It makes up for its lack of vowel with its presence of elastic closure.
![Etcetra Sketchbook Etcetra Sketchbook](http://www.leighreyes.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/10/P1110822-600x450.jpg)
Lots of product benefit bullet points in there. I picked this one up from Kinokuniya in Singapore some time back. I think the brand is available in Fully Booked here in Manila.
![Cloth covers always say "artist" Cloth covers always say "artist"](http://www.leighreyes.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/10/P1110826-600x450.jpg)
The cover isn’t attached to the spine of the sketchbook itself. That makes it a sketchpad with a notebook-like cover, for the technical-minded among you.
![A stealth sketchpad A stealth sketchpad](http://www.leighreyes.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/10/P1110827-600x450.jpg)
The paper is very absorbent, and forgiving of amateur watercolorists who cannot resist just one more wash.
![Now we have serpents Now we have serpents](http://www.leighreyes.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/10/P1110892-600x450.jpg)
Colors wash over each other cleanly – I think it’s because the paper absorbs the liquid quickly, so that another color layered on top doesn’t blend with the previous one.
![It looks better like this I think It looks better like this I think](http://www.leighreyes.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/10/P1110896-600x450.jpg)
I wouldn’t recommend this sketchbook for fountain pen and ink – there’s too much tooth, and a fine nib lifts fibers easily. That being said, sometimes ink looks beautiful when it feathers.
![Tooth and drag Tooth and drag](http://www.leighreyes.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/10/P1110902-600x450.jpg)
Or perhaps it is just me, the seeker of silver linings.