I purchased a sketchbook on Amazon made by LEDA art supplies. It’s really well made and the thin paper seems to be copasetic with light water washes. It buckles a little but doesn’t pill. Though I imagine if one went at it hard and heavy it probably would. Watercolor is a spontaneous, “lay it and leave it” medium anyway so, used as intended, the paper works fine.

This was just a little test of the paper, a memory from Georgia where I used to live. We had a Paper Bark Birch tree I planted in the woodland edge of the lawn. I’ve always like them because of the white, peely bark and thin, wispy branches growing close and almost vertical. The bark is handy for starting a campfire too.😉

I’m also fond of the Faber-Castell Graphite Aquarelle pencils I used here. They’re kind of like ink lines and ink wash in appearance, a nice effect. The F-B pencils are the only ones I’ve found with a warm cast to the final result. All the others, and I have literally tried them all, have a cool cast to them. So these are my favorites. As with everything F-B, they are well made, with the cores centered on the wood case and smooth, consistent leads.