Moleskin Madness

For many years I scoffed at those little Moleskin Journals near the checkout stand at book stores. I would chuckle to myself when I would see obnoxious wannabe poets hunched over their precious little Moleskin Journals jotting down oh so precious stanzas in coffee shops. HA! I would say. Who needs such an overly priced notepad? I am an artist! I could draw on napkins just as well! Never would I spend $16.95 for a book of blank pages, what a ridiculous idea!

So I bought a cheaper lookalike journal made by Piccadilly. And after six months of being carried around my Piccadilly sketchbook's spine detached from the pages. This made me unhappy because I had some great drawings in that sketchbook, and I wanted the book to be intact, I didn't want something that could potentially fall apart as I pull it from the bookshelf. But still I resisted Moleskin. Only phony posers use Moleskin sketchbooks thought I.

Then I noticed the instructor of my illustration class was using Moleskin. And I admired his work. Yet, I was still unconvinced. My instructor must have had a moment of weakness and bought the moleskin, or perhaps he received it as a gift, I mused. And then I noticed James Jean, one of my favorite illustrators, uses a moleskin for sketching. Well, he's rich I thought, he could use moleskins to wrap fish and afford it. I am a struggling artist! Why would I waste money on something so pretentious?

Then I was in Barnes and Nobles the other night Christmas shopping and I stumbled across the little Moleskin sketchbooks. Hmmmm, they seemed nice, and the tag said they were made by hand. . . And Picasso, Chatwin, and Van Gogh used them. You don't say? Pricey though, and I could probably buy them for cheaper online. But I don't have anything to draw on right now. . .

So I ended up buying one. I took it home, tore off the plastic, and analyzed every page. It was pretty nice. And I have to admit drawing on the pages is a pleasure. Like driving a car with a fine leather interior. Is it the actual quality of the product, or knowing that it is expensive that makes it fun to use? Its hard to know why, but something is better about Moleskin journals.

Below are some of my first sketches in my brand new Moleskin sketchbook. I have joined the ranks of the famous, and hopefully this overly priced notebook doesn't have a flimsy spine.

Blue Col-Erase and graphite 8x5"