing I have had any issue with is radiograph ink and alcohol inks (which every thin paper has issues with)

thats a pretty good sketchbook for that price😀 (more for dry medium). def one to put on a list to try myself since i dont erase anything

Oh my how fun! I just recently bought one of these a couple of weeks ago and am really enjoying it so far!

@ColzoArt

8 ай бұрын

The seawhite is still my favourite BUT the 12cm square one talens one I bought is good for throwing in my bag when I go out as my chonky seawhite is too big for my bag. My talens is a very pretty baby pink colour

@TheColourCave

8 ай бұрын

'Chonky Seawhite' - I should rename the shop listing to that 😂

@ColzoArt

8 ай бұрын

@@TheColourCave 😂 yes!! It’s such a good description!

I bought this sketchbook 2 times. I am buying it again. The first time I bought it, the size was 13 × 21 (that's the size I like). Next, I bought it for 14 × 9 (It was too small for me. The one I will buy this time is I think 14 × 21. I wanted to get the 13 x 21 but couldn't find it. I still love these sketchbooks. A lot of people complain about the paper buckling, but that happens all the time. I personally love the buckling and bending so yeah.

I have tried lots of sketchbooks and thiscis the by far best allround sketchbook I have used. It takes most media and it takes a light wash nicely. I only wish the paper was whiter but this cream colour is good to the eyes when sketching outdoors on a sunny day.

@TheColourCave

8 ай бұрын

Great point about sketching outside - something I wouldn't really have considered given that the sunny days are fairly limited in rainy ole Scotland 😉

@tralijntje1540

8 ай бұрын

they also have versions with hite paper ,look for the milk maid ,black and gold japanese and cork cover those have white paper.

I've had a couple of these and think they are great. I got my first one from tk maxx (it might just be a German thing, but occasionally you can find a bunch of royal talents products here). I got this same size for €3.50 with a gold cover and I wish I had bought more! I personally love when sketchbooks buckle and you end up with a nice thick sketchbook. I can get fed up with the tone of the paper, but I just switch to something else if it bothers me. Anyway that was a nice in-depth review. I enjoyed that!

@TheColourCave

8 ай бұрын

€3.50? Mega bargain! Even if they only took pencil I’d happily pay that!

@fionagray9319

8 ай бұрын

@@TheColourCave I know! There was a time last year when our tk maxx couldn't seem to give Royal Talents products away. I used to see loads of packs of the ecoline brush pens (& I ignored them). Then we got them in an upcrate box and I LOVED them. Of course I have never seen them since. Isn't that always the way!? 😭

@TheColourCave

8 ай бұрын

Gutted for you! (now wondering where my nearest TK Maxx is and if they ever carry art supplies...)

I have a little square one of those sketchbooks (well, I have 2 because I can never stick with one...) and I absolutely love it! It does take alcohol markers really well without question. I even tried the watercolor brush markers we got in the last upcrate and one layer of those were no problem for the paper; there was no buckling there. The Karin markers are just so juicy, it's no wonder that the paper wouldn't like those in too many layers (well, I assume at least). You can do watercolor if you're very gentle with the water, then the paper doesn't go crazy (there is buckling, but not too much). Fineliner work really great too for doodling or zentangle! And colored pencils work great as well, you can do quite a few layers before the paper gets too tired. I'd totally recommend these sketchbooks! Especially for the price! Great video, Gem-Gem 🙂

@yenna9931

5 ай бұрын

Do alcohol markers turn less saturated on this paper?

@Thia-saurus

5 ай бұрын

@@yenna9931 I haven't noticed any color fading with alcohol markers. they look very nice and saturated :)

@yenna9931

5 ай бұрын

@@Thia-saurus Thank you for your prompt reply! I just ordered them. Can't wait to try🤩

For that price point I'd say it's a good sketchbook. I don't really use sketchbooks, though. Always wanted to, but I just don't draw enough, haha 😅