Hahnemühle Watercolour Book is a 100% cotton journal that retails for CAD$55.99 here in Canada. It is made in Germany and retails for a bit less when purchased in Europe; I had seen it at a Sennelier store in Paris that cost about 22 Euros. This one has deckle edge, which is why I bought it. I was expecting that lovely hand torn look, so let’s take a look inside.
Let’s Unwrap!
Maybe it’s just me, but I had expected the deckle edge to look a bit more hand torn than this. I had done my own deckle edge so I know you can make it look more pronounced. A little disappointing, but let’s move on.
Quick Specs
- 5.5″x5.5″ (14x14cm)
- Cold pressed
- 100% cotton
- Deckle edge
- 250gsm/120lbs
- 60 pages (double sided)
- Surface-sized on front and back
- Hardcover
- Has an elastic band to keep the pages flat
I usually paint on 300gsm cotton paper, and this is just a bit less. I can feel the difference but it is not too drastic. However, once painted, the paper does feel much thinner than the 300gsm paper I normally use.
To give this Hahnemühle Watercolour book a thorough review, I had painted on both sides, so let’s see how the paper performs.
Hahnemühle Watercolour Book Performance
I wetted the paper quite heavily for these. The paper warped immediately; it didn’t feel like it could hold up, but to be fair, I used a lot of water for testing purposes.
Next, I tested whether the paper can be painted on both sides without paint bleeding to the other side.
In addition, I salted the atmospheric landscape painting and the paper did well. Even though I didn’t think the paper was thick enough to be painted on both sides, it held up without issues.
Overall Hahnemühle Watercolour Book Review
This small journal surprised me! I enjoyed painting in it, even though at times I feared the paper might not hold up. However, I used a copious amount of water when I tested it, so if you are doing light paintings the paper should not warp very much at all. The only small gripe I have is the deckle edge isn’t deckled enough. Maybe I am too used to doing my own or seeing ones that are more hand torn, like Bella Classica Art Journals. Also, if you can buy it cheaper (I had 30% off when I purchased mine) it is a very nice watercolour journal, but it is a bit expensive at full price here.
How did it compared to other journals?
I had tried a variety of watercolour journals over the past few years, from Etchr to budget brands sold on Amazon. With the exception of the Etchr journal, which has 230gsm paper, the Potente and Lightwish watercolour journals all have 300gsm paper. I must say, Etchr’s 230gsm paper somehow felt thicker after painting than the Hahnemühle 250gsm paper. I don’t know why. So, in terms of thickness, this would be the least out of all of the watercolour journals I have used.
I personally still preferred Etchr’s to this one. However, I like this more than Potente and Lightwish, because I find those two had too much sizing, to the point that I could not layer washes, despite being thicker cotton paper.
