Keeping a sketchbook journal

Artists throughout history have kept sketchbooks—can you guess some of the reasons they might have found these to be valuable? Some famous artists whose sketchbooks are still considered to be great works of art include Leonardo da Vinci, Michelangelo, and Vincent van Gogh, and their sketches share valuable insights into their life and thoughts. But probably every artist used some kinds of sketchbooks to learn, practice, and work out their ideas, whether or not these sketches have survived.

When we think of a sketchbook today, we might think of a book filled with drawing paper that we buy at a store, but an artist’s sketchbook can be anything from a bunch of loose papers to a spiral notebook, to something that you make yourself, including a sketchbook you buy from an art store—and you can fill it with just as many different kinds of artwork as you can imagine!

I have provided a link to a video below showing some different kinds of sketchbooks, including some that you can make, along with some different kinds of uses for the artwork to include in them.

Here are a few more ideas for sketchbook uses:

·      Visual Diary

o   Record your thoughts, feelings, and dreams (daydreams and hopes as well as the dreams you have while sleeping...)

·      Planning

o   Sketches for larger or more involved projects

o   Character design

o   Experimentation with color patterns

·      Practice and Reference

o   Complete class assignments in journal for future reference—continue to learn from them and grow as an artist.

o   Draw reference images for other projects, doing historical, scientific, or cultural research through a visual record.

·      Book art

o   As you fill your sketchbook, you are creating a beautiful work of art in itself.

o   You can refer back to this record of your thoughts and ideas later, to see the world through your eyes at a different time in your life.

o   You can also share these works with others (if you wish), or someone a hundred years or more from now might read it and know what life was like in your world.

The important thing is to have fun and realize that all you are putting into your sketchbook is valuable. I have many different sketchbooks, and I love them all. Some are more about my feelings, while others are more about planning, and still others combine these in different ways, and others become almost a story of their own. They provide a way to create something without having to invest a lot of space, energy, or materials. For further info on keeping and even making your own sketchbook—check out my video about sketchbooks on YouTube.