Dublin Castle

More from my Moleskine sketchbook tales of woes. I'm getting so frustrated with this paper, I'm half tempted to abandon this sketchbook altogether.

We were at Dublin Castle, and I sketched both indoors and outdoors. And normally, I just get into the zone and throw paint at the page or do a line drawing with a fountain pen (Lamy Safari, Lamy Joy, Sailor Fude - I've been using them with no problem in another book). But this time, I really couldn't get into the flow - the fountain pen nibs were scratchy on the page and the watercolour went all blotchy on me. Like the paper was piling. Plus the paper buckles even with a light wash!

It was one of the most frustrating sketch outings I have ever had! Despite the gorgeous location, the access to beautiful indoors views and the fact that the weather was warm enough for a while to sketch outdoors.

I've been sketching in a Moleskine watercolour sketchbook for years, and it was the perfect book for me. Which made life easy. I didn't have to even think about what book to take with me. It was always there. But I'm now going to have to make a change. I'm reading lots of sketchbook reviews. I'm testing other sketchbooks I have. And I'm also wondering - is it just this one that's bad, and the next one will be fine? But I talked to another sketcher yesterday, and they're experiencing exactly the same problem. And I've come across a review on Amazon where the person has shared photos - same thing. So I'm just going to have to cut my losses, finish this book as quickly as I can. And then move on!

Just to give you an idea of the flow problems I was encountering - I actually abandoned this sketch because I was so frustrated with the scratchiness of the fountain pen nib on the paper. That is so unlike me to abandon a sketch. I'm known for getting in the zone and sketching with abandon, always happy no matter what, just enjoying the process. When bad paper is getting in the way of that, it's definitely time for change!

In the end, I added shadows with an Ecoline marker after I got home, and then it wasn't so bad. So maybe that's what I might use it for, value studies, thumbnails. But not for glorious colours and fun lines!