There's a box in my spare room that I hadn't opened in six years. It contains a set of graphite pencils, two packs of charcoal sticks, a worn-down kneaded eraser, and about a dozen half-filled sketchbooks from a version of me that drew every day without thinking about it. I packed it away when life got busy — a new job, a house move, a relationship, the usual accumulation of reasons — and told myself I'd get back to it when things settled down.
Things settled down. I didn't get back to it.
My name is Rowan. I'm 38, I work in urban planning in Sheffield, and drawing used to be as natural to me as breathing. Architectural sketches, landscape studies, figure work — I did it all, constantly, in whatever notebook was to hand. And then, gradually, I stopped. Not dramatically. Just quietly, the way habits die when you stop feeding them.
What Finally Shifted
Last autumn I started a new project at work — a large-scale regeneration scheme for a former industrial site — and found myself reaching for a pencil to sketch out ideas the way I used to. Except I had nothing to sketch in. My work notebooks were full of meeting notes and action points. My phone felt wrong for this. I needed paper. Proper paper, with space to think.
I started looking for a sketchbook and quickly remembered why I'd always been particular about them. Cheap paper bleeds, buckles under any pressure, and makes every mark feel provisional. I wanted something that would hold a line, take a wash if I wanted it to, and feel substantial enough that I'd actually use it rather than treat it preciously and never start.
That's when I found the Artway Studio A3 Landscape Sketchbook on ALTOE.
Why This Sketchbook
A few things made the decision straightforward. The paper weight — 170gsm — is the detail that matters most to anyone who draws seriously. It's heavy enough to take real pressure without tearing, has enough tooth to grip charcoal and graphite properly, and handles light watercolour washes without warping. That's a genuinely versatile surface, not a compromise.
The A3 landscape format was exactly right for the kind of work I wanted to do — wide, expansive, suited to architectural sketches and panoramic studies. The spiral binding means pages lie completely flat, which sounds minor until you've spent years fighting a sketchbook that wants to close on you mid-drawing. And the hardback cover — greyboard wrapped in black Wibalin cloth with a silver spiral — is the kind of construction that actually protects your work rather than just looking good in a product photo.
The acid-free, archival-quality paper was the final detail that convinced me. I wanted to keep what I made. I didn't want it yellowing in a drawer in five years.
The First Session
The sketchbook arrived and I opened it that same evening. I sat at my kitchen table with a 2B pencil and started sketching the view from my window — rooftops, a chimney stack, the particular geometry of terraced housing that I've always found beautiful. I drew for two hours without noticing the time pass.
The paper was everything I'd hoped. The pencil moved across it cleanly, the marks held exactly where I put them, and when I tried a light ink wash over part of the sketch the paper took it without a ripple. I filled four pages that first evening. I haven't stopped since.
Six Months Later
I'm now on my third Artway sketchbook. The first two sit on my shelf, filled — properly filled, not half-abandoned — and I've started a third. I draw most evenings now, sometimes for twenty minutes, sometimes for two hours. I've started carrying a smaller sketchbook to work for quick studies during lunch. I've dug out the box from the spare room.
I don't want to overstate what a sketchbook can do. It didn't give me back my creative practice — I did that, by sitting down and starting. But the right materials matter more than people admit. Cheap paper makes drawing feel effortful and unrewarding. Good paper makes it feel like the marks you're making are worth making. That psychological difference is real, and it's what kept me coming back night after night until the habit rebuilt itself.
If you've got a creative practice that's gone quiet — drawing, painting, anything that needs a surface — I'd genuinely recommend starting here. The Artway Studio A3 Landscape Sketchbook is the real thing. Browse the Drawing & Painting Paper collection for more surface options, explore Art & Craft Paper for a wider range, or take a look at the full Art & Crafting Materials selection. The Hobbies & Creative Arts and Arts & Crafts collections are worth exploring too, and the Latest Products collection always has something new worth discovering.
Pick up a pencil. Open a good sketchbook. See what comes back.
— Rowan Ashby, Sheffield
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