Put Uglybooks, the Moleskine Sketch Album, and the Leuchtturm1917 Softcover Notebook next to one another and they look like close alternatives. All three are portable, flexible-cover books in roughly the same size range. Open them, though, and the differences become much clearer.

The short answer is that Uglybooks is the most art-focused option of the three. It has the heaviest interior paper, a subtle vellum texture, multiple colored-paper options, and a 350gsm cover that does not have to stay clean and untouched. You can draw on it, title it, and make it part of the book. It also costs considerably less.

Moleskine gives you more pages and opens flat. Leuchtturm1917 includes the familiar notebook details: numbered pages, bookmarks, and an elastic closure. One important distinction, however, is that Leuchtturm does not offer a true softcover sketchbook in this format. The product compared here is a notebook with lighter paper, not a book designed primarily for art.

The right choice ultimately depends on whether you need a book designed mainly for drawing or a general-purpose notebook that can also accommodate occasional sketches.

Uglybooks vs Moleskine vs Leuchtturm1917: Key Differences

As always, the numbers are useful, but the real question persists: what do these differences feel like once you start drawing?

Which Has the Best Paper for Drawing?

For artists, this is where the comparison really begins: the paper.

Uglybooks uses 135gsm artist paper, compared with 120gsm in the Moleskine Sketch Album and 80gsm in the Leuchtturm1917 Softcover Notebook.

Higher GSM does not automatically mean better paper. It does, however, give you more room to experiment. Uglybooks' 135gsm paper works with pencils, colored pencils, pens, markers, acrylics, pastels, and other everyday drawing materials. The versatility enables you to do whatever you feel like doing.

It also has a subtle vellum texture. There is enough tooth to catch graphite and colored pencil, but not so much that pens and clean line work become difficult. Moleskine and Leuchtturm1917 both use smoother paper. Some people prefer that feeling, especially for writing, but it is a different drawing experience.

Moleskine's 120gsm paper is still classified as sketch-grade paper and works well for traditional pencil, pen, and dry-media sketching. Leuchtturm1917's 80gsm paper is the lightest of the three and is primarily designed for writing, planning, and journaling rather than versatile art use.

If your pencil case changes from one day to the next, Uglybooks gives you the most room to move between materials. For more detail on what paper weight actually means in practice, read our guide to GSM and drawing paper.

Why Colored Paper Changes How You Draw

Uglybooks is the only option in this comparison with multiple colored-paper choices.

Moleskine uses ivory paper, while Leuchtturm1917 uses a light, neutral paper designed primarily for readability. Both give artists a familiar starting point, but the page remains largely in the background.

With Uglybooks, instead of building from a light page, you can use the existing color as a midtone and work in both directions. Darker materials can create shadows; white pencils, gel pens, paint markers, and other light media can pull out the highlights. Leaving part of the page untouched can be a deliberate part of the composition.

Different color combinations can also change how the same materials appear. A blue marker on yellow paper creates a different visual effect from blue marker on pink, orange, purple, or green.

Colored paper is not automatically the right choice for every drawing. If you need a white or ivory base, a traditional surface may make more sense, Uglybooks also has a white paged version as well. But for color studies, expressive sketching, and the kind of experimentation where the page helps shape the idea, Uglybooks offers something the other two simply do not.

Our guide to why color on your paper changes how you draw explains how the background influences values, contrast, and material choices.

Can You Draw on the Cover and Spine?

Usually, the cover has 2 jobs: protecting the pages and carrying the logo. Well, here’s a third: make art on it.

The 350gsm Uglybooks paper cover is made to be drawn on, customized, titled, or incorporated into the identity of the book. The spine can also be drawn on or labeled, which makes it easier to identify individual sketchbooks on a shelf and gives artists another place to make the book their own.

A sketchbook often becomes an art object of its own over time. The pages hold ideas and experiments; the outside picks up titles, drawings, wear, and whatever else happens while the book is being used. Uglybooks is designed to let that happen rather than keep the cover looking untouched.

The Moleskine Sketch Album uses a flexible cardboard cover, while Leuchtturm1917 uses a P/U cover. Both protect the pages, but neither is intended to function as artist-grade drawing paper.

Which Is More Versatile for Artists?

A higher page count looks good in a product table, but it does not tell you how many of those pages suit the way you actually work.

Uglybooks combines:

• 135gsm drawing paper

• A subtle vellum texture

• Multiple colored-paper options

• An acid- and lignin-free, archival-quality surface

• A 350gsm cover designed for art

• Compatibility with pencils, colored pencils, pens, markers, acrylics, pastels, and light mixed-media use

The Moleskine Sketch Album is also made for art, but its smooth, ivory 120gsm paper creates a more conventional sketching experience. It offers fewer options for artists who want to work with a colored background or use the cover as part of the finished object.

Leuchtturm1917 offers versatility in a different sense. Its numbered pages, table of contents, bookmarks, and other organizational features make it useful for writing, planning, journaling, and combining notes with occasional sketches. Its 80gsm paper, however, gives artists less freedom with heavier applications of ink, markers, paint, and other materials.

Binding and Lay-Flat: The Honest Tradeoff

Uglybooks is perfect bound, Moleskine uses sewn binding, and Leuchtturm1917 uses saddle-stitch binding. Uglybooks' perfect-bound construction is the most durable of the three. It also gives the book a clean, compact profile that can handle being carried between a bag, studio, classroom, coffee shop, and wherever else you end up drawing.

The tradeoff is simple: Uglybooks does not naturally lie completely flat. Moleskine and Leuchtturm1917 do have the advantage here.

It is also an easy problem to solve. One or two drawing clips keep the pages open while you work. They cost little, take up almost no room, and are useful outdoors or on uneven surfaces anyway. Plenty of artists already keep them in a portable sketching kit.

If opening completely flat without any help is essential to you, this is worth knowing. If paper quality, durability, color, and media versatility matter more, a pair of clips is a very small fix.

Which Offers the Best Value for Artists?

At $6.50 per book, Uglybooks costs substantially less than the $20 Moleskine Sketch Album and the $24.95 Leuchtturm1917 Softcover Notebook.

The page count adds useful context:

• Uglybooks: approximately $0.14 per page

• Moleskine: approximately $0.26 per page

• Leuchtturm1917: approximately $0.20 per page

Uglybooks has fewer pages. But those pages are heavier than both alternatives, and they are colored, textured, acid and lignin free, and made to work with a wider selection of art materials. The 350gsm cover adds another drawing surface instead of serving only as protection.

The lower price also takes some pressure off. You do not have to save the book for an important project or worry about wasting a page. It can hold quick drawings, rough ideas, tests, mistakes, color experiments, and daily practice. A sketchbook becomes much more useful once you stop being afraid of using it.

Which One Is Best for Artists?

Moleskine and Leuchtturm1917 both bring familiar features to the table. Moleskine offers a traditional ivory sketching surface and opens flat. Leuchtturm1917 has the structure and organizational details people expect from a premium notebook.

Uglybooks is less interested in behaving like a traditional premium notebook. Its attention is on the surfaces artists actually use.

The heavier interior paper supports more materials. The subtle vellum texture gives dry media something to hold onto. Colored pages change how artists build contrast and value. The cover and spine can be drawn on, titled, or transformed. The price makes it easier to experiment without feeling that every page needs to become finished work.

Its clearest limitation is the lack of built-in lay-flat construction, and clips handle that easily. In return, the paper, cover, color, texture, construction, and price all point toward the same goal: giving artists a book they will actually use.

For artists comparing these three options, Uglybooks offers the strongest combination of creative flexibility, artist-focused paper, customizable surfaces, and value.

The Bottom Line

Uglybooks, Moleskine, and Leuchtturm1917 may take up a similar amount of room in your bag, but they are not really trying to be the same thing.

Leuchtturm1917 is primarily an organizational notebook that can also be used for light drawing. Moleskine's Sketch Album is a conventional sketchbook with smooth ivory paper and a flat-opening format. Uglybooks is built around art paper, color, experimentation, and giving artists more surfaces to work with.

If drawing is the reason you are buying the book, Uglybooks brings together the heaviest and most versatile paper in this comparison, the only colored-paper options, the only cover intended for art, and the lowest price. That makes the decision fairly simple.

Explore Uglybooks No.2 and choose the color combination that gives your next drawing a different place to begin.