The Power of Sketchbooks

If you are thinking about beginning a sketchbook practice or revitalizing one that has fallen away, I want to share a few ways that I use my sketchbooks. In the past, I didn’t understand the value of having a sketchbook, much less several sketchbooks. Now that I have taken the time to create several books for various purposes, I wanted to share them and the value I find in the purpose and process of each one.

The first sketchbook I want to share is the one I call my inspiration sketchbook. I use it as a place to collect things that I like and make notes around what I glue in there. Sometimes it’s as simple as business cards or postcards that I pick up at art fairs or magazine images that I like. The reasons for holding on to these items include being able to visit the artist’s website, taking note of a specific color palette or making notes about what I am inspired to try based on what I saw in an image.

I use a different sketchbook for keeping track of my color swatching. I sometimes adhere pieces of fabric on a page and try to create a color palette using fabric for inspiration. More often, I take a limited number of paints (2 or 3), and black and white and paint swatches. I collect them and put them randomly on the page and if I like the way the colors look collectively, I often use them as a jumping off point for a series of paintings.

Another type of sketchbook that I use is a reference book. This one I titled Catalog of Contrasts. I thought about the elements of art and how variety plays a key role in making a painting interesting. If there are light areas, you should have dark areas. If you have bright colors, it’s also good to have muted colors or shades of grey. So I made a lot of sets of opposites and keep them in a reference sketchbook in my studio. After I review the work and ask myself what is this artwork missing, I can refer to the catalog for ideas of how to add interest. I have about 40 or so sets of opposites. Here are a few examples.

Recently I used a sketchbook to experiment with some techniques because I was about to start on a new series but I didn’t know what direction I wanted to take. I experimented with supplies and over the course of a few minutes a day for a couple of weeks I had amassed almost 80 little studies. These studies informed the next series I created. However, there were so many different pieces and various techniques so the time spent experimenting has actually given me a large amount of material to study. I have already made one series based on the sketchbook work but, I have several more ideas that will surely find their way into upcoming work.

This is a 7” X 7” wire bound sketchbook. I used most of the pages to keep my studies about transparency and layering. So, I made a tag for the binding so I know what is inside without having to take all the sketchbooks off my shelf and look for the one I want to revisit. Whatever I use the remaining pages for, I will add a tag so I can easily find those studies too.

Once I have artwork underway, I sometimes get pieces to a place where I am not sure what direction to take them in. Some artists think of it as being stuck or blocked. I don’t take it as seriously as that. I just think of it as a crossroad where I need to decide to go one direction or the other. I use a sketchbook to make a quick sketch of my painting so that I can slow down and make some observations. Often this process of stopping to analyze what I have lets me decide what a painting needs. I make written notes along with the sketch and I have found that a short period of time gets me moving faster than other advice I’ve been given such as leave it for a day, week or two weeks, turn it around to face the wall or paint over it.

Here’s how this artwork review turned out. I took some of my advice on what to do next and ignored some comments. The act of pausing to reflect is really the power behind this little sketchbook.

I completed a 100 piece project, also done as a 100 day project by some people. I really wanted to hold onto the work but didn’t want to stick it in a box and put it away where it may never again see the light of day. So, I made my own sketchbook and now I leave it on my coffee table. Sometimes I leaf through it and people who come visit are free to look at it too. It gives me an internal dialog about my compositions and invites others to do the same.

I created a YouTube video about this book and also a video about how you can make your own. You can check those out here.

I also have a sketchbook that I sketch in. Which I find amusing because I used to think that the only reason to have a sketchbook was to sketch in it. Once I tossed away all the limitations of what I believed about sketchbooks, I created one for every purpose I wanted to explore.

The last book I want to share with you is my journal. It’s not really a sketchbook but it lives on the same shelf as my sketchbooks so I thought I would include it here. I use this in a few ways. First, I have read and lived The Artist’s Way, by Julia Cameron. I spent 2+ years journaling 3 full pages long hand each morning in order to unlock my creativity. I still journal in the morning, but less regularly now. More often I give myself something I want to explore and I set a 30 minute timer to play first thing in the morning, before my phone, obligations or critical mind starts to interrupt me.

I give start and end dates on the cover and buy them in bulk during the great back to school deals in summer and early fall.

The practice of working in sketchbooks has just begun for me and I know that I will create many more sketchbooks in the future. I also think that archiving my 100 piece projects in custom sketchbooks has unlocked a real creative outlet for me.

I would love to hear how you use your sketchbooks. If you found anything in this post useful, feel free to leave me a comment. Thanks for checking out the blog and I wish you a creative day!

with gratitude,

Claude