Do You Keep a Sketchbook?

First of all I want to thank you all for your wonderful ideas for my disaster of a cardigan from the last post. I have some lovely ideas now, you are a clever bunch, thankyou!xx

If you're a regular visitor here you'll know that I've kept sketchbooks for many years. When I was at college I found them a bit of a chore and didn't enjoy them very much because they were filled with course projects. I know many artists hardly ever use them (and you could be one of them!) but it was only when I started to use them for my own enjoyment and not necessarily for the eyes of others that I became what I can only describe as essential to keeping creative thoughts flowing for me.

I'm going to show you a few completely random pages from a couple of years ago. I could show you more up to date ones but I have a feeling I might have already shown them here recently. :) Amalia from Pencils and Fireflies was kind enough to ask me to take part in her 'sketchbook show and tell' where along with a few other artists I shared some of my sketchbook pages. It was this that got me thinking about making this post.

 I like to play with shapes and different mediums, trying out colour combinations and patterns.

 Some drawings are from memory, some are intuitive and reflect how I was feeling at the time.

 Other pages are just total play and maybe a bit messy!


 A nice black pen and some blank pages soon fill up with plant patterns.
I like to try out patterns.

 The one below is a collage from a well known clothes catalogue that you might recognise? I love their fabrics so much but my goodness are they expensive to buy in real life! ;)


But on the whole my sketchbooks have become more of a visual diary, an art journal and I like to stick in other things from my life to look back at one day..... 

The page on the left isn't my artwork but I expect you might have guessed that already! ;)


These pages speak for themselves. I never thought I'd give this the light of day. :)

If I were to paint or draw in them with the intention of showing them to anyone, I wouldn't get anything done at all but to open a fresh page and sit with some scrummy colours or a nice black pointy pen, it's a way of getting it out of my head
and I would highly recommend it! :)


Comments

Nadia said…
Thank's for sharing Jess, I like you're pages very much! I think I shall give it a go myself. I have like a pile of blank sketchbooks but I never had the nerve to start.
Jess said…
Thanks Nadia, I think a page a day would be a good aim but remember to leave your head out of it! If I start to worry about what I'm going to do on the page, nothings happens. ;) Happy sketchingbooking!x
Carol said…
I'm no artist so, no sketchbooks. Love the glimpse you have given us of yours. The face of the cat on the very first one is my favourite, what an expression!
My DH can/should paint, he has finally put some brown paper on a board (don't ask) and two pieces of paper are now attached and waiting for inspiration. Watercolour is/was his medium. Wonder if a sketchbook would help.
Carol xx
Jess said…
Thanks Carol, I find the sketchbook a good place to try out things before you put it on the final painting but having said that, I stay far too long inside my sketchbooks and need to start a 'real' painting soon! ;)
Dear Fireflies said…
You are no doubt the queen of sketchbooks, Jess! I love, love, love your sketches, I think you would do marvelously at art journals. Is that something you've done or maybe thought of doing before?
These are gorgeous! I'm on and off with sketchbooks; but it IS how I eased myself into doing art so I appreciate the freedom of them.
Catherine Denton
Gina said…
How lovely to see in your sketchbooks. I always start them with good intentions but never seem to fill one.
Carrie Martinez said…
Nice Sketchbook inspiration! Its a goal of mine this year to do more sketching, your collection motivates me :)
Cameron said…
I just can't seem to justify doing art just for me....sad, I know.....it would be nice to have fabulous books like yours to enjoy years later!
Yvonne Stewart said…
It's lovely to have a peek into your sketchbooks, I like all the different techniques and mediums you've been experimenting with. I used to keep sketchbooks when I was studying and I enjoyed keeping them, I don't know why I got out of the habit, I might try it again xx
Flotsam said…
It is timely you have posted this just as I have been asked to take my sketchbooks into a local college as a presentation.

It was only when looking through; deciding which to take; that I realised just how personal they are. Originally using mine as a kind of diary with pictures, it turned quickly into a platform for ideas. The best thing is, being in a book, they are less likely to be lost; so are re-visited as a reminder for inspiration.

Just one thing; where on earth do we store them as the collection grows?
Young at Heart said…
fabulous.....I used to never be without a sketchbook....4 years at art college not wasted....then they morphed into writing books and now are a sort of hybrid incorporating homemade monthly calenders, to do lists, notes, cuttings, doodles, pictures, blog ideas.....but I really should get back to doing a drawing a day....another resolution??!!
manomij said…
I love making a mess in my sketch books because the ideas always come for me from mess. It is great to see more of yours Jess, not that your sketch books are a mess. They are the total opposite! I love the colours you use!Thanks for sharing.
ManonX
I don't, but what a lovely idea.

My grandmother always kept a diary with little sketches in it - I was always inspired to do the same, but have never really got round to it. Maybe I should start.

Nina x
Ruthie Redden said…
Love your sketchbooks Jess, they are so organic and cheery. I do keep my sketchbooks going but nearly as much as I want, so this year Im making a concerted effort to try and sketch daily!!! We shall see! Happy New Year to you treasure x x
Martina said…
Dear Jessie, happy new year to you! Wow. i fins your sketchbook pages so beautiful! Sometimes, when we do these things in a playful spirit, the best things come out of it. Really inspires me, to use my sketchbook more often!
Kyra Wilson said…
I haven't been keeping a sketchbook for a very long time. I'm trying to get a bit more back into it, but I'm finding it tricky! I'm not sure why... maybe I feel like I don't have the time. If I have time to sketch, I should be working on my business projects or something (in my head, I think that's what I hear.)

I love your books!
Introverted Art said…
I love these. They are so amazing.
denthe said…
You are so right that you should do it for your own enjoyment and not for the eyes of others. Although when you're keeping a blog it's sometimes hard to remember that..... Love your pages!
Mandel said…
I love how your personality and creativity has been flowing into those pages... I wish I could be as easy going with my journals. I seem to be not able to relax about them and always get angry with myself when the page doesn't turn out good... :( Think I have some things to learn on that front...

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