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AnonymousUser-8 AnonymousUser-8

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I've always been fussy about paper. My late father was in the print. Not newsprint. Quality stuff like certificates, bonds etc. He worked in a big printworks in Eastbourne. They were allowed to bring end of reels home, so as a child until he retired I had paper. In fact i never bought paper until the 1990s. I knew about inks as well. When I no longer had free good quality rag paper it was a shock, but now I've settled on my favourite sketchbooks,  Pith, Moleskine, Seawhites.  Last week I realised I didn't have any cheaper pads just for planning or quick sketching as I had been using sketchbook mistakes for this. So I went to Wells. There is a Smiths and The Works. Looked at the ones in Smiths, popped over the road to The Works and bought two of their Crawford & Black 135gsm A5 sketchbooks. Two quid each, wire bound and perforated. Thought I could always use for shopping lists if rubbish. But, was I shocked. My pens didn't leak through, coloured pencils and watermarked tombows didn't either.  Paper nice and smooth. To be honest when I did most of my pictures in prismacolor I wish I'd not just walked by these in such a snobby way. They are very thick too, at 72 sheets. Disclaimer.  These would not take watercolour etc. OK I won't be doing my actual paintings in these sketchbooks,  but if you are after a scribbling planner I would recommend these. I believe they do A4 as well....A4 of anything scares me !
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Marjorie Firth

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Your last sentence Julie……relating to size. June challenge….GO BIG! Some years ago I ordered some very large canvases ( I’d never painted larger than eg. 12”x16”). These were over a metre square and some were rectangular. I got some big brushes and started. I did have a great time waving the brushes about and the anxiety vanished. I was now a bold artist! Needless to say, I still have them. Some I’ve worked over, some are still as they were, in all their glory ( see below). I’ve been thinking about them again….take them into the garden, plus easel, and have a bit of fun. Well, that was a bit of digression!

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Tessa Gwynne

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Interesting, and reminded me of when I was a child my dad was a heating and ventilating engineer and brought home his discarded plans which were printed on large rolls of paper, ideal for drawing on the reverse of the plans, so I also had what seemed like a never ending supply of drawing paper. Good memories.

AnonymousUser-8 AnonymousUser-8

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Love those tulips Marjorie. Funnily enough when I had all the paper a girl could want i did draw quite big. But not massive. However when I was about 12 I wanted to try oils and my parents obliged. I worked on large canvases then. I did not take to oils. My teenage influences were Rackham and Beardsley so I gradually preferred a smaller size. A5 is actually big for me ! I'm happy with that. When I was dancing professionally I used sketchbooks as I hardly had time to eat let alone paint, so it became a habit. I do love the idea of you welding a huge brush...Just love it 

AnonymousUser-8 AnonymousUser-8

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They are very good memories indeed Tessa. I also had boxes of off cuts perforated A6 size which concertinerd out of the box. This company also gave paper to local schools recycling not being what it is today. I can still remember the smell of the inks on my Dad. 

Tessa Gwynne

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How wonderful Julie. 😊 Marjorie- beautiful tulips!