A4 handmade leather sketchbook, custom watercolor handbound journal for sketching, painting buying and journaling, gift for artist or writer

Ideal for art journaling, sketching and painting, these beautiful, chunky handmade A4 sketchbooks are made with upcycled leather offcuts, and your choice of high-quality artists' papers. A thoughtful gift for an artist, writer or journal-keeper, or for exploring your own creativity.

Each journal contains your choice of premium quality paper, hand-stitched directly to the leather wrap cover using waxed linen for strength. This binding allows pages to be opened flat, for easier sketching and painting. A leather cord closure holds the pages snugly closed when not in use.

The pages are approximately A4 portrait sized - however the actual size may vary a little. The overall journal size is roughly 32cm x 23cm. A wonderful larger sketchbook for developing your art practice.

Available in a beautiful range of covers, all made from genuine leather. You can customize your journal by choosing the colour of the linen thread used - or leave it to me to select it to complement your choice of cover.

I offer a choice of paper options with these journals, to suit different media and styles:

*For writing, drawing and dry media: 170gsm fully-recycled cartridge paper, made from 50% waste coffee cups. A beautiful, smooth paper, ideal for journalling, sketching with pencils, and dry media. With this option your journal will contain 128 page sides (64 leaves)

*For mixed media and art journaling: 240gsm fully-recycled cartridge paper, made from 50% waste coffee cups. A wonderful heavyweight paper with a slight texture, which is great for pencils and other dry media, and light painting applications. This paper will hold up to light buying watercolour washes, but may cockle - so if you work primarily in watercolour or ink washes, one of the watercolour paper options below is recommended. With this option your journal will contain 80 pages sides (40 leaves).

*For watercolour, ink washes, acrylic, tempera, gouache and other wet media:

- 300gsm Fabriano Studio Watercolour paper. A high-quality paper with a medium cold-pressed surface, made from 25% cotton rag and 75% FSC certified lignen-free cellulose. With this option your journal will contain 64 hand-torn page sides (32 leaves).

- 300gsm Bockingford watercolour paper. A popular high-quality cellulose-based paper, which is great for practice, studies and watercolour sketching. Available in hot-pressed (smooth) surface for detailed work, or cold-pressed with a pleasant texture. With this option your journal will contain 64 hand-torn page sides (32 leaves).

- Premium 300gsm Fabriano Artistico 100% cotton watercolour paper. A firm, professional grade artists' paper, available in hot-pressed (smooth) or cold pressed (medium textured) surfaces. With this option your journal will contain 64 hand-torn page sides (32 leaves).

- Premium 300gsm Arches 100% cotton professional artists paper, available on hot-pressed (smooth) or cold pressed (medium textured) surfaces. A favourite surface for many watercolour artists.With this option your journal will contain 64 hand-torn page sides (32 leaves).

- 250gsm Indigo Artpaper handmade cotton rag. Absolutely beautiful, rustic medium-rough surface, ideal for looser watercolour styles, inks and mixed media explorations.With this option your journal will contain 64 hand-torn page sides (32 leaves).

Leather is a natural material and may have marks and imperfections, which add to the character of each book.

As I work with reclaimed, upcycled or waste leather offcuts, the range of colours offered changes regularly, and there are often only a very small number of any colour available.

Please note, due to the nature of the materials used, the exact colour and grain of the leather cover may vary slightly from the examples shown.

I can make these journals with other brands of artists papers, or with extra pages, so if you have a favourite paper to paint on, please get in touch with a message to discuss your needs.

Each journal is carefully wrapped in tissue paper and sent in a sturdy box to ensure it arrives safely. As these sketchbooks are handmade to order, please allow 2-3 weeks for dispatch. You can find a range of ready-to-ship sketchbooks and journals in my other listings.