WHAT'S IN MY SKETCHBOOK?
From Ki’s Coner: The duality of keeping a sketchbook.
Hi, Bonjour!
Welcome back! Happy Thursday! In this corner of the world let's chat about sketchbooks and how sketchbooks can define one's personality as an artist. Growing up I didn’t really think too much about the arts. Drawing was just a fun activity to pass the time while in classes. From stick figures to little houses, I never put much thought into what I drew. It was only when I was 11, the year I repeated the 4th grade that I vividly remember illustrating my first real picture. It was of a figure skater, full colour with crayola pencil. I was so proud of this drawing, I showed it to my entire class, my mom, and sisters but it was the praise from my dad that really struck a nerve. His approval was always something that I searched for and seeing the picture light up inside him lit something in me.
That same year after playing around with multiple different ‘‘draw/design your own outfit’’ books I asked my dad for a sketchbook the next time he visited. An awful vertical wired bound sketchbook you can easily find at the Dollar Store. But I loved that sketchbook, drew on every single page. As I got older I would level up and ask for different styles of sketchbooks, with different paper at various price ranges. I got to the point of not needing a sketchbook. Or at least not one for everyday use. Why carry a sketchbook, when you have a 3600$ machine that can do just about everything and more? Well, that's all good and dandy till that machine slips out of your hand and shatters or the 160$ pencil falls off the magnet and is now forever lagging whenever it's in use. Not to mind you that it is your second time replacing said pencil in a span of 2 years…yeah who really needs a sketchbook?
Sooo are we picking up our sketchbooks in 2025? In my case, yes. I mention this in my ins and outs of 2025, go check that out if you want, but I feel like this is the year of “slow” media. Or should I say slow mediums?
Traditional drawing forces you to really be intentional with what you lay down on paper, with the limited canvas space, you have to pick and choose what you want to draw. No undo button, no adding layers.
It feels a lot like when I was in Art school, the teacher would pitch the project, then I would thumbnail as much as I could in my sketchbook till I had a composition that I liked, take a photo on my phone then bring it to my CSP.
Thinking about carrying a sketchbook has also got me thinking, what if my sketchbook is not aesthetic enough? Ah yes, my worst nightmare. An Aesthetic sketchbook. Before I get into this, whether you keep an aesthetic sketchbook or not, it's all subjective. These are by far my own opinions. I'm not here to say what is good or bad. These are just thoughts. So Ki, pourquoi? What's the deal with aesthetic sketchbooks? Well, nothing is wrong! You can do whatever you want with a sketchbook. That's the beauty of keeping one. You can have pages dedicated to beautiful colorful paintings as well as just drawing all the chicken scratch you want. As a young artist, you see sketchbook spreads and dream of one day creating your own. But the day never comes, because that is not you. And that's okay!
When I was 16 and had more time on my hands, I would spend my evenings rendering elaborate illustrations, coming up with character design sheets, and creating comics of my oc. And now, my sketchbook is full of thumbnails and sketches of the same headshot. What's the difference? Time and Need. I don't have 8 hours to sit and render in prismacolor pencil anymore. Nor do I need to since I work mainly digitally. Your sketchbook is yours and bends to your wimps. I'm not a full-blown Traditional artist so my sketches won't turn out like other traditional artists do. And I'm okay with that. Do I want to be confident enough to post my chicken scratch without cropping, of course? Do I want my sketchbook to be bursting out with colours and paint, Hell yeah! I think eventually I want to work my way up to doing both of those things!
For now, I'm happy with what I got! I love my sketchbook and I hope to see more people sharing their old work and maybe some new art! Before I end things off here are some my sketching supply list!:
Moleskine, Cahier Journals Set of 3, Kraft Brown
Strathmore,Mix media sketchbook
BIC Round Stic Grip Ballpoint Stick Pens - 1.2 mm - Black - 12 Pack
Piot G-Tech-C4
Stadetler triplus micro 0.7mm - Led H
Mildliners
Crayola pencil blue
Knead eraser
Muji pencil case
Understanding there isn't one right or wrong way of keeping a sketchbook. There are uses and needs for both. However, I can't just leave without giving you some artists that I love and admire.
artist I love who keeps an aesthetic sketchbook:
Carolemellow: her use of coloured pencil and pretty dreamy characters are super beautiful
alexia winterhalt: gorgeous gauche painting, her plein air work is what I aspire to be.
PearFleur: Youtube classic, one of the first people I followed when it comes to tradional painting.
artist who keeps a sketchbook for ideas and thumbnailing:
Mewtripple: Her sketchbook videos where always my favourite to watch while in school, she basically coined the term “shitbook”
Sketches of Shay: A great mix of both but I would say a lot of their sketching is ideation!
Thanks for reading!A little more on the thought opinion piece side, but still really fun to do! I’m seeing a few more artists on this app and I’m loving it! I have a feeling that this will be my new platform to socialize on in the new year! Let me know if this is something you’d like to see more of hehe! Bye for now! À la prochaine!
Bisou ♡
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