I’ve been working on notions of what the final scenes of my Teenage Beast story will be like, sketching ideas in my Pen+Gear Sketch Diary. As I have written before, that sketchbook is a gem as far as price and quality. The paper handles ink nicely, soaking it up without bleeding, much like the pricier mixed-media pads from Canson, Fabriano, or Strathmore. I drew the variation of the Teenage Beast’s final demonic form above, and the lines came out clean and bold. It has become my go-to for detailed work.
Then Tina spotted another Pen+Gear sketchbook at Walmart, marked down to about $2.50. It’s smaller, 6×9 inches, with wire binding and thick black plastic covers, looking a lot like the Ticonderoga UCreate. I was excited to try it, thinking that Tina had worked her magic again, and I had scored a budget-friendly alternative.
Not so fast. This sketchbook’s paper is a letdown. I sketched the dragon above in pencil and inked it with my Sailor fountain pens, but the ink bled and feathered. It looks okay in this scan, but the edges of the lines are a bit fuzzy. The paper’s thin, too—ghosts of previous sketches show through. The cover claims that the paper is acid-free which is a hallmark of better sketchbooks, but this paper looks, feels and behaves like a dollar store scratch pad.
I’m also wondering if the country of manufacture has something to do with it. My guess is that big box retailers are sourcing inventory from whomever has the best price. Both the Pen+Gear Sketch Diary and the Ticonderoga UCreate were manufactured in India, and I was delighted with the performance as well as the price. This newly acquired Pen+Gear sketchbook was manufactured in Vietnam. Digging a bit deeper, it turns out country of origin can matter for these budget pads—Vietnam often produces surprisingly fountain-pen-friendly paper (thanks to local school traditions emphasizing cursive with inks), but cheaper batches like this one can skimp on quality, leading to more bleed. India tends to deliver consistent, reliable stock for sketching, though it might feather slightly with wet media in lower-end runs. Either way, always check the label!
It’s not a total disaster. I’ll use it for rough sketches, like figuring out character poses or jotting story notes. But for serious inking? I’ll stick with the Pen+Gear Sketch Diary manufactured in India as well as the more expensive, name brand sketchbooks from the art supply stores.
