Sketchbook fanatic

Most of my life I have been drawing or being creative in some way. I have always had a love for a new drawing pad or even a stack of paper. Somewhere around the year 2016 I started working in a sketchbook, and I fell in love. I used to steer clear from a sketchbook because a whole book of blank pages was intimidating to me. What if I messed up? In a nice bound sketchbook there’s no ripping out pages easily. Then I started to realize I needed some structure and organization to my drawing practice so I started researching keeping a sketchbook. It was in that research I realized many artists kept one but used them to just play and practice. The key was to not worry about getting it wrong or making bad art. In reality, it takes a lot of bad art to make good art. So it was at that revelation my sketchbook practice and obsession started. So 8 years and 54 sketchbooks later, I think it’s safe to say I may have a small obsession!

Since I started keeping a sketchbook my creativity and improvement has taken off. Sometimes I keep more than one at a time due to the paper but my favorite thing is to keep one, finish it, then start another. If you were to pick up one of my sketchbooks today you would find not only art but different memories in my life. You also might find some poems I’ve written. They really are a hodgepodge of things. They are one thing I own I tell my family to please never get rid, my life is in those pages, and my development as an artist is also in those pages. If you ever question whether you’ve made progress as an artist, all you have to do is go back and look at your first sketchbook and it is wild to see the journey. Here is a sampling of my journey. Tried to put them in some sort of order, but there’s so many that may not be accurate.

Do you keep a sketchbook? If you do, what do you create or keep in your sketchbook? If you’ve ever thought of starting one, today’s a good day to do it. It can even be a cheap sketchbook from the dollar store. Anything will work well!