I purchased The Perfect Sketchbook as part of a Kickstarter in 2015. It was in my “to be reviewed” pile for quite a while, and I even did some pen tests but then it somehow fell off my radar. I recently came across it in my to be reviewed box and realized I’d never written a post about it. I might have set it aside realizing stock was sold out and no longer available from that first run of pocket sketchbooks.

The creator, Erwin Lian Cherngzhi, and his manufacturing partner, Bynd Artisan, later did a second version in a larger B5 size, with a different high quality paper. And now it’s good timing to be getting back to this, as he is working on a third version with a new manufacturing partner, Etchr Lab.

It is quite audacious to market something as “The Perfect Sketchbook.” People’s preferences can differ, so it’s hard for one sketchbook to be perfect for all users. But Erwin put a lot of thought into creating something that would be perfect for him, and quite a lot of other people too!

The Perfect Sketchbook Exterior

The outside of this Sketchbook is pretty typical: 9 x 14cm landscape format, hardcover, with an elastic closure. A removable paper band has the product specs and brand info, as well as some lovely examples of Erwin’s own art. The cover material is more leather-like than many other competitors. The brand is stamped onto the front cover– it’s subtle but I’d prefer it to be on the back. I like the grey color with matching ribbon marker and elastic band in a slightly lighter shade of grey. The sketchbook has a chunky, sturdy feel with a rounded spine and slightly thicker cover boards than some other similar notebooks. There is a fairly large cover overhang.

The Perfect Sketchbook Interior

When you open the sketchbook, the grey theme continues to the endpapers. There is a brand logo and space to write your name. The endpapers are a somewhat glossy coated paper, so some pens will bead up and smear easily. The flipside of the endpapers have a value chart in shades of grey. This can be used to assess the lights and darks in what you’re sketching. I have never used such a tool myself but I can see it being helpful and I’m looking forward to trying it. Erwin has suggestions for how to use it in the Kickstarter campaign page. There is a back pocket with a little booklet of fun facts about the Kickstarter campaign.

The Perfect Sketchbook Pen, Pencil and Watercolor Tests

The stitched signatures of heavy watercolor paper open totally flat. The paper has an off-white color and a toothy feel. It gives a nice texture for charcoal pencils and holds up to heavy watercolor washes without buckling. Erwin’s Kickstarter page also goes into quite a lot of detail about the characteristics of the paper.

A nice bonus about this Sketchbook is that it came with some small swatches of the paper (extra bits left behind during the manufacturing process) so I was able to use these for testing. The rougher texture of this paper is not a good match for most fine pens– it just feels a bit harsh, but they can certainly be used. You can throw pretty much anything at this paper. Nothing bleeds through. (There are some smudges of pencil on the back of the swatches from how they were stored on top of each other.) I don’t have a lot of technical knowledge about watercolor painting, so I will just say that this paper seems great to me, without trying to judge it on a professional artist’s criteria.

Conclusion

So is this Sketchbook truly perfect? The paper is perfect for what it’s perfect for, which is drawing and painting. The tagline on the notebook says “Created by Artists, for Artists,” and I believe artists will be happy with it. If you want something where you can incorporate writing, you might prefer a sketchbook with smoother paper. I have my little quibble with the cover overhang, but on the whole, I think the quality of the construction is excellent.

I pledged $20 as an early bird backer. $20 isn’t cheap for a pocket sketchbook, but for something of this quality, it’s not totally out of line vs. the competition. The closest thing I’ve tried is probably a Stillman & Birn Delta or Beta series– their pocket size version runs around $10 on Amazon, but it’s a softcover with fewer features, so it’s not an apples to apples comparison. I also reviewed three watercolor sketchbooks a few years ago. Of those, the Pentalic is probably the closest to the Perfect Sketchbook, and you can get it for about $13 on Amazon.

But the Perfect Sketchbook was only available at the $20 price for early birds. Other backers paid $25. The cover of the sketchbook notes a price of $30 USD, though I don’t think copies were ever sold at retail. This should really be considered a semi-custom-made sketchbook, collectively produced by artists who want these exact features and will pay extra to have them. I really like my Perfect Sketchbook and am glad I have one. But for me, it’s like driving a Lamborghini instead of a BMW, or cooking on a Wolf range instead of a Samsung, or listening to McIntosh speakers instead of Bose: a higher-than-high-end experience that I can’t quite appreciate enough for it to be worth the extra money. Nevertheless, I look forward to seeing what Erwin does next, in case it’s perfect for me!