Elements of Art Sketchbook Review

I was out shopping today and I came across a sketchbook called Elements of Art in A5 size. I've seen this sketchbook before (because I own the A4 size) but have never found the A5 before. The stores I looked at (Dean's Art and Senior Art Supplies in Melbourne) didn't have stock the last time I checked, and when they did, well... I snatched it up.

Although I love the bigger A4 version of it, it really is heavy due to the amount of pages it comes with. It has a smooth cream finish to the 120gsm papers and is smythsewn binded. It doesn't come with a back-pocket like some art books do (Moleskine, Leucchturm1917, etc.) but it doesn't really matter to me. It has an elastic strap to hold the book closed and the most important part: it can open flat (once you've trained it a little). And with a little more tough love, I have enabled the A4 to fold back on itself, and I'm pretty sure the A5 will be able to do so too. The cover is made of bendable yet hard-enough-to-write on PU leather, with the logo and the words 'sketch' embossed in it on the front cover. It too has the word 'write' embossed on the back cover to illustrate the writing and sketching sections of the book. And yes, it has a section for writing, however, it doesn't contain as many pages as the sketching pages, which is fine for me. After all, I don't think I'll be writing too much in it. This is how the book looks like:

Back

Inside pages

What I've noticed about this sketchbook, however, is the really strong chemical smell it has to it. I'm pretty sure that if I aired it a little, it will lose that smell, but it really is bad...

Overall though, I know this book will grow on me in little to no time.

(I've yet to try the different pens and markers in the book, but when I do, I shall update!)