One of the keys to success of any type of artist is their sketchbook. I have been using a sketchbook since I was a teenager. There were periods – loooong periods – of time when I did not use them. Whether it was during the time I had busy children, or when I was ill. Now I see them as an integral part to my art.
I am still developing a sketchbook habit. To draw something every day, even if it is just a small thumbnail, challenges me to think and act like an artist. It is an affirmation of what I am and do. Of how I live.
Sketchbooks can be repositories for a lot more than sketches. They are really a way to download ideas from your brain to the page, in whatever form that might take. It might be a photograph, a sketch, some colour ideas, stitch ideas, design ideas, inspiring quotes, notes on creativity and learning, inspirational books/articles, etc. Mine includes facial tissue boxes with designs that inspire me, among other things. Whenever I find a design or something that inspires me, I find a way to put it or the idea in my sketchbook somehow.
I like to treat myself to a new sketchbook every now and then, just to entice me to draw. Time is fleeting, and I want to capture all the ideas I can on paper.
I enjoy getting a nice sketchbook along with some new pencils at Christmas. Its a perfect gift for any artist, young or old.