Transcripts
1. Welcome: Hi, I'm Ramona, an artist, illustrator, and sketchbook
lover from Germany. Over the past eight years, I've been working as a professional children's
book illustrator, creating art for publishers
all around the world. But beyond the finished
illustrations, my sketchbook has always
been my most personal space, a place where I can experiment, make mistakes, and
discover new ideas. Like many creatives, I've
also struggled a lot with perfectionism and the pressure to always create something good. But over time, I've learned that the true magic
happens when we let go of these expectations and allow ourselves
to play again. Over time, my sketchbook
became a safe place for me, a place full of curiosity,
joy, and freedom. And that is exactly what I want to share with you
in this course. I hope that
Sketchbook Magic will help you reconnect
with your creativity, explore your own artistic voice, and make drawing
fun again for you. I'm so happy you're here, and I'm super excited to see what you all create
in your sketchbooks.
2. 1 Getting to Know Your Materials: In this lesson, we will explore our tools and try to get a
bit out of our comfort zone. The goal is to experiment, let go of expectations and perfectionism and just play
and try something new. First, I want you to gather
all your art supplies, pens, pencils, watercolors,
markers, crayons, collage paper, washy
tape, glue ink, that weird metallic gelpen
you forgot your head, even coffee or tea
bags, if you like. Whatever you have at home. If you are working with wet materials like
watercolors or acrylics, a sketchbook with
somewhat thicker pages, 300 grams or more would be good. Now, open a double page in your sketchbook and just start. Use your art supplies to explore them in
every possible way. There's no right or
wrong way to draw. Just see what happens when you let your
materials guide you. I'm starting with watercolor. I have these super
granulating watercolors from Sminke that I
really want to try out. First, I'm taking a bit of this urban yellow and just
put some marks on my paper. I'm not worried at all about drawing something
specific right now, although you can, of course,
do that if you like. But for now, I'm just
drawing some random shapes. See what marks I can
come up with with my brush and just begin
to fill the page. Now I'm adding some green and let it bleed
into the yellow. Play with different
forms and brush strokes. Do you like them
straight or curved? Do you prefer thick brush
strokes or thinner ones? Try not to think
about the result. We are only interested
in the process here and what marks and
techniques we can come up with. It's not important to have
a pretty image at the end. I'm switching to a
smaller brush now, and I'm just going with the flow creating
some floral elements. The paint underneath
it is still red, so parts of the plant bleed into it while other parts stay sharp. These combinations of
lost and hard edges can really add to the
appeal of an image. H. I'm taking one of the water soluble wax
pastels of carndage here. I really love these. They are super versatile and
have quite a lot of pigment. Staying with a flower theme here and adding
another leafy plant. Try to layer different materials and see how they work together. Now I'm adding some
white little spots. It is always good to
have a mix of large, medium and small
elements in your image. It helps your composition, and it adds a lot of
interest to your image. Continuing with some
oil pastels here. I already really like the
mix of different textures, shapes, forms, line qualities that we
have here right now. When I paint, I
always try to reuse design elements or colours
throughout the whole image. It makes it overall more harmonious and gives
it a cohesive look. Now I'm adding some
yellow royal talents, watercolor directly
onto the paper. The royal talents
are definitely a bit more intense in color
than usual watercolor, and dropping the paint can
create interesting effects. Drawing a few more details
with markers here, my goal is to completely
fill this spread. I found this little stencil from my abstract painting times. Before I started as a
children's book illustrator, I had an online shop and sold abstract paintings for a
while, which was quite fun. It did not really work
with the watercolor here, but I still like the
marks it created. Using this old sponge to add a bit more
green to my image, you can really use
whatever you have in your home and see what marks
you can create with it. You could even
label them later to make it easier to remember
what tools you used. Cutting out a few pieces from
these watercolor textures, I initially painted them to scan and use them for my
digital illustrations. It really can help to add
some analogue textures to your digital art to
make it look less smooth and perfect and give
it a bit more character. And at the end, I'm adding some pun paste with a sponge to bring in a
cooler color to my image. When you are finished
with your page, take a moment to
observe what felt good? What didn't do you
want to try again? This is about getting to know your materials and also about
getting to know yourself. You might discover
a texture you love, a tool that surprises you, or you might realize
what you don't enjoy, and that is even as valuable.
3. 2 Exploring Different Styles: In this lesson, we will explore our visual voice
and bring what we have learned in our last
exercise to practice. I want you to pick an object, choose something simple
from your home, a mk, a shell, a plant, a spoon, a pair of shoes,
whatever you like. But it should be something simple and not too
complicated to draw. This exercise is not
about what you draw, it is about how you draw it. Let go of expectations. Your object is just a
mirror for your creativity. When you have
chosen your object, draw or paint the same object at least five to seven times. Use different materials
or tools each time. Like in the last lesson,
work with what you have. As you redraw your object, try shifting the style or
energy of the drawing. You could, for example,
try a childlike, playful version, a moody,
emotional version, a super abstract shape
focused version, a minimalist or contour drawing, a detailed realistic study, a fast time sketch or whatever
you feel inspired to do. I'm going to draw this
pier for this exercise. It's a simple, rather
easy to draw object, but it still has an
interesting shape. I'm starting with watercolor, using the same super
granulating watercolor paint as for the last exercise. Watercolor has this
soft poetic look to it, and it is a classic and timeless
material in illustration. I really love this delicate feel that you can achieve with it. For the next version, I'm using the water
soluble wax pasts. They give a bit more texture, and the colors are more intense. I think this version looks a bit more bold than
the watercolor per. Adding some water,
and like you can see, the colors become
even more intense. But you still have this
really nice texture. I think I will leave
these details dry. It always helps to use a mix of different colours to make a
drawing more interesting. I think the yellow in this case, really helps to make the peer look a bit more dimensional. Oh I'm adding a little shadow to this pier now, and I think we're done
with this version for now. For the next version, I'm going with colored pencils. When you draw with
colored pencils, I always start with
the lightest color, and then I layer the darker
colors on top of it. Don't press too hard
at the beginning, or you will seal the paper and cannot add
more layers to it. Draw very soft and let the color underneath
shine through it. Colored pencils is much more
work than, for example, watercolor, but you can create a wonderfully
soft look with it. Next I'm drawing a
version with Fineliner. I tried to stay a
little more loose in this drawing and give it a
bit more of a playful feel. It definitely takes some
courage to draw with Fineliner since every line you make is permanent and you cannot
erase any mistakes. But I think that is exactly
what makes it interesting. The drawing is real and honest. It is not perfect, but it has lots of
character instead. Now I'm painting a
random shape with watercolor and let it dry while I paint the next versions. This one, I'm taking a more
minimalistic approach here by using only a marker and
just drawing the outline of the pier adding a few more details like
shadow, and some spots. But I really try to keep it
simple and minimalistic. For this next approach, I'm using, again, the neo
Color Aquarel wax pastts. But this time I'm using them dry without
applying water to it. You can create interesting
textures this way, as well. But personally, I like them a little more with a bit
of water, I think. The watercolor shape
is mostly dry by now, and I'm trying something
a little more on the abstract side by drawing only the outline of
the peer on top of it. Adding a few little details, but I try to keep it rather
loose and not overwork it. For my last version, I'm using pencil and I'm doing a rather
realistic drawing here. I use this pencil style
a lot in the past, and I still love it
every now and then. You can even create
digital paintings with it by scanning your drawing in and applying digital
paint underneath it. It's a really nice way to combine traditional and
digital techniques. And here we have it eight
different ways to draw a peer with different materials
and in different styles. You don't have to do
it the way that I did, but go with your intuition. Take the materials
that you have at home and just play
and experiment. After you have done
this exercise, take a moment to look at what you've made and ask yourself, what felt most natural? What felt awkward or exciting? Which materials or
approaches surprised you? Can you notice any recurring
shapes, lines, or marks? What do these pieces say
about your visual language? I hope this exercise helps
you discover the many voices that are already in you and trust the one that
feels most natural.
4. 3 Four Minutes Drawing Practice: Okay, now I want
to show you one of my favorite drawing exercises. It's a great way to overcome
the fear of the blank page, warm up before you start with a bigger drawing or just to
improve your drawing skills. First, pick a
subject, for example, faces, cats, birds, flowers,
whatever interests you. Pick your favorite
drawing or painting tools and set a timer to 4 minutes. You now have 4 minutes to
finish a little drawing. You can repeat that
as often as you like. Sometimes a few limits
like painting with only two colors or only
using a specific tool, or like, in this
case, for example, setting a time limit
really helps to push your creativity and
to get into the flow. Okay, let's open a new
page in our sketchbook. And for my demonstration here, I will be drawing dogs. I will use colored
pencils and new colors. So let's begin. I tend to start with the lighter color to draw the oval shapes
of the dog first. Remember, it does not
need to be perfect. The goal is to have a finished
drawing after 4 minutes, so you can keep it simple. If it helps you, you can gather a few reference photos
before you start. There's absolutely nothing wrong with using reference photos. I sometimes use them as
inspiration to get started. Make sure you're using
copyright free images, though, if you want to
copy them a bit closer. There are great
websites for that like Asplash or Packets. Okay, next, I'm drawing
a little poodle. I think dogs are super
interesting subject to draw. They come in so many shapes, sizes and colors, and they can be so expressive
and dynamic. And I just love dogs. And here we have
our little poodle. It's definitely not perfect
and not perfectly rendered. But that's not the
point of the exercise. The point is just to get you
into the flow of drawing and to get something
to the paper. Now I'm drawing a kind
of Irish terrier. Again, starting with
the overall shapes in a lighter color. I always tend to
draw from light to dark and to start with the rough shapes and add more
and more details as I go. I really love to do this
exercise in the morning when I'm still kind of stiff and
before I start with my work, it loosens me up a bit, and you will really feel a difference after two
or three drawings or so. Everything becomes
much more easy. Okay, we have space
for one more dog here, and I want to draw a little
more dynamic pose this time, since the others are just standing or this one
on the left sitting. Again, drawing the
rough overall shapes in a lighter color at first, trying to find the pose. And remember, you can do this exercise with every
material you like. You don't have to take colored pencils like
I do in this case. You can do it with watercolors or just with a pencil,
whatever you want. This exercise could be also
really great to explore new materials to get a little bit more confident in
a specific material. If you're, for example,
just practicing watercolor, this could be really great to explore the
material a bit more, to see how the different
paints work with each other on different papers and just to get a bit more
used to the material. We're coming to an
end here right now. I'm quite happy with
my little drawings. Remember, you can pick
any material you want. It's just important to set yourself a few limits
for this exercise. Pick materials and stick to them and pick a time
limit and stick to it. You can choose 2 minutes, 4 minutes, 6 minutes. I would suggest to not make it too long to keep
this spontaneity. And so you have time to
do many little drawings. But just have fun with it. Oh
5. 4 Fill Your Drawings With Emotion: In this lesson, I want to invite you to not only
draw what you see, but to go beyond
what's visible and try to capture your inner
world in your sketchbook. Instead of drawing an
object exactly as it is, explore how emotions can shape your lines,
shapes and colors. This way, your sketchbook is not only a tool for observation, but can also be a tool
for safe expression. So first, pick an object,
pick something ordinary, a cup, a chair, a tree, a shoe, or a window,
whatever you like. Something you see
often but may not feel anything specific
about. Keep it simple. The object is not
the focus here. Now, list five emotions. Take a moment and
pause for a while. Which emotions come to mind? They can be anything, joy,
sadness, anger, curiosity, peace, longing, pride, fear, love,
restlessness, whatever. You can choose emotions
you're feeling right now or ones you want to explore. Next, draw the object
in five different ways. For each emotion, create a new version of
your chosen object. You can use lines, shapes, proportions, color, and textures
to express the feeling. Okay, here's my list
of my emotions. I chose joy, sadness,
anger, excitement, and calmness, and I will be using a tree to express
these different feelings. I'm starting with the
first emotion, joy, and I'm beginning by drawing the rough shape
of a tree with a pencil. And as always in the sketchbook, our goal is not to create a
perfect drawing or painting. This exercise is just to practice to express
emotions in your drawing. I think it drawing, a painting an illustration, if they convey a
specific emotion, they are so much more
interesting to the viewer. But you can also just
use it for yourself and you don't need to show
anybody your drawings. You can use it to
express your emotions, if you're having a bad day, for example, or if you're
thinking about your problem, sometimes drawing your
emotions or painting them is really helpful to work through it and find a solution I'm now adding some
watercolor to my drawing. And while I'm drawing
and painting, I try to think about what a
joyful tree would look like. And that's not always an easy task to put an emotion into an object
or this case into a tree. But when I think
about a joyful tree, I think of a really healthy, green, bright tree
maybe in spring. And I try to convey
that in my drawing. I try not to overthink
what I'm doing here and try to just
go with emotion. If it is helpful to you, you could maybe look at
photographs of people that express your emotion and
look at their body posture, their facial expression, and try to keep this feeling
in your painting. I'm nearly finished here
with my joyful tree, and I think it
looks quite joyful. It is very lush and healthy, full of green, bright
leaves. A young tree. And again, it doesn't
need to be perfect. We just want to practice expressing emotions
in our sketches. My next tree will be
expressing sadness, so quite the opposite
of my sketch before. And I think a willow with these long hanging leaves would be perfect to
express this emotion. And as you can see, I'm already using quite
different colours, a bluish gray
colored pencil here. And for this exercise, you can switch
materials and choose the materials that help you
to express the emotion best. Everything is hanging down and the colors are
quite soft and muted. I already looks a bit sad. Again, adding some watercolor
to my drawing here, some blue, and colors can
be really expressive. Every color conveys
a specific mood and emotion and moves
people in certain ways. As you can see, the
greenish yellow colors of the joyful tree do have a very different expression than the muted blue and
gray in the sat tree. Adding a bit more
contrast here with my colored pencil
with the dark gray. And then I'm almost finished
with this one, too. Don't spend too long. I think maybe about five to
20 minutes for each drawing. It doesn't need to be perfect. My next tree, I want
to look really angry, and right from the beginning, I'm choosing one of the
new colour wax posts which have quite a
bit more texture than the colored pencils. I'm going with the
dark brown here and keeping my shapes
really angular and sharp not quite as soft and round as the
joyful tree, for example. Now you can already see
the differences between this tree between
these three trees. The first ones were
more soft and round and this has really
sharp edges and angles. Adding some watercolor here. Adding a few flying
leaves as if it is really stormy right now and the leaves
are flying away. I'm thinking about a tree
during a thunderstorm maybe. And when I think about anger, I'm thinking about
the color red, which is really prominent and I think expresses
this emotion really well. And I think we are already
finished with this one. My next emotion is excitement, and I'm trying to do a bit more colorful
version of my tree now, starting with a bright blue here for the stem and the branches. Filling this tree
with all sorts of colourful leaves here to
make it feel really excited. And we're almost
finished with this one. I think it looks a little bit more similar to the joyful tree, but the colorful leaves and the blue branches make it look a bit more
fun and exciting. M last emotion is calmness, and I'm going straight in with watercolors to create a really soft and
calm look for the tree. I'm thinking of a
big old tree on a mild summer day the paper here that I
have is not perfect. For watercolor, it's
not 100% cotton, I think, but it doesn't matter. It's just a sketchbook and sometimes a bit more
cheaper sketchbooks take the fear off of you to just start
drawing and painting. It does not create so much pressure as if
you have a really, really expensive sketchbook that you are afraid to draw in. Adding some branches here
in a soft brown color, and I'm letting the
colors flow into each other to really get
a soft look to it. The colors I chose
are a bit more muted, and I think especially this
soft green that I chose for the leaves gives a
really calm expression. Keeping everything
really soft and light. No harsh contrast. Like on a summer morning, maybe, when everything is still
quiet and the birds are chirping painting a
little background here in a very soft
and light blue. And being able to express these emotions in your
drawings and illustrations or paintings is a really important
ability for illustrators, especially for children's
books, Illustrators. So this is a perfect
exercise to practice this. But also just to express
your own emotions. And I'm finished
with this one, too. Again, you can choose
any object you want. You don't have to go with
a tree like I did here and choose whatever you
like and have fun with it.
6. 5 Draw a Precious Memory: In our last lesson, we are going to fill a full
sketchbook spread, and we will start by thinking about memories that
are precious to us. You don't need a
dramatic past to create meaningful emotional art. Often, it is the smallest, quietest moments, the scent of summer air in your
childhood backyard, the way afternoon light
danced on your bedroom wall, or the hush of missing someone that carry
the deepest stories. This lesson helps you
to reconnect with your own experience and explore how it can
fuel your creativity. Your story matters, and it is an important part to find
your own artistic voice. So take a moment to sit
quietly with your memory. Close your eyes, if that
helps and ask yourself. What memories still linger? What memories feel like
they left a mark on you, even if no one else
noticed? And don't judge. There are no big
enough memories. Here are a few examples
to get you started. The first time you
met your best friend, the smell of your favorite meal, the smile of your grandmother, or a memory with
a pet you loved. Now, write down three
personal moments. Write freely to
capture your memory. Choose three small moments that spark any kind
of emotion in you. You can use single words
or full sentences. Choose one of the memories
and sketch from it. Don't worry about
creating a perfect scene. Instead, capture the
feeling of that moment, focus on atmosphere,
emotion, and tone. You can even let go of realism and let your memories
guide your marks. Maybe you draw the window light, not even the whole room, or maybe a symbol, a mark, a flower, a coat, on a hook, whatever feels
true for the moment. This is your story, and there's
no wrong way to tell it. I personally love to use this exercise to find ideas
for new illustrations. Or, like, in this case, to get inspired if I'm not really sure what to
draw in my sketchbook. Now, let's open a
fresh spread in our sketchbook and just
start. Don't overthink it. I grew up in a small
town in Germany, and right behind our house was a small forest,
fields and meadows. I have four siblings, and we used to love
playing outdoors. There was a really big old tree that had fallen on the ground. Maybe due to a storm, the roots came with
it out of the earth, and we used to climb on it. I have spent many hours
in this little forest. There was so much to discover. So I'm now starting to sketch
out this old fallen tree. And I think I will
fill the host spread with all the things you find in a forest,
animals, plants. I'm now adding
some watercolor on top of my colored
pencil drawing here. And it doesn't matter
which materials you use, just go with what
you're comfortable with and what feels right
to convey this memory. I can still remember these
big earthy roots of the tree. And especially as a
children's book Illustrator, these memories are
super valuable and your biggest resource for
inspiration and ideas. Being able to go back in
time in your mind and feel what it was like to
be there in that moment, to feel that feelings again. I'm just going
with the flow now, drawing some details
of the forest. My brother loved
picking mushrooms. So I'm drawing a few
little mushrooms here. And it can be interesting
if you're filling a full spread to use
different techniques. I'm just doing a pencil sketch here now without
color this time, I think having this
variety in your drawings, if you're filling a full spread makes it a bit more
interesting to look at later, and it gives you the chance to try out and compare different
materials and techniques. I'm now drawing a little fern. Again, just as a little
pencil sketch here, I remember being
super fascinated by the delicate shapes of the different ferns that
grew in the forest. I used to play with it
or use it for painting. They come in so many
different shapes and sizes, and I think they're super
interesting to look at. I just decided to add a
bit of a background to my tree sketch here and draw
some little trees behind it. You can do whatever you want. You can draw full little
scenes with background in all or just a few small
drawings and paintings, use different materials.
Just explore. M. In autumn, we gathered all kinds
of colourful leaves, acorns and chestnuts and crafted little figures
with it at home. Um Since the forest was so near to our home, we also had all kinds of
animals in our garden. The squirrels loved
the big oak tree and the want tree in our garden. And my father had
little bird houses where the birds could
build their nests. I'm just roughly sketching out a little squirrel here
with a colored pencil. As always, I start really
light with the overall shapes. And then I add more and
more details to it. I'm now drawing a little
bird's nest with new colors. As you can see, I'm using all kinds of materials
here for my drawings. And I just like to
play around with it and see how they work together. Going in with a little
gas here, I think. We had all kinds of fruits
growing in our garden, too. We had strawberries, raspberries, blueberries,
blackberries, apple trees, a cherry tree, a pear tree, and much more. Being outside and in the
woods and in our garden was definitely big important
part of my childhood. And I can see how this part of my life influences
the work I do today. I always love drawing
animals and nature scenes, and till this day, these are my favorite
things to illustrate. But for you, this could be something completely different. Maybe you love the hassle of the big city or you're
fascinated by science. Some illustrators
love to draw food, others like drawing people. I think it is important to look inside and don't compare
yourself too much with others. You can let yourself
get inspired by other artists, but
most importantly, look at your own
interests, your own life, your own memories, and
let that shape your art. I really hope this course has helped you reconnect
with your creativity, loosen up and discover more
of your own artistic voice. Remember, your sketchbook
is a safe place to play, to explore, and to grow. Keep showing up for yourself, even if it's just for a
few minutes each day. Over time, these
small steps will lead to big shifts in your art and
in your confidence as well. I can't wait to see where
your creative journey takes you until then keep
experimenting, keep exploring, and most of all, keep enjoying the magic
of your sketchbook.
Ramona Kaulitzki, Children's illustrator
