My Thoughts on Keeping a Sketchbook
Has anyone else struggled with the practice of keeping a sketchbook? My own practice has ebbed and flowed over the years. Until recently, it never clicked for me how important it is. It was just something I had to do in art school, but I didn’t really have a love for it.
In my creative practice, I kept getting stuck during my process. I would get to that messy, “blah”, middle stage and lose momentum. I found it hard to keep the flow of creativity going with the interruptions of life and my creative practice felt clunky and stagnant. I felt that my art wasn’t developing and I wasn’t growing as an artist.
Something needed to change. I went to my favourite site for creative classes called @skillshare and attended a class by @emmakisstina called: ‘Anyone can start a sketchbook: how to draw happy florals and botanicals’. It was a fun, fresh class that revived my love of sketchbooks. I especially loved her approach to setting up her sketchbook and bulk-painting multiple spreads in the one sitting (to avoid the hassle of setting and cleaning up). My sketchbook has now become a judgement-free zone; a safe place to practice techniques, skills and ideas. Using materials that I already have around me, I’ve fallen back in love with this process and, now, my daily drawing practice feels easy. I’m obsessed with filling the pages in my sketchbooks. I’ve realised that the most important part of sketchbook practice is to play and have fun with it, and remember that it doesn’t matter if a page didn’t turn out the way you imagined it would. That’s the whole point of a sketchbook, to try out your ideas to see what works and what doesn’t! It’s about learning and growth.
This has also helped me in my creative practice. Now, during the process, I don’t feel like I get stuck as much and I don’t feel so overwhelmed with ideas. Sketching has freed me up to be more focused and it keeps my momentum going. I have learned the importance and value of keeping a sketchbook and I just love it so much! My hope is that I can keep it up and that I have encouraged you to start or reassess your own practice to see if this is something you can bring into your day-to-day. I would love to hear how this helped you or if you keep a sketchbook. Leave me a comment below.
