I have had a few “Ask The Desk” questions recently that I just don’t have any answers for. Maybe you can help?
I want to find a sketchbook that I can use to sketch and practice hand lettering, as well as logo design. I will use pencil, as well as markers. What I want to find is a sketchbook that has different alternating pages, such as gridded and plain blank. That basic request seems hard to find. I found Kline NYC/, but they are not taking orders at the moment.
I know I’ve seen some notebooks that alternate pages from blank to lined or grid but I can’t remember where I saw them.
Sharmon202 asks:
Any idea why they discontinued Sailor Jentle Sky High and other inks of that set? I got into this just as they did this. What is a possible equivalent to it?
I have no clue why Sailor decided to discontinue some of their most beloved ink colors. I know that times change and tastes change but somehow I never thought it would affect ink colors. That said, has anyone found a good replacement ink for: Grenade, Sky High, Epinard, Ultra Marine, Apricot, and Peche? Bottles of these inks can still be found on Amazon at shockingly inflated prices… $98 for a bottle of Sky High? Definitely time to find a good replacement.
For a good notebook with alternating paper styles, you might want to try Komtrak. They make refillable notebooks, so there are quite a few paper options, depending on the size of book you choose. They aren’t especially posh-looking, but the paper is of good quality and the customization is excellent. The refills in their catalog are blank, lined, grid, dry media, watercolor, pen and ink, photo-mounting, accounting, and music staff paper.
For Melissa’s question, Field Notes still has the Arts and Sciences notebooks that are 7.5 x 4.75″ with alternating pages.
At levenger.com, there is a basic Circa notebook that costs less. You can buy blank paper to add to the lined paper that comes in each Circa notebook. There are size choices between letter and junior. Blank paper is sold separately. It might not be the cheapest, but very customizable.
You might try Running Rhino. They used to make a journal with blank and lined pages facing one another. You might check with them. Running Rhino & Co. 1407 11th Ave. Seattle, WA, United States 98122
Tel: (206) 324-5711
Fax: (206) 324-5822
E-mail us: jilla@runningrhino.com
Jetpens stocks Mnemosyne notebooks…there’s one ‘imagination'(?) I think and its gridded on one side and blank the other…wi rebound…so you could open it flat and have opposing pages? pricey but decent paper,more notebook than sketchbook (although not bad bleed through with basic markers/fine liner type markers).
Semikolon is another brand that does 3 papers in one…also wire bound. But good! Used it when I was organising a big move with markers and pens and whatever I could stick in and use as an organiser for the time. Good paper too. Again depends on how much you’d like to spend.
If you were free and didn’t mind surfing Korean stationery sites, they seem to have the odd note/sketch pad that does the dual pages thing. Fallindesign.com and mykimchi4u.com are two sites that could have them.
Hope it helps!
I heard that Sailor discontinued those inks because they had to manufacture them in large batches, which they apparently found to be unsustainable, so they introduced some other colors (previously LE inks, I believe) that they could make in smaller batches. Feel free to correct me if I’m wrong!
I believe there is a blue in the new collection that might be a good alternative to Sky High. Not sure though – I haven’t tried the new ones yet!
If other commenters can’t recommend a good alternative to Sky High, I bet people on Fountain Pen Network could!