HULYTRAAT Spiral Journal Blank Sketch Book Pad, 5.5 x 8.25 Inches A5, Kraft, 80-Page 40-Sheet Drawing Notebook 2-pack (NBP2)

I bought these to see if they'd be suitable as a "first sketchbook" for students in sketching workshops that I teach. Wow, are they ever!!! I'm going to stock up not only for my beginner sketchers, but also for myself!The paper is not "thick"...it feels like the same weight as you'd get in any less expensive sketchbook. However, it performed well beyond expectations. I tested several things as you can see in the picture. NOTHING except the Sharpie bled through to the other side. There is some kind of sizing in the paper, because the very juicy watercolor swatches flowed and blended very nicely across the surface. It acts sort of like hot press...sorta slippery, no real tooth to grab the pigment. But still...the granulating Cerulean Blue did granulate somewhat. There was a tiny bit of buckling but not much. The colors stayed bright! I would say this paper could handle direct watercolor pretty well as you might splash on for an urban sketch but don't expect it to handle a lot of glazes or reworking...it's really not meant for wet media so the fact it can handle a juicy wash is a nice bonus! Using a water brush with the Flair marker also resulted in no bleed through. The gouache in the upper right corner dried so fast the paper really didn't react to it. Graphite erases beautifully with a soft polymer eraser. My mechanical pencil's .7mm lead felt very nice and smooth on the surface of the page.I think this is a perfect sketchbook for quick sketches in graphite, ink, direct watercolor with light touch, even gouache. Perfect size for a purse or small pack, and what a bargain.

I'm very happy with these little notebooks. I use them to draw in with pencil. Unlike sketch books the paper is smooth enough to be perfect for a pencil and it erases smoothly. The paper is thick enough as to not leave indentations so the other side can be used as well. I use a #7 pencil which is quite sharp on plain paper but in the sketch pad I had the pencil was dull, it smeared and didn't erase clearly. The notebooks are the perfect size to be carried and the spiral binding makes it easy to flip over and draw on the other page page. The spiral itself is small enough as to not get in the way so I can draw on the entire page. I accidentally got a small mark of a permanent pen on the page and it bled to the other page but I tested a back page with a paper mate flair marker and there was no bleed. The paper is not brite white but not far off. I will buy more of these and I would reccomend them.

I don't get why this kind of book isn't sold at the stores. I don't like the ones with the lines. The blank ones give me all the free space so I can write all sorts of notes and draw diagrams. I like that it's about half the letter paper size. I wouldn't recommend it to students. You'll probably go through 2-4 of these books for a semester. It's perfect for a 25-hr video course on Udemy or PluralSight or I can put notes from 2-3 books I'm reading. The closest I could find to these books in the stores was at Michael's which are too thick too uncomfortable for me to write notes on. Can't beat these books with their minimalist look and its lightweight.I thought about buying an iPad with Apple Pencil but I like these books so far.

I don't want another inspirational quote from some long dead "guru" scrawled over the front of my journal. I don't want lines on my paper, as if my thoughts could be contained in a prison of linear expression only. Luckily, this little notebook has none of that. It is the perfect size because it fits in my purse. No distracting lines, or logos. The paper has withstood my TUL ink pens in every color. I haven't worked with felt pens on this paper so am not able to speak to bleeding problems. I will reorder!

Unfortunately this little unlined book won't work as well as I thought -- I wanted to sketch on cheaper paper to get faster at quick drawing but this paper is so thin that one sheet and the sheet under it both are impacted by my pencil drawing. Still a good little notebook though!!

I purchased these books for the “Flat Stanley” school project. They worked great! The pages are thin but the ink did not bleed nor did it show through to the back of the page. So I was able use the backsides of each page. I do not think they would work for many drawings or even light watercolors but for journaling they were great! I was even able to adhere photos to nearly every page.

I didn't realize these books were smaller than I thought and they didn't have lines. But I blame myself 4 not reading. I actually do like the notebooks.

paper is thicker than notebook paper. I bought it for the kids to sketch and they're happy.