There are certain brands in the UK art supplies world that inspire a level of loyalty that goes well beyond what you’d expect for a sketchbook. Pink Pig is one of them. I’ve been watching artists talk about these books for years — in our Facebook community of 15,000 UK artists, in the sales data I watched at ARTdiscount, in the comments on deal posts across Discount Art Supplies. People don’t just like Pink Pig sketchbooks. They go back to them repeatedly, recommend them unprompted, and get slightly evangelical about the ones they prefer.
That kind of loyalty is worth examining. So here’s my honest take — not from someone who bought one for the purposes of writing a review, but from someone who has spent 16 years watching what UK artists actually buy, use and come back for.
What Is Pink Pig?
Pink Pig is a family-run British company that has been making sketchbooks since 1992. They’re based in Yorkshire and everything they make is manufactured there — handmade covers, hand-assembled books, all under one roof. That’s not a marketing claim designed to shift units. They’ve genuinely been doing it for over thirty years and the consistency of their product shows it.
What sets them apart from most sketchbook manufacturers isn’t the paper — though the paper is good — it’s the sheer range of customisation available. Sizes, orientations, cover materials, paper types, paper colours. The number of possible combinations runs into the hundreds. For artists who have strong opinions about exactly how their sketchbook should look and feel — and most artists do — that level of choice is genuinely rare.
The Paper: What You Need to Know
Most Pink Pig sketchbooks use 150gsm acid-free cartridge paper as their standard. For a sketchbook, that’s a solid weight — heavy enough to handle pencil, pen, charcoal and light washes without the page buckling or bleeding through immediately. If you’re using watercolour paints or heavier wet media, you’ll want to look at their dedicated watercolour paper range instead.
The spiral binding means pages lie completely flat when open, which matters more than people realise when you’re trying to work across a double page spread or sketch outdoors on an unstable surface. It also means the book folds back on itself, making it more compact to carry than a traditionally bound equivalent.
Beyond the standard cartridge range, Pink Pig also offer Bockingford watercolour paper books for artists who want to use wet media properly, and their Cappuccino Brown recycled range — made from 100% post-consumer waste — which has a slightly grey tone and good tooth that works particularly well for drawing with white highlights.
My son Zach is nine and currently obsessed with drawing. He’s worked his way through more sketchbooks than I care to think about. At his age most things go through the mill — dropped, sat on, shoved in a school bag and generally treated with the kind of respect only a nine-year-old can muster. The Pink Pig books hold up better than most. The spiral binding in particular takes punishment without losing pages, which is more than I can say for some of the glued alternatives he’s destroyed.
The Covers: Where Pink Pig Really Stands Out
This is the thing that makes Pink Pig genuinely distinctive in the UK market. The handmade covers — Thai banana-leaf-and-silk on the Posh range, mulberry paper on the Classic range, recycled materials on the Eco range — are made by hand in Yorkshire and have a quality that’s obvious the moment you pick one up.
There’s a palpable difference between a Pink Pig sketchbook and a standard art supply store own-brand equivalent. The cover materials are tactile in a way that makes you want to use the book. That might sound like a minor thing but it isn’t — how a sketchbook feels in your hands genuinely affects how often you reach for it. A sketchbook you love handling gets used. One that feels cheap and generic sits on a shelf.
The colour range is extensive and genuinely attractive. Bright, deep, unusual shades rather than the safe neutrals most manufacturers default to. For artists who care about their tools having some personality — which is a lot of artists — Pink Pig delivers something that feels considered rather than generic.
The Range: Navigating the Options
The sheer range of Pink Pig products is both their greatest strength and the thing that can make buying one slightly bewildering if you’re new to the brand. A few pointers:
- Classic range — the standard entry point. Cartridge paper, mulberry paper covers, widely available. Good for pencil, pen and light mixed media work.
- Posh range — silk and Thai banana-leaf covers, same paper quality. More premium feel, slightly higher price. Worth it if the book matters to you aesthetically as well as functionally.
- Eco range — recycled covers and paper. The cappuccino brown version in particular is genuinely lovely for drawing — the warm tone works well with darker media and the slightly textured surface has real character.
- Watercolour books — Bockingford paper, properly suited to wet media. If you paint in watercolour and want a sketchbook that can keep up, these are the ones.
- Discontinued and clearance lines — worth keeping an eye on. Pink Pig regularly retire colourways and formats, and these often appear at significantly reduced prices. We track them on our Pink Pig discontinued deals page — well worth bookmarking if you’re a fan of the brand and want to catch savings when they come up.
Price and Value
Pink Pig sketchbooks typically range from around £4.99 for smaller formats up to £19.99 and beyond for larger Posh or watercolour editions. For a handmade, British-manufactured product using quality paper, that’s genuinely fair pricing. Keep an eye on our canvas and paper deals and clearance deals pages for the best current prices across UK retailers.
Compare it to something like a Daler Rowney or Seawhite sketchbook at a similar price point and Pink Pig holds up very well — better paper weight, more distinctive cover, spiral binding that actually lies flat rather than fighting you. The Posh range in particular represents real value when you consider the handmade silk covers you’re getting for the money.
Where Pink Pig can look expensive is against the absolute budget end of the market — craft store own brands, basic school sketchbooks. But the comparison isn’t really valid. These are different products for different purposes. If you’re buying a sketchbook to use seriously, Pink Pig is worth the modest premium.
As I mentioned above, discontinued lines regularly appear at a discount — sometimes significantly below standard retail. If you’re not fixed on a specific colourway or format, buying from clearance is a great way to get Pink Pig quality at a lower price. Keep an eye on our dedicated Pink Pig deals page and our broader canvas and paper deals for the latest offers.
Who Are Pink Pig Sketchbooks Best For?
Honestly — most artists. That’s not a cop out answer, it’s a reflection of how versatile the range actually is.
The Classic and Eco ranges work well for students, hobbyists and anyone who sketches regularly and wants a reliable, well-made book at a fair price. The Posh range suits artists who want their sketchbook to feel like something worth carrying around — the kind of thing you’re happy pulling out in a life drawing class or a cafe without it looking like a school exercise book. The watercolour books are genuinely good for plein air painters and mixed media artists.
Nancy is six and currently going through a phase of drawing horses on every available surface. She’s not fussy about sketchbooks yet — anything with blank pages works for her. But I’ve got a feeling that in a few years, when she starts to care about her materials, she’s going to end up a Pink Pig convert like most of the artists I’ve spoken to over the years. The covers alone will seal the deal.
Any Downsides?
A couple of minor ones worth mentioning.
The website, whilst brilliantly comprehensive in its range, can be slightly overwhealming to navigate if you’re new to the brand. The number of options is a feature but it takes a little time to work out which combination is right for you. Worth spending ten minutes with the filters before you commit.
The standard 150gsm cartridge paper, whilst perfectly good for most drawing media, doesn’t handle heavy wet media particularly well. If watercolour is your primary medium, go straight to the Bockingford range rather than trying to make the cartridge paper work — it’ll buckle under anything more than very light washes.
And if you have a favourite colourway or format, buy a couple when you find them. Pink Pig retire lines regularly and some of the best ones have disappeared over the years. When they’re gone, they’re gone.
My Honest Verdict
Pink Pig make some of the best sketchbooks available in the UK at their price point. The combination of handmade covers, quality British manufacturing, spiral binding and the sheer range of options available is genuinely hard to match. The loyalty their customers show isn’t irrational — it’s the natural result of a product that does what it promises, made by people who clearly care about it.
If you haven’t tried them and you sketch regularly, buy one. Start with the Classic range to get a feel for the paper, then explore from there. You’ll probably end up with several — most Pink Pig fans do.
And if you’re looking for the best current prices or want to catch discontinued lines at a discount, bookmark our Pink Pig deals page — we update it whenever new clearance stock comes through.
