I'm going to let you in on a little secret. I'm terrible at keeping a sketchbook. I've always made drawings and loosely planed out their structure but, I've never been good at keeping up with a sketchbook. I've tried, I have many partially filled sketchbooks and random sheets of paper with sketches on them but it takes a conscious effort to make that happen.
The rule is that an artist always has their sketchbook, and should draw from observation as often as possible. But, there are many different ways to keep a sketchbook. Here are the ones that work best for me.
The Travel Journal: A combination of drawing, collage, writing, and a place to keep track of how much money I'm spending.
The Note Taker: For classes, I always learn better if I draw my notes. This works great for art history! Learn how you learn!
The Blog and the Daily Drawing: I like to switch between wet and dry mediums a lot and I can never stick to using one book. My blog is how I collect every thing together and I never have to worry about loosing it. It's also a place to keep my inspirations and easily link back to their source. I like daily drawings because they help me to build up good drawing habits.
Tip #1
A prefabricated sketchbook can be great, but if you like to have better quality paper or a range of colors and textures, a home made sketchbook is the way to go. You could always draw on your skin.
Tip #2
Use drawing to build up good habits in your art and own life. If you have trouble remembering to draw keep your sketchbook with to your TV remote or in the kitchen next to the tea kettle.
Links: Accesart Sketchbook blog Peculiar Bliss Doodlers Anonymous
Urban Sketchers
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Gina Furnari is
a recent graduate of The Hartford Art School and creator of
"non-traditional" paintings. She works as the Education Assistant/New
Media Developer intern for The Aldrich Contemporary Art Museum in
Connecticut, and is also the New media consultant for The Clyde Otis
Music Group in New Jersey.
