Dingbats notebook

This week, I share how I am starting a new sketchbook!

Starting the Dingbats Pro Green Beetle Notebook

For a long time, I’ve been looking for a sketchbook that works well with both pens and watercolors. I’ve used Fabriano’s thick (200 gsm) Accademia drawing paper for individual drawings for years. But now that I’m gathering material for a new painting series, I really wanted to create my work in a book instead of keeping loose sheets in a folder. Flipping through a book’s pages just feels so much nicer than turning plastic sleeves in a binder.

I noticed that a Finnish stationery shop, Vihkokauppa, had added the Dingbats Pro Green Beetle Notebook to their range. The product description said that the maker spent a long time developing the paper to make it suitable for watercolors. I don’t live near the shop, so I took a chance and ordered it online.

I was lucky. Based on the experience so far, the paper is truly great! It’s thin enough (160 gsm) so the notebook doesn’t feel bulky, but thick enough to hold water. The pages are wonderfully smooth and work great with fineliners and colored pencils. Because of its size (B5), it’s also a good fit for my new course, Drawing Soulfully, if you prefer to do your course drawings in a book.

Moving Away from Procrastination

I have a few topics I want to explore before starting my next series of big paintings. I have a short list, and I’ll share my ideas in future blog posts. These are mostly things I have wanted to explore more deeply for quite some time, but have procrastinated on for some reason. It’s time to stop that procrastination! Building the new course, Drawing Soulfully, has given me a lot of energy for that, and I hope that the course will inspire you too!

One of the topics on my list is plants. The exact species doesn’t matter, though of course I prefer to see the plant with my own eyes first. Plants have such interesting shapes and details that I want to add to my artistic repertoire. So now, when I was starting a new sketchbook, my first project was to pick a plant and draw it.

I took a few photos of a cute yellow-flowered plant during a little getaway in June, and later identified it at home. The silverweed made it as the very first entry in my new sketchbook!

I started the drawing without any pencil sketching, going straight in with watercolors. For the main flower, I followed one of my photos quite closely, but after that, I let go and worked more freely.

I think the soft feel of watercolors and the precision of fineliners go together so well. I just love drawing with thin pens.

Using only a little water with thin brushes makes me feel like I am a decorative painter in the 18th or 19th century! I also made some notes about the plant on the opposite page.

Having the black-and-white parts on the page didn’t bother me at all, so I actually thought about leaving the page like that—half black-and-white.

The next day, however, I decided to color in the black-and-white parts with colored pencils to bring more life and atmosphere into the drawing. It didn’t even take long, since the drawing itself and part of the coloring were already done.

Starting a New Notebook – Watch the Video!

I recorded a few short videos while working. In the video below, you can see the notebook and how the first page came together. You’ll also see the watercolor swatch grid I made at the front of the book.

Even if the starting point is botanical, the finished drawing can be expressive rather than stiff. I hope all of this inspires you to draw more, and maybe you are starting a new sketchbook/art journal too!

For the Love of Drawing

Don’t forget to sign up for the new course Drawing Soulfully! In the short video below, I talk a bit more about the love for drawing and what the course is all about.

Drawing Soulfully – Sign Up Now!

In Drawing Soulfully, we work with and without photos but always with a creative approach.

Drawing Soulfully begins on August 25, 2026. >> Sign Up Now!