I am sharing my sketchbook with you in this blog post, all 30-something pages of it! Though it was created a long time ago, it is a good source of inspiration; and it demonstrates how a sketchbook can capture feelings and occurrences in a poignant and expressive way.
{Don’t have time to read this blog post? Download my sketchbook for free here.}
Yesterday, I was filling out an interview for a feature in heART Journal Magazine. All was going swimmingly until I reached the last question, which read: “Do you keep an art journal? If so, do you post anywhere that the readers can go take a peek?” That was when I realized — wow, I don’t have my art journal {which I refer to as a sketchbook} posted anywhere. It’s about time that changed!
I started sketchbooking in 2004 as part of my art class. I consider sketchbooking to be a cross between scrapbooking and keeping a written journal; it’s a highly expressive way to preserve memories and the feelings associated with those memories. It’s also a really fun, therapeutic thing to make! I was very good about sketchbooking between 2006 and 2007, when I recorded many of my experiences and feelings in my sketchbook.
When I got to college, I just didn’t have the free time {or motivation?} to sketchbook anymore. After graduation, I suppose the sketchbooking habit was broken, and since then I have been very bad about sitting down and making a sketchbook happen. I do, however, continue to squirrel things away — notes, photos, clippings — that I wish to include in my sketchbook when I do pick it up again. Though I don’t make a habit out of sketchbooking now, I do intend to do so again in the future. I think it is one of the most wonderful ways to record who you are and what is going on in your life in a specific time frame.
Two books that really inspired me — and that I think would inspire you, too — are Spilling Open by Sabrina Ward Harrison and Artists’ Journals and Sketchbooks by Lynne Perrella.
You can make a sketchbook out of anything — whether it be a wirebound drawing pad like this {the one I used in high school}, or a repurposed vintage book, which is what I am using now. My friends and I really enjoyed getting out art supplies and sketchbooking together; drawing things in each other’s sketchbooks and adding colors, notes, whatever. Those pages I made with the collaboration of friends are now very special to me!
Today, my special treat for you is my sketchbook. Mind you: it’s dated! Most pages are almost a decade old. The sketchbook was essentially created in the throes — the highs, lows, and in-betweens — of teenage angst. I think that makes it a little more interesting, and while writing this post, it was fun to remember what my life was like and the person that I was at that time. You may download my sketchbook here; and feel free to use it for artistic inspiration or send it to someone who may enjoy looking through it! Share it on your blog, if you like, but please link back to this blog post if you do. I hope that it inspires you to start or continue your sketchbook; after putting my sketchbook pages and this blog post together, I know I am feeling much more motivated to sketchbook again!
Thanks so much for being such a wonderful bunch of readers — and enjoy!
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