I have several drafts on burn-out, hustle culture, etc. but I didn’t feel like posting that today. Yesterday was quite eventful: I fell in a ditch while hiking and had to go to hospital (nothing serious, just a severely sprained ankle). So, today is going to be about a breezy topic: sketchbooks.
Coming up with images happens mostly in my brain. When I have an idea for a drawing, illustration or painting, I fully visualise images without sketching it. Basically, I never thought I needed to sketch before working on a final piece. When I started working for clients, they wanted to see sketches first, of course. I learned myself to do quick drawings to show them what I saw in my head.
So, at age 35 I didn’t even have one sketchbook completely filled with sketches. I did have a few stored in boxes with a drawing here or there, but not even in art school I used a sketchbook to experiment or research.
Maybe I was scared of using a sketchbook because often they look so serious, with their fancy binding. They’re quite expensive too, most of the time. I’m also quite a perfectionist, so I feel like I have to do it right straight away.
But that changed around 2020 when I started painting landscapes again after a 13-year break. I bought myself a stack of cheap sketchbooks (on the bottom you’ll find my favourites) and I learned to enjoy it by using a few rules.
Sketchbook rules
Sketchbooks are for playing
It is for my eyes only (unless I really want to show it)
The more I use them, the easier and better it gets
Draw what you see, not what you think you see
All materials and subjects are allowed
There are no rules
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To not get precious with my sketchbooks, I use the first few pages for testing pencils, pens, colours and mark making. Because the first few pages are so deliciously messy, I feel less precious and more free. Highly recommended!
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When I’m in England I tend to sketch more landscapes, while in the Netherlands I draw mostly people. The Dutch landscape doesn’t always excite me as it’s so flat but by sketching it, it helps to rekindle an appreciation for it. Still, I prefer the hills and glorious skies of the UK.
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You might see picture-perfect sketches online, but for most artists/drawers it takes an initial sketch to get to a better one, as you can see above. I often give myself a spread in my sketchbook to figure out the composition. Then, I draw another one where I understand the landscape better.
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Some pages are filled to the borders with colours and marks…
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While other pages are filled with quick thumbnails (either black and white or colour) and notes on the landscape. I use these often for bigger paintings of landscapes, and they’re massively helpful.
What I’ve learnt from using sketchbooks:
Actually drawing out ideas brings my brain-sketches to another level
It’s quick to test colour combinations or compositions
It’s immensely satisfying to finish a complete sketchbook
I don’t like most of my sketches when I’ve just finished them but when I leave it for a day, I see them differently and I appreciate them very much
It’s okay to mess up: you learn or you’re guided to new solutions
It’s wonderful to experiment and discover new ways of working
Favourite tools for on the go:
Talens sketchbooks: they’re cheap so you feel less pressure and they take on so many mediums.
Tombow brush pens: easy to pack in your kit
Caran D’ache Neocolor II crayons: they are lush and use water to make watercolours of them
Blackwing pencils: my favourite buttery pencil for sketching landscapes
Beautiful sketches, thanks for sharing!
Question (a silly one perhaps) but how do you hold your sketchbook as you draw? I noticed some of your sketches take up the whole surface of the paper. Do you use a stand and stool or do you improvise for each drawing?
Ok, officially bananas. I just stumbled across your newsletter, nodding along to your burnout post and seeing words I'd used recently pop up on the screen - so I checked out more of what you're up to - and sitting in my drafts for my next post is one about my sketchbook practice. About not using sketchbooks ever, until my 30s, and I use them in a near identical way as you describe. Right down to the word 'precious' in how I used to avoid / approach them.
I guess this is a long way to say, hello kindred creative.