Sketchbook Flip-through: June 2023 - June 2024
Breaking News: I’ve completed my first sketchbook!
If you’re like me, and I know a lot of you will be, you’ll have a bajillion sketchbooks in your collection and you’ll likely have several on the go at once. I have some I’ve started and quickly fallen out of love with and some that I just grew bored of halfway through, some have been chosen for specific subjects or materials, and let’s face it, most will take me an age to complete. In short, this completion is an achievement.
This particular sketchbook was what I referred to as “my everyday sketchbook”. It’s a Royal Talens Art Creations sketchbook in the 13cm x 21cm size. It’s pretty cheap to purchase, and with all it’s colour options, it’s very cheerful too. I enjoy the paper’s smooth surface and its ivory colour. The relatively small size means it’s portable and I have no complaints on the sketchbook’s quality or its ability to lie flat nicely. It has its limitations, but for the most part, it handles everything I chuck at it and I needn’t be precious about it. This sketchbook is my go-to if I want to swatch a new material, join in with an online drawing session, take some notes or just have a no-pressure sketching session. It truly is a working sketchbook and not an art book. I filmed a quiet flip-through video which you can see below…
A quiet flip-through of my first completed sketchbook spanning June 2023 to June 2024.
Almost all of the online drawing sessions I’ve completed have either been the free, monthly Odd Orange ones, or the one’s I can get involved with via my subscription to Katie Moody’s ‘Sketch Club’ on Patreon. I’ve taken notes during the free Art 2 Life online workshop, and from a Sandi Hester YouTube video on ‘Value’. There were three pages filled during a free Sarah Dyer Zoom session, and the last four spreads were studies done of Sedem’s work during my subscription to her Patreon. I also took part in ‘Birbfest’ in January of this year. The rest of the book is filled with my own random exploration and practice. This could be from life, reference book, photographs or my imagination. The last few pages were care of my then four-year-old. The sticker on the front was also a precious gift to me from him<3
What did I learn about my art practice throughout my time in this sketchbook you might be wondering?
I discovered that line is very important to me. Whether it’s put down on its own, put down first to have colour added after, or put down over the top of some initial blocks of colour, I need it to be there and I like it to be bold. This discovery then led me to find out that continuous line work brings me a joy and a freedom that I never expected it would. I love continuous line! If you’ve never tried it, I thoroughly recommend giving it a bash. Along a similar line, I found out how much I like drawing with fountain pens and dip pens. I regularly use and enjoy them for writing in my journals, and now I can appreciate them in my sketchbooks too. Finally, I learned that I actually prefer the art that I make quickly, the shorter timed sketches and such. I feel it has so much more of me in it than the work I take more time on, which I no doubt overthink and overwork. That was a nice surprise.
I would love for you to share with me, what your sketchbook practice has done for you. Or if you don’t yet have a sketchbook practice, why not? Please do let me know in the comments below.
Rebecca x
