Stationery chosen with British desks, A4 binders and the September school term in mind
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Art & sketch

The right paper matters more than the fanciest pencil. Start there and the rest follows.

Sketchbooks

For pencil, pen and dry media, a cartridge-paper sketchbook of around 110–150gsm is a good all-rounder. Heavier "mixed media" books, often 200gsm and up, cope with markers, light washes and gouache without buckling as much. Portrait or landscape, spiral or stitched: choose landscape for panoramas and spreads, spiral if you want the book to fold back on itself.

Watercolour paper

Watercolour paper is usually 300gsm (sometimes labelled 140lb). Lighter papers cockle when wet. Cold-pressed (also called NOT) has a gentle texture and is the most versatile; hot-pressed is smooth, good for fine detail; rough has a pronounced tooth for loose, textured work. Cotton papers handle washes differently from cellulose ones and generally cost more; beginners can start with either.

Drawing tools

A graded set of sketching pencils (say 2H to 8B) gives you the full tonal range. Add a kneadable rubber, a blending stump and a craft knife or good sharpener. Alcohol markers blend smoothly and are popular for illustration, but they bleed through most paper, so use a marker pad or keep a spare sheet underneath.

A starter kit

  • A5 or A4 sketchbook, 120gsm or more
  • Graded sketching pencils (2H–8B)
  • Kneadable and plastic rubbers
  • A pigment fineliner or two
  • A small pad of cold-pressed watercolour paper
  • A travel watercolour set and a water brush

Art supplies to browse

Sketchbooks

Cartridge and mixed-media sketchbooks from pocket A6 to A3, in portrait and landscape.

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Where art meets the journal

Plenty of journallers sketch in their notebooks. If that's you, look for dot grid books with heavier paper, and test markers on the back page first. Brush pens and coloured pencils are friendly places to start. For how gsm affects all of this, read our paper weights guide.

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Not sure where to start? Our paper weights guide and fountain pen guide are good first reads.