Why artists use sketchbooks

With the world of social media out there, we are constantly focusing on sharing any art we are doing and taking a moment to wonder what others will think.

Starting with an intention of keeping it to yourself will take the pressure off and you can openingly focus on the drawing and process itself. I use my sketchbook to not only practice, but to develop any ideas I may have about a new art series, ecourse or project. I sketch, doodle and jot down ideas. My initial sketch will turn into another, then before I know it, I may have a few pages of preliminary sketches or motifs to use in a painting.

Often I will also scan my drawings into my computer to use digitally to create a design or desktop wallpaper for my free creative library. When you have a sketchbook nearby or perhaps next to your computer if that is the first place you to to in the morning , it reminds you to literally show up and lay down a sketch on a page.

Try not to think about it too much, just open a fresh page, take out your brush or pencil and simple draw what you see in front of you. This may be an everyday object that you have not really noticed before! I love to take a walk and sketch on the beach when the weather allows.

Why not join a sketchbook challenge or daily project such as thedayproject to keep you accountable. It is also a great way to connect with others who are using their sketchbook to create and grow. It is also a wonderful way to see what you created along the way and recognize improvements. Taking part in a project will also build your confident as you share your progress. Exploring Ideas Before committing an idea to canvas, or whatever the materials are that the artist is using, the idea can be explored with a series of sketches.

Journaling They can be used like a visual journal where an artist can sketch out his or her thoughts on a daily basis or however frequent is necessary.

Inspiration Through the sheer force of practice, if an artist forces his or her self to frequently sketch or do different exercises in a sketchbook, even when feeling uninspired, it can help spark inspiration. Share this: Share Print. Her work is hand and machine-stitched, then coloured using disperse dyes and pastels.

Andrea Cryer is another artist who uses a variety of sketchbooks and folders, ranging from small compact homemade books containing colour swatches and process notes, through to spiral-bound books, and large sketchbook folders housing loose leaf drawings, mixed media work, stitched and embellished textiles and fabric samples.

Andrea acquired the sketchbook habit via a traditional route, using them regularly during her art student days. She first used sketchbooks whilst studying on a Foundation course as a mature student, where she regularly cut up, tore and reconfigured standard issue sketchbooks to alter their format. This playing with scale would inform her approach to the subject matter, within a newly-constrained size and shape.

The students were encouraged to seek out structures, detail, pattern and texture as well as considering the overall composition. This was a very enlightening and challenging approach, which has stood her in good stead, particularly when tackling life drawing through looking at negative spaces and isolating specific areas, in addition to considering the figure as a whole. For this, she studied a number of modules including knit, stitch, weave, print, sculpture and fashion design.

Her sketchbooks soon became full and overflowing, with textural pieces escaping from every page! Drawings, prints, woven and knitted samplers, embroidered panels, photographs from magazines, postcards from art gallery and museum visits and all manner of ephemera found their way onto these pages.

Andrea has since combined some of these sketchbooks, filling in any empty-looking pages and adding to them as the years have passed by. She still gets pleasure from revisiting these sketchbooks today. It is made from a large art canvas 1. To the front and back of the canvas she attaches preparatory drawings, notes, inspiration and works in progress to any or all of the elastic bands, at different heights, without committing to a permanent arrangement.

The displayed pieces of work, whether fabric or paper, are easily interchangeable and allow her to assess and reflect on where she might be going with a particular project or commission. The sketch-board lets Andrea view her work from a distance, which often makes it easier to spot where changes need to be made. When the work is finished, she can quickly and easily remove the collaged pages and store them as a sketchbook folder.

Andrea finds that this sketch-board system works really well for displaying portrait pieces as well as arranging hand-dyed and painted papers or fabrics when introducing colour to her artwork. Another advantage is that it is very lightweight and easy to move around!

The four textile artists featured in this article all have several sketchbooks on the go, using them for different situations and various types of content. They use their sketchbooks according to their individual needs, making them an important part of their toolkit. These artists have shown that the key to success with sketchbooks is to use them in a way that suits you best.

This might be to make a daily drawing, or to use them as a tool for gathering inspiration, or for developing projects. So go ahead, choose a beautiful spiral-bound! Select your preferred mark-making implement; a fine-liner pen, a freshly-sharpened pencil or maybe some watercolour paints.

Then sketch some ideas, write some notes, glue in some photos, collect objects, papers or fabric samples, make some plans, or test out colours and patterns. Take the pressure off, open that first page and see what accumulates. Did you enjoy this article? If so, why not share it with your friends using the buttons below. Share in the creative secrets of the world's most celebrated embroidery artists.

And discover how to create breathtaking art with textiles and stitch. All Inspiration. No Spam. I do enjoy TextileArtist. Always something new…. How refreshing! I use a book for recording thoughts in word and images and add drawings and try-outs, often done on the back of recycled letters, etc, plus textile and thread samples that bulge out beyond the edges.

Thank you to the contributors to this article for their honesty and reassurance about what constitutes a sketchbook. I recently forwarded these on to a good friend who is a teacher so she can hopefully get some inspiration too! Thank you for sharing these treasures of sketch books. I really much appreciate this. Best regards Carmen. Well collated article, very inspirational and practical. I could not wait to give it a try today, 1 May a meaningful day, despite all the incomplete previous attempts.

Such a useful and inspirational article. Currently have several different old exercise books for ideas but there are some larger spiral sketchbooks waiting for me to broach them! Here goes! I love this article.

I have several sketch books. All of them have snippets of drawings etc. I always thought I should make them beautiful but now I seem to have been given permission to just pop all my thoughts and stuff into them. Here I go. Thank you. Your email address will not be published. Get updates from TextileArtist. How to use sketchbooks. View all articles by Heidi Ingram. Shelley Rhodes: Daily stitch practice to create one piece a week, , 28 cm x 10 cm, Fabric scraps and stitch.

Shelley Rhodes: Daily sketchbook, , each page 15 cm x15 cm, mixed-media including found objects. Merill Comeau: Mazies Bodice Ripper, ongoing work, 5 m x 3 m, Deconstructed antique silk bodice, painted and printed vintage linens, fabric flowers, thread.

Photographer credit: Susan Byrne Photography. Merill Comeau: Flora inspiration sketchbook. Merill Comeau: Ideas sketchbook. Instead of trying to keep a mental memory of what the flowers looked like so that you can sketch them when you get back home, all you need to do is pull out your sketchbook and draw them right then and there. There are times when certain pieces of your work are going to inspire you to create more pieces, whether they are similar or not.

In fact, this is how plenty of artists start to create series of paintings and sketches as each drawing inspires the next. Not only can a sketchbook help you come up with more ideas for future art projects, but it can also be a phenomenal reminder of who you are as a creative soul.

As someone who is skilled in their craft, it would be a shame to not take advantage of transforming your creative ideas into something on a physical piece of paper.