Have flimsy sketchbook paper? Here's some tips to beef them up

I have the Art House CoOp sketchbook and they use the Moleskine Cahier, which is a thin 80 something page, softcover sketchbook. One of the problems I have run into using ink or watercolors on this thin paper is bleeding through the page. You can't do back to back watercolor/ink because it can have disastrous results.

There are several options you can do to give the pages some beef. You can gesso the other side and do some creative things with liquid acrylics, gel pens, markers and collage. Don't use TUBE acrylics, I found out the hard way that it never dries to a hard shell and you wind up with sticky pages. You can pastel over gesso, but you cannot use watercolor over gesso. You can try it to see what happens with watercolor, it lifts off the page.

If you want to beef up the back of the page for more watercolor and ink, Golden's has a product called Absorbent Ground which is perfect. I sponge it on the page, let it dry and treat it like any other sketchbook page.

You can also collage over the entire page then use a mixture of paints over top, wiping off a bit with a paper towel to add texture. You can also paint over top and spritz with water and dab with a paper towel for some interesting affects and sketch over top of these creations. If you use acrylic, some media won't work over top, it helps to experiment.

You could also glue watercolor paper or any other type of paper over the back of the flimsy page to cover up the back side of wet work. You can glue receipts, magazine clippings and anything else to add as a base, be creative and use it to enhance your sketch.

Remember, sketchbooks are tools for creativity, working out ideas, journaling trips/vacations/daily recordings of life, projects and for just having fun and letting loose.