Review: Monologue Basics Sketchbook

A few months ago, manufacturer Grandluxe sent me a few sketchbooks to review. I've since reviewed the Monologue Sketch Pad which is pretty decent.

A few months later, now, I've finally filled up the sketchbook to be able to write this review.

This is part of the Monologue series of sketchbook. The Basics series seem to only have black covers as compared to the colourful Sketch Pad series. The hardcover is covered with some soft leatherette, and apparently thin because mine has some areas chipped off from putting inside my bag.

And it seems there are also notebooks (80gsm) in the Basics series, so be careful not to buy the wrong type.

The sketchbook comes in A6, A5 and A4. I'm not sure if you can have a choice of hardcover or softcover. The A5 is in hardcover while the other two are softcover.

That's the softcover A4 sketchbook by the right.

Rounded edges of the softcover sketchbook.

This is the binding for the A4 softcover which allows the sketchbook to be laid flat. Note that the pages are perforated.

There are 128 pages is 140gsm acid free paper. The quality is like cartridge paper, and as I've tested it for the Sketch Pad series, it works well for ink, markers, coloured pencils and watercolour. The best medium to use would be ink.

The binding is sewn binding so the sketchbook can be opened flat. However, the pages are perforated so your drawing will be affected visually by them.

I don't usually draw across the gutter but when I do and scan them back home, there are three lines instead of just the gutter line. The scans are below.

It would be great if there weren't any perforated pages. But maybe that's how Grandluxe differentiate themselves from all the other non-perforated sketchbooks out there, or even its own Sketch Pads.

The paper is great for working with pen and ink. However there will be impression of lines from the previous page if when the pages are scanned. For that reason, I leave blank pages behind my sketches.

This sketch drawn with with Noodler's ink and Pentel Brush Pen.

Watercolour works well enough but the paper will warp slightly.

The Monologue Basics sketchbook is quite decent for casual sketching. Paper quality is good enough for light drawing mediums. The only thing I did not care for is the perforation for the pages, and for that reason, I would recommend the Monologue Sketch Pad instead.