Before I went to Chicago for this year's Urban Sketcher's Symposium, I made two coptic-bound sketchbooks (here is a great how to video if you want to learn how to make one) from my favorite watercolor paper - Fabriano Artistico in both 140 lb. soft- and cold-pressed finishes. While both were about 8" x 11" in dimension, I made one in landscape format and the other in portrait format. I think I generally prefer landscape format as this was the one I finished first after coming back home. 

Here is a quick tour of the sketchbook with my sketches from the USK Symposium at the start - including sketches done on my own in Chicago, sketches from the group sketch crawls, and sketches from the workshops I took there with Marc Taro Holmes, LK Bing, Marion Rivolier, and Liz Steel. 

I'd love to hear your thoughts! Stay tuned for more posts on the individual workshops I took in Chicago as well as the demo from Stephanie Bower on Watery Reflections.