Yesterday, I used the last page of my previous sketchbook, so today, I have an interesting decision to make. Usually, it's a no-brainer for me to go straight for the next spiral sketchbook in my box. I mean, they're the ones that can lay the most flat in a scanner; hardcover sketchbooks can't. (Granted the spiral itself still prevents the page from completely meeting the scanner bed, but they're still better than hardcover sketchbooks, for the most part.)
But I've always liked the tactile feel of hardcover sketchbooks. Maybe they remind me of books, and when I took comfort in being a bookworm. Also, that lack of spiral binding, makes them so easy to slip into packed purses. And lately, I've been so envious of art journals. So today, on a whim, I tried out my little, hardcover sketchbook on the scanner.
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| Even without weights on the scanner lid! *o* |
These Artist's Loft hardcover sketchbooks lay flat! *O*!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Usually I push and push books or more expensive hardcover sketchbooks onto a scanner, with the weight of 4+ heavy books on top of the closed scanner lid, and the shadow gutter is still too horrible to work with. But this cheap little Artist's Loft sketchbook laid flat, even in the mid-point of the book! AND, with just the weight of the scanner lid (sometimes plus the gentle weight of my fingers). This is unbelievable. When I think of all time that I've longingly passed by hardcover sketchbooks, while running away from their high prices, this $5, sufficiently-made Artist's Loft book just gets more awesome.
I don't need any leather or stylish-fabric covers. No specially treated page edges are necessary for me. All I really wanted from a bound sketchbook was that sturdy cover and clean paper...preferably around 60lbs. I don't even care that much about tooth. So, paying minimums of $25 for tiny leather-bound sketchbooks, with thicker paper weights, that just kicked out the number of pages that could have fit into the book...was just disappointing for me. Not to mention, that when my art materials are too nice or expensive, I tend to be too afraid to use them. But this---this $5 little book! Cheaper than my spiral sketchbooks! *o* ---I could totally feel free to slap stickers/paint on the cover and draw inside, any little thing that comes to my head. In short, I could use it like a real sketchbook.
Now that I've discovered these Artist's Loft hardcover sketchbooks are just $5, do more than I thought was possible for hardcovers, and are plentiful at the local stores I frequent (Michaels craft stores), I think I'm going to try sticking with them.
So, let's experiment. Instead of moving onto my next spiral sketchbook, and leaving my mini sketchbook for travelling, I'm going to move onto my little hardcover sketchbook and save my large spiral sketchbook, for whenever I want to draw really big. Professional illustrators say that it's best to draw on big canvases, because their reprints/scans will hide little imperfections when shrunk to format. But let's face it: I draw small; and when I don't, it's a pain to fit an entire sketchbook page onto a scanner. Just yesterday, while going through the usual motions of splicing together 2 half-scans of a page-large drawing, the lighting still somehow ended up different for each scan, showing a distinct difference between the 2 spliced scans. ~_~; It'd be so nice to use a slightly smaller sketchbook, and scan drawings all in one shot. And the best part is that since this Artist's Loft hardcover can open up and lay flat completely, I could span a drawing across 2 pages, whenever I want to draw larger. That lack of gutter shadow reeeeeeeeally helps. *u* So, I've decided. Let's try this. I'm excited! ^u^
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