Sketchbook Play! Easy Mindset Shifts to Draw & Paint Freely & Frequently

1. Trailer/Intro: Are you struggling with half filled sketchbooks collecting dust because you compare them to the perfect ones on Instagram? Guilty. In fact, that's why I have not finished any sketchbooks for years. I have tons of half filled ones. Hi, my name is Yasmina, and I've been drawing and painting for almost 15 years now. But me and sketchbooks don't really mesh that well until a year and a half ago, when I finally started finishing them by changing my mindset, so far, I've completed three sketchbooks, and I'm in the middle of another one that I almost finished in just two months. It's already 80 pages in, so pretty cool. I have over 500 pages done in the past year and a half, which is around one page a day. So I've been consistent and it's been so much fun. Now I love to play and practice in my sketchbook, and I made this glass to show you that you can do the same thing that is just a mindset shift. We're going to go from an unhealthy and unrealistic one to a sustainable and fun one. And I'm not only here to teach you how to do it my way, I want you to find your favorite way to sketchbook and have fun. Together, we'll learn how to quiet that pesky inner critic. We're gonna find genuine joy in the process, even when making things that feel ugly. And trust me, I make lots of ugly art, and I'm going to show you all of it. You'll find your true purpose and goal in creating. It's going to help you to finish. We'll even go over supply ideas, but the sky is the limit with sketchbooks. You can have as many as you want and do whatever supplies you want. And we're going to go over how to build a consistent practice, even if you're super busy. And I'll even tour my recent sketchbooks so you can see my progress and evolution, and hopefully they'll inspire you, as well. Even if in the end, your goal is to make beautiful sketchbook spreads like on Instagram, you need to put the practice time. I'll even feature another super talented artist that shows one of her first sketchbooks and a current one, so you can see it really is just practice and time. Whether you're just starting your sketch booking journey or you're an experienced artist that has a hard time finishing like me, this class will give you the permission slip your soul has been yearning for to create freely and finally finish your sketchbooks with confidence and ease and joy. Your perfectly imperfect sketchbook, Adventure is waiting for you. Now, let's fill those pages together and have so much fun in the process. Let's go. 2. What a Sketchbook Is and Isn’t: So let's talk about what a sketchbook is and isn't. Over the years, I've started a lot of sketchbooks, like I just showed you guys if you watch the trailer. And I always stopped halfway through or just a little bit in. But why does this happen? For me and for most people, I'm pretty sure it's because of comparison and thinking sketchbooks have to be a certain way. So really, it's just mind stuff. We'd all watch these gorgeous magazine like sketchbooks on YouTube and Instagram, and we feel inadequate by comparison, making us believe we're not as talented as those artists who made it all seem so effortless. The gist is it makes us feel bad, so we abandon them. We feel like a failure. This feeling is rooted in a misconception. Sketchbooks have to be perfect. Sketchbooks have to be a certain way, but knowing the truth will set you free. I now know that beautifully curated sketchbooks are usually intended for sharing, more like picture books, but that's not how sketchbooks used to be. In the past, famous artists, look at the names here. Uh, they used to create more freely. It was just for having ideas. It was for scribbles, quick studies, more detailed ones, just thinking, you know, and just playing around. It was rarely for any finished work. A sketchbook can be a pretty place, but it's also a place to play, discover, practice, experiment. There isn't just one way to a sketchbook. It's okay to have the goal of making those gorgeous ones as well. Don't set unrealistic expectations right out the bat because it takes time and practice to get to those pretty ones. Ask any of those artists how long it took them to get there, and they'll tell you years. And I personally really like the more loose and experimental sketchbooks anyway. I think they're more fun and natural for my style. But there's nothing stopping you from doing both or either or having a super serious one or having just a study one or just a scribbly one, whatever you like. Whatever your goal is, I find that the key to making a sketchbook habit is having a healthy mindset. Now that I've reflected and fixed my mindset, I start and finish my sketchbooks, and I've even started finishing my pile of unfinished sketchbooks. That's my goal for you, too. So let's break down what a sketchbook is and isn't you can also start and finish and continue the cycle definitely having tons of fun in the process. First off, a sketchbook isn't a test. You're not being graded. No one is watching you draw unless you record it and put it on here, like I did today. And you never have to share it. I did to show you that it's fine. See, a lot of my stuff isn't pretty, right? Remember that when you look at other people's stuff online, you're comparing yourself to some of the best artists in the whole world. And they have been doing this for a long time. It's unhealthy and unnecessary. Not only do those artists have a lot more sketchbook practice, like making pleasing layouts and composition or knowing what to draw in general because they already have a style and they already have things that they've drawn for years. But also, they usually don't share their failed pieces. They don't share their sketchbooks. They don't share every single thing they make unless they do. But most of them don't especially the stuff from the past, which we all have. In fact, here, take a look at Victoria Osario, a super talented artist. Look at one of her first sketchbooks. So, this one is from 2018 around seven years ago. She was learning how to draw and finding her style and trying different things, which every artist has to go through. Look at the skill jump for her most recent one. She has a strong style, sense of color, composition, everything is beautiful. This took seven years to get to. So if your goal is to make pretty sketchbooks, of course, you can. But keep in mind that it takes time to grow. But the more you draw, the faster you also asked her some questions that she generously answered so you can have more than one perspective on keeping a sketchbook in this class. If you want to see the full Q&A, which I recommend, check it out in the bonus lesson at the end of the class. And also check out her current work on Instagram. She is a sketchbooking wizard. But most artists don't share this stuff. She just did so to show you guys. And this is such a great example. But also here, look at my older sketchbook. I have two of them that I finished when I first started drawing. This is when I was 17, I was super serious about it. This was 14 years ago, actually. And as you can see, I finished it, but nothing good was nothing good because I was a complete beginner. And this was just black and white, just me drawing. And this is how it is. This is how it is when you're first starting out in any scale. But having these sketch books is so wonderful because now I have them to look back to. So it's okay to have the goal of having the more beautiful sketchbooks. Just remember, it takes a lot of time to get there. Even I can't really do those completely yet because they're not really my thing. I don't really like layouts as much, but if that's your learn maybe graphic design, I think learning how compositions work, how things look together more cohesively, the design principles of things will help you to make those beautiful spreads. But in the beginning, don't worry about it too much. It adds too much undue pressure. Let it happen naturally and let your sketchbooking style evolve as it should. So, what should a sketchbook be? Fun. It's a space to feel comfortable. Track your progress, experiment, scribble, little notes, or poems, work on your artistic weaknesses. Play with mixing supplies, try new things, master ones that you love. There are countless ways to approach it. Not one is right, and you can do a different thing on every page. You might create a theme sketchbook focusing on figure drawing or cats or dedicated solely to fundamentals or even a mixed media book bursting with color and play like I like to do. Personally, I keep a few different types, and we'll talk about it more later on. But more commonly, I let my sketchbook evolve daily based on my mood and there's no perfect formula. It's simply a safe space for me to create and express myself and grow. But why is a sketchbook better than working on just loose paper? I used to use only loose paper for my art and play and serious pieces. And if I made something I disliked, which happens a lot, I just toss it. I might have felt good in the moment, but looking back, I wish I'd kept those pieces to flip through and see my progress. Keeping everything together cohesively with it going through time in a specific order not only lets you track your progress and growth, but also helps pinpoint your weaknesses. Constantly discarding ugly art, something we all produce, regardless of experience, can foster an unhealthy mindset that makes you hide from imperfection instead of learning from them. For instance, in a recent playful sketchbook, I notice I need to work on composition and strengthen my forms and silhouettes, which I wouldn't have noticed if I just look at my work far apart and I just throw away all the ones I don't like. Sometimes you send something is off, but only after stepping away for a while and coming back to it, it slaps you in the face is obvious. That's how sketchbooks work. Also, you can throw out the idea that everything you make will be good someday. That is just not gonna happen. Even the best artists in the world don't make only gorgeous art. Trust me, we all make stuff we don't like, but it does happen less frequently as your skills improve. But it happens more frequently if you experiment, which I love to do. And please don't let the fear of ugly art hold you back from play, which is the best way to find your style and see how you like to create. Now, back to solve critique. It's an amazing tool if used correctly, which we'll talk about in the next lesson. But it's much less effective if you discard your mistakes because you won't know what you need to work on. Another insight I gain is that sketchbooks encourage a laid back, playful mindset. I used to be puzzled by all the bad art that filled my sketchbooks until I realized this, when I sit down to work on a serious piece, I naturally concentrate more and try harder. Focusing on techniques I already know and mastered, often producing good results. Yeah, for exploring techniques, developing my style, and keeping that childlike joy of playing with crayons, I turn to my sketchbook, and it naturally produces more ugly art because when we try new things or let go of control, we have more room for mistakes or wonderful discoveries, as I like to call them. I chase joy in the moment, and it can be so fun regardless of the outcome. Also realize I've been trying to be more loose the past few years, and it takes time to learn that skill. Being loose looks so easy, but it's surprisingly hard to execute. And like any other technique or style, I need to practice a lot more in it, and I'm still developing my style and practicing this. And I'm secretly hoping I never master it because the journey is so much fun, and that's why I love being so loose because results can be super random. I personally love a good challenge. It's like a video game. You don't want to play on the too easy mode because it's too easy. More I practice, the more I get better faster and keeping all my experiments in one place really helps me to know what I need to improve on, but also helps me to see the victories and what works even in bad pieces. And those victories feel so good when something is very hard to do. This is the way to find your style. There is something to learn from all your art. It could be just one little color palette or a certain technique or how two supplies interact together, or even how you draw a line or a detail. Look for those beautiful things you want to continue using in your artwork, but even your failed work has those lessons in it. It teaches you what not to do. And after repeated failures, you know what you're doing wrong, and you'll do it less often. But you also can find something beautiful in them, as well. Like, for me, I tend to overwork my art, so I have to learn how to stop. I also used to rip out my favorite work and the work I hated for my sketchbooks that I started and never finished. The work I hated because it made me feel bad. I should have kept it to learn from mistakes from and seen my progress. And I ripped out my favorite work to put on my walls. But now I realize I can just scan it in and make a high quality print instead, which is great because I love to use fugitive colors, which are colors that are usually more vibrant, like hot pink, which will fade when exposed to sunlight. So a sketchbook actually protects your work because it's not exposed to sunlight. Based on my experience, if I could go back in time, I would keep my sketchbooks completely intact and finish them. This is what I do now, and I encourage you to leave your ugly art in your sketchbooks and your pretty art. But there is a way to fix stuff that we don't like, and we'll talk about that later. In summary, sketchbooks should be fun. They should be playful. You can do whatever you want to do. They're not meant to be shared. You can, though, if you want to. And they're a different mindset from creating finish work. Embrace that mindset and recognize that different creative parts of you thrive in different ways. It will make all the difference. And this is why I have multiple sketchbooks at once, and we'll touch on that later. You just have to find your favorite ways to sketchbook by doing it and observing what you like, what you don't like, what works, what doesn't work. It doesn't have to be my way. And just be honest with yourself and see what you want to get out of having a sketchbook. Draw or paint what you love and keep chasing that thing that brings you the most joy, and you will grow by leaps and bounds just by playing around in there. The journey is really the joy, ernie. Now, let's talk about the biggest obstacle to your art making, the inner critic. 3. Overcoming the Inner Critic: Everyone. Everyone has an inner credi, but mine has always been extra loud. Maybe you can relate. The more my work is liked online, the higher my expectations are. And when creativity hits that inevitable low point, I can be so hard on myself that the resistance builds up to the point of not wanting to create at all. Sound familiar. I believe our inner critic comes from a society that values success above all else and often confuses our art with our identity. At the end of the day, I'm not my field paintings or my successful ones. We have to learn to separate ourselves from our art. We are the creators, not the creations. Remember, art and success are both subjective. Some people will like what you make, some people won't I'll like it, and maybe someone else won't okay. Creativity comes in waves for all of us. Looking back, I stopped liking my work because there was time for growth. And how exciting is that? I love growing. It's always so difficult and painful but rewarding. And the only way to grow is to be prolific and practice and play a lot. It's a common misconception that some people are naturally talented while others just can't draw a stick figure. In reality, those artists who seem like wizards have been practicing for years. They weren't born masters. They scribbled as children, learn the fundamentals, and spent countless hours refining their skills. They made plenty of ugly art along the way, which they don't share on Instagram because it's reserved for their best work. And don't worry, I'll openly share all my imperfect pieces so you know you're not alone. Trust me, I make a lot of ugly art. Remembering this is important when the inner critic shows up, and he does for everyone. Remember that it's warnings are just false programming. You might think it's protecting you. I'm not good enough. I can't do this. It might be protecting you from embarrassment or wasted time, but that's not the truth. It's actually stopping you from doing what you love to do or improving. There's no such thing as wasted time in practice. Take drawing hands, for example, if you want to get better at them, the only ways to keep trying. Until you do, because avoiding them only delays your progress, and you'll end up drawing all your characters with their hands in their pockets, which is kind of awkward and limiting, don't you think? But drawing hands is hard for everyone, and art is hard for everyone. It takes so much practice until you see improvement. And the more you create, the faster you grow. I've seen artists produce amazing work after just one year of dedicated effort, all because they refuse to let their inner credit hold them back. And they practice and learned non stop for hours and hours. Just remember, all the inner critic does is hold you back from doing that. So we need to tell it to be quiet. Over time, I've developed a few practical techniques to quiet that pesky inner critic. Our approach is to treat your sketchbook as a judgment free playground. Start each session by setting an intention. Sometimes a simple mantra like, it's okay and normal to make ugly art, and if I make it today, it's Ak. It helps to remind us that every stroke is a learning opportunity. I also find it useful to dedicate time to what I'd like to call free play sessions where I deliberately play like a child, like a little kid or make ugly art on purpose. This feeds my creative soul, and usually the art isn't good, but sometimes it is. And I've made some of my favorite loose pieces doing this. Like this deer. This was supposed to be just some ugly art, but it turned out really cute, and I freestyled it and free handed it, so you never know. Another method is mindfulness. Taking a few minutes before you begin to breathe deeply and center your thoughts can help you recognize that the critic's voice is just noise. Acknowledging it without judgment, you can gently redirect your focus back to the creative process or even talk to it and tell it to be quiet. You're just practicing. Journaling is also another powerful tool. Writing down your self doubts and then reframing them into positive affirmation transforms negative energy into fuel for growth. For instance, if I catch myself thinking, I suck a drawing today, I immediately jot down that counter statement like every artist has rough days, and I'm learning with every line and getting better every day. And sometimes masterpieces come back then, whatever I want to say, or even just I love drawing. I'm good at drawing until I believe that I'm good at drawing. You can try to remember where your insecurities came from. Did an adult tell you when you were a child that art was a waste of time or that you don't have talent? Whatever it is, remember that they were just telling you their beliefs about themselves. They probably were bitter that they didn't feel like they had the talent. It was actually their own insecurity that they were projecting onto you. Whatever it is, just acknowledge it and choose to not identify with it anymore. Forgive them and let it go. That experience or insecurity came from an untruth. Art is so rewarding and fun and remind yourself why you love it because it's fun, because it's joyful, because it's in your heart. Visualization is also an option. You can imagine inner critic as a small and noisy little character who loses power the more you create. Picture that character slowly fading into the background, replaced by confident, curious artist inside of you, or you can make him tiny and step on him. Whatever comes to mind, whatever makes you feel happy, just find a way to overcome that voice. You are in control of your own mind at the end of the day, and you can overcome him because you are you, and that is truer than true. And no one pops your voice that's rude can tell you what to do. You can also listen to music if it helps you get in the mood. You can pray, you can sing or just get really, really good at ignoring him until he gets quiet, because the more you ignore him, the smaller he gets. Is what I try to do, and he's much quieter nowadays. Van go said to just paint anyway, and then he'll be quiet. So with every fellow painting that I make, I tell myself that was fun, and it's okay. And he stops talking because I gave myself permission. Ultimately, silencing the inner critic isn't about completely erasing it. It's about acknowledging its presence and choosing not to let it dictate your creative journey. Every piece of ugly art is a stepping stone towards mastery, a testament to the time and effort you're investing in your craft. So the next time that critical voice starts up, try out one of these techniques to take a deep breath and let your creativity flow. Keep creating. Find your favorite way to not be affected. At the end of the day, you're in control, and you have the choice to continue creating without caring. Now, critique isn't always a bad thing. It's good to reflect on the good and the bad in every piece you make. But to do it while putting yourself down isn't doing you any favors. Try to do it like a scientist or like you're critiquing your best friend's art instead of your own, since we tend to be nicer to other people instead of ourselves, critiquing helps you to know what you need to focus on so you can improve faster in that specific thing. Use it in a healthy way. Let's go back to one of my first sketchbooks ever, the one I made now at 17. I started to take drawing seriously. This is where I came from. And I'm so glad I kept those sketchbooks to show you. I knew that I was bad at drawing, and I also knew that I had to practice. Improvement was slow, but the years flew by, and suddenly I could do it. And so can you, no matter what your goal is, just go for it. In fact, do you know why I didn't start seriously drawing until I was 17? Because I used to look at other people's art and go, Like, I could never do that. I remember I used to look like on deviant art at anime art, and the eyes were so shiny and pretty and everything was so beautiful. And I didn't understand what digital art was. And I was like, What is this mastery? What is this wizardry? How did any human being create this? There's no way I could compare. So I literally did not create a lot, even though I liked it because I thought it was a waste of time because I could never be as good as those people. Look at me today. I'm doing it. So nothing is stopping you. It's just a mindset, and I wish I could go back in time and shake my younger self and say, Hey, you're gonna be an artist one day. Just make art. Just have fun. But even nowadays, as an established artist, that nagging voice still sneaks up on me, insisting I suddenly suck or I'm an impostor, which is actually called Imposter Syndrome, and it's also completely normal and common, especially if you have any sort of success. I also know that every artist goes through phases of being good, being bad, being good, being bad. It never goes away. Experience doesn't eliminate the inner critic. It just teaches you to push through. A sketchbook is a perfect safe space for reprogramming your mind. I even write little reminders to myself that it's okay to fail and experiment in the beginning of my sketchbooks. My goal isn't to create a perfectly curated sketchbook. It's to play, learn, and grow. Even if every page turns out ugly, which it has in the past, it doesn't mean I'm not an artist. It just means I'm on the right track for growth. I did end up making one mostly pretty sketch book that I'll show you later. I think having the small size helps me keep the pressure off, but I'll be honest, that the ugly ones are actually more fun to me. So keep creating and be kind to your growing skills. And now let's dive into finding your real creative goal. 4. Finding Your Real Goal: So what is our true aim when it comes to art making or sketch booking? Your true goal can change with time. My biggest weakness was not creating enough out of fear. So for me, right now, my goal is to be prolific and have fun. I want to create tons of art, even if most of it isn't social media worthy, which it really isn't I just don't care anymore. I just want to play and make art to my heart's content, even if other people don't like it. Instead of letting the inner critic steer us toward perfection, we should embrace a boundless experimental play. Don't aim solely to be good, aim to be prolific. I want you to steal a sword from me because it's a great one. One approach burdens you with pressure while the other frees you to explore and create endlessly. One is fun while the other is stressful. Be prolific and just have fun. When you set out to be prolific, you naturally quiet that nagging nercritic at least in my experience. Every piece you produce regardless of its flaws, is a step toward improvement. For example, spending 5 hours a day on a single portrait, erasing, reworking every detail can leave you stuck in self criticism. But in contrast, sketching hundreds of quick portraits in the same time period of 5 hours builds muscle memory, reveals your weak points, and boosts your growth. Use the eraser sparingly. I rarely use mine in my sketchbook. You can use it, but I think it helps me not to use it. Instead I commit to my lines. And if something doesn't work out, I simply try again. Repeating the same subject multiple times is far more beneficial than obsessing over one imperfect drawing. Every attempt, every mistake is progress. You only get better with each try. So try, try, try. Every day is a new opportunity to create, to learn and to have fun. If your real goal is to simply enjoy the process, let that be your guiding light. Every time you sit down to draw or paint, reflect on why you love art and let that passion set your direction. I, too, find magic in my ugly work. It reconnects me with my inner child and makes time fly. It helps me to get into that flow state and stay in it for the prettier pieces. And if you ever feel like you're wasting precious art supplies, opt for inexpensive sketchbooks or paper or even paint and brushes. When your tools aren't high stakes, the pressure lifts allowing you to experiment freely. Follow your joy to discover your style. And remember, it's about embracing the journey of creating right now, not just waiting for a future where you've improved because you're always improving. Our future isn't even guaranteed. We all have a limited time on this earth. And the moments we spend doing what we truly love really make life worth living. So embrace being prolific and let your art flow endlessly. But maybe your goal is different from mine. It could be discipline or play or growth or experimentation or practice or just the fundamentals. Find the word that sits right with you in this moment and motivates you instead of stressing you out. See how it feels to set these different intentions and find which one feels right to you. It could even just be leveling up. It's all about finding the right goal that motivates you. But don't let it be something like money or fame because we have little control over those things, and they can really bum you out. Speaking from experience, the superficial goals are not as satisfying when you accomplish them. It has to be something deeper and positive. Like, one of my goals is to help people to make more art or to do it freely and to be a positive impact in others creativity. Take some time to journal and reflect on why you love to create and what you want to accomplish and what words you need for that. I recommend to make a word, a sentence, or a paragraph and put it at the beginning of your sketchbook. I did that for my playful one that I started this sketchbooking journey on and it helped me to finish so much. I also did that for the one I just started, and I wrote that I give myself permission to make ugly art, and that helped me also to create more freely, as well. And, guess what? I ended up making tons of stuff that I like, and it was so much fun to be playful. So self reflect and try to give yourself permission to fail, as well. Especially if you're a beginner. Lots of failure and ugly art is normal. Just go for it and fill your sketchbook out anyway you like, as long as you fill it. You're filling out your sketchbook for you and for your growth. So make the rules, have fun. And now that you know how to have a healthy mindset and how to approach your sketchbook, let's go over some supply ideas. 5. Supply Ideas: Isn't one perfect way to have a sketchbook. You can be as cheap or as simple as you want to be. You can just use a lined notebook with pencil or a ballpoint pen for the simplest setup. But you can get nice sketchbooks relatively inexpensively. Any sketchbook that's for drawing is fine for drawing. I use a 60 pound one that has 100 pages. And yes, ink can bleed through the pages, sometimes, but it doesn't bother me much. You can use any dry medium in a drawing sketchbook like this one. But things like markers will bleed through the pages. I personally don't mind this because I think it as the charm. Experiment with your sketchbook paper and see what works in it and what doesn't if you're not sure how well holds up to a certain medium, just try it out and see what happens. It's just a sketchbook. That's the whole point of it. If you want to just practice drawing, I recommend a pencil that can make darker and lighter lines like a two B, four B, or six B. My favorite recently is this uni palette to B because it's inexpensive, cute, and draws well. But if you want to splurge, then the Palomino Blackwing is the best in my experience, but it is a little pricey. As for ink, get it any ink brush pen. You can even get refillable ones or you can use an actual brush and ink. You can also use micron pens or bullpin pens just for thinner lines. It depends on what style you like and what you're going for. Find what you like the most by trying it out and then use that. If you want to use mixed media, especially wet media like watercolor or quash, like I do, I recommend getting thicker pages, but they don't have to be super thick. My favorite is these Royal talents art creation ones. They come in many colors and sizes, and the pages are off white. Yes, the paper does warp because it's only 94 pounds, but it's not that bad. And there's 80 pages in here, so it's 160 pages to fill out. It's an amazing bang for your buck sketchbook, and it really is my favorite, and it comes in cute sizes and colors. Especially if you get them on sale. They're super cheaper I am right now, but if they're not in your region or are expensive, don't worry about it. Just look for any mixed media sketchbook with preferably over 90 pound paper. But if you want to practice watercolor, like, really practice it with layers, it might be better to get even thicker paper. You can get 140 pound paper sketchbooks, but they tend to be more pricey because you get much fewer sheets of paper in them. That's not always a bad thing because it makes it easier to finish the sketchbook. If you can find a smaller sketchbook, go ahead and play in it. I'll help you feel accomplished to finish it. You really can't go around with any brand, and the best way to find your favorite is to give them a go. I like the Kinsa Excel for most of my stuff, but I think there's a lot of great choices out there. My tiny sketchbook that I will tour later, I got on Timo for like $3.50, and the paper is super nice and thick. Glue and the binding came apart a little. That doesn't ruin it for me at all. I'll still last the test of time for, you know, being a tiny little sketchbook, and it was fun to fill up. So you don't need anything fancy. You don't need fancy art supplies to sketchbook. If you already have a lot of art supplies, just look through them. Don't buy anything new. Instead, find all the stuff that you already have like cheap markers or crayons or whatever that you don't really use much. Take them out and play with them. You can use any medium you like or want to improve in and don't feel married to just one medium. I love to play and mix and match, and sometimes I use watercolor and ink, sometimes just squash, other times crayon, and just let them all do their own thing and play as much as I want to. Only mediums that can make problems is alcohol markers bleeding through the pages or oil pastels smearing and making the pages dirty when they close the book or oil paints themselves because they take forever to dry, so I don't put those in the sketchbook. But do you, do whatever you like, and I still put oil pastels in my sketchbooks and alcohol markers in my sketchbook. So to me, it really doesn't matter. Your sketchbook is your happy place, so just experiment and have a good time. What you do and don't do is up to you. If you want a detailed list of my current favorite supplies, I have it on my website, and I even show you what the supplies look like when used. But again, just use what you have and try new things and try to mix and match and see what happens and what you like the most. I also recommend doing swatches in your sketchbook if you don't know what you have and what colors you have. You'll not only get better at Mixed Media, but also get more familiar with the supplies you already have. Now, let's dive into figuring out what to fill your sketchbooks with. 6. What to Draw or Paint: So what should you draw or paint? My advice on what to draw is simple. Just draw what you want to get good at. If you're not sure what that is yet, try everything until something stands out by being more fun or satisfying to draw. An easy way to tell is by looking at what your favorite artists draw. Chances are you dream of drawing similar things. But usually you already know what you love to draw and dream of drawing or painting well. It's a stuff you like to look at or just love in general. Is it portraits and flowers, or maybe you love animals or cars specifically? Reflect on what it is that you love. If you want to draw everything, you can also do that. A good artist does know how to draw anything simply by observing. And the more you practice any particular subject, the better you get at drawing it. I personally love to draw anything nature related, like landscapes, birds, animals, flowers, but I've also been obsessing over cute vintage figurines of animals or people. And I've been drawing those as well. Your interests change over time, and they can be limitless or narrow, whatever you like. I recommend making a Pinterest account and collecting images you find inspiring. It could be anything horses or portraits of people, whatever boards you like. The wonderful thing about Pinteress is that it recommends new images based on the ones you already saved. So you'll never run out. If you don't know what to draw, you can always go into the folder you've already created. Pick something, scroll down on that image, and get even more recommendations based on just one image or on the folder and get recommendations based on the whole folder. And then it'll also recommend things for you on the front page that are based on all your folders. 90% of the time, I draw or paint images I find on Pintras but with a twist of my own style, sometimes even combining images together. One thing people worry about with using references is copyright laws. What you do in your sketchbook, to study or play isn't something to really concern yourself with copyright wise. It's only when you want to sell your art that you need to think about the stuff more seriously. In general, unless you're copying someone else's photo super realistically and then selling a print of it, you're probably fine. Most of us use references from Pintas and places like that, and we change them by adding our own style, combining different images or tweaking them in their own way. That's usually okay to do because you're making something new and not just copying something you see. It's called transformative use, which means you're adding your own creative input and making something distinct from the original. This usually falls under fair use, especially if the final piece has a different purpose, meaning, or appearance. But definitely be careful with characters like Mickey Mouse or other recognizable ones that belong to companies or other artists. I probably wouldn't try to sell a print of that kind of fan art because those characters belong to Disney or whoever created them. You can draw them for fun or practice, though, as fan art, just not to sell. If you are a realistic artist and want to sell your work, it's better to take your own pictures or buy stock images that say you can use them commercially. There are a lot of free stock image websites out there that you can check out. And definitely never, ever don't steal other artists work and claim it as your own. That's a big no no. There's a huge difference between being inspired by someone else's style and straight up copying their work. Can be inspired by the mediums they use, the colors, whatever, but not copying. We don't use Pintrs for copying other artists, but you can make folders of art that inspires you and get inspired by the little things in those arts like lines, themes, concepts, feelings. Being inspired in copying are different things. Find lots of inspiring artists as well and study their work. But then take what you learn and do your own unique thing with it and in your own unique voice. That just takes practice and time. So again, don't copy, but you can be inspired. Okay, so that's it about copyright. You should also make a practice of drawing from life. Live drawing is invaluable for growing your skills quickly because it forces your brain to really pay attention. So instead of drawing something to Di and Toti which is just flat, you're taking the three D and making it two D, which is an amazing exercise for your brain. It gives you a better understanding of how to draw and how objects really look like in the real world. It helps you to understand form and you see things in three D in your mind, I have tons of classes about this and drawing exercises that help you to see in three D. One thing I drew repeatedly in my sketchbook that was for practice was the same figurine rotated in every angle to help me understand the form. This is actually my chime drawing class, and I feel like it really grew my observational skills. So try to either draw on location. Maybe you can go somewhere to draw a landscape or something on your desk. Maybe, you have a little even like tools in your house. Just anything you find in your house, you can draw. And if you do this from time to time, you will grow faster. But you don't have to use references at all. You can doodle silly patterns, write the alphabet in a funny way, or a serious one, Dozen tangles or try drawing from your imagination, which does take a lot of practice and studies first. But you can develop it or you can just doodle. Do collage, maybe have a sketchbook dedicated to abstract painting. You can have a themed one for anything that you like from butterflies to people. In fact, focusing on one subject can help you really improve and hone in that skill over a short period of time. So why not make one focus on your biggest weakness or your favorite? My favorite way to sketchbook is just to draw pretty things that make me happy and take it day by day, mostly randomly. But everyone is different and you'll feel different on different days or months or years. There is no one way to sketchbook, so just go for it and try. You'll find out what you like to fill your sketchbooks with from experience. I personally like to do more than one sketchbook at one time, so let's talk about that in the next lesson. 7. Many Sketchbooks at Once: Now let's talk about having multiple sketchbooks at once. But, of course, take this and anything else I say with a grain of salt because you should just do what works for you. So even if you just have one sketchbook that's completely fine, the perk of having one is you get to focus and finish quicker. For myself, I find that having around two to three is my happy place. My first sketchbook is just for sketching with pencil or ink. It's for loose freehand studies, time drawings or even more serious studies if I feel up to it. It's mostly for practicing, observing. I can also stylize in it. I can do whatever I want. I keep it black and white to keep it simple, so it's just for drawing practice. I find it great for warming up or just practicing when I don't feel like painting. I spent a lot of time in it before because I felt rusty, but now I come to it whenever I feel like it. I like to date my entries because I want to see my progress over time, but that's also optional. The second sketchbook is my main one. I dedicate it to being experimental and loose because that's what I want to work on. And it's a mixed media, so I can really play with all of my supplies and color. Sketchbook is the best place to try new stuff, see how different supplies interact before we work on a larger finished artwork, maybe plan out something in it and just a fun place to play. This is where I work the most, and it's just a place for me to unwind. Now, the third one is actually an old one that I abandoned because almost everything in it was turning out ugly. So I've gone back to it and decided to just make it my ugly, who cares sketchbook. I can color like a little kid with crayons, if I want to make ugly abstract art, paint with one color. It really doesn't matter at all, and there's no timeline for fgsing it. I don't have to think or have structure and mistakes are welcome. And also, I go in there when I feel like working bigger, since it's bigger than my other one. I think having an ugly sketchbook or a play sketchbook is so freeing, and sometimes I do make things I like in there, but for me, it's like an itch my brain craves to scratch to create completely fllly and not worry about results at all. I go back to being my little kid version of me that just wants to be spontaneous and making ugly art on purpose feels cathartic. It's oddly satisfying, and there's nothing like it to quiet that pesky inner critic in my experience. So instead of being ashamed that I was going through lots of bad art in it, I picked up where I left off and continued on that streak, really enjoying it. And you can just add a date wherever you leave off. There's no limit to when you start and stop. And like I told you guys earlier, I learned a lot from my ugly art. So there's a ton of lessons in this sketchbook. There's like little gemstones of wisdom in every fail piece. Like, I showed you guys earlier. I painted on camera this deer thinking it was going to be ugly in my ugly sketch because I decided to free hand it and be loose and fun and playful. But somehow it turned out really pretty. So, yeah, it really is random for your results. Like, this little house was not pretty. You know, it doesn't matter. But I feel like letting go completely really helps you get into that flow sit and can make happy accidents or test your limits. Another artwork I made in Here Bax and that was really pretty was this little beetle. I was being really playful with No Color pastels, which I barely have any experience with at the time. But it somehow turned out gorgeous. There's a lot of cute little pieces in here that were accidents, but there's also a lot of ugly pieces, especially when I try out new supplies that I can't control that well. And to me, it's all about the fun with these drawings. So it's all good. So I do have a pile of unfinished sketchbook, and my personal goal right now is to go through them all and finish them. And that's pretty much what I'm doing right now. So I do that as I'm doing my other ones, I kind of count it as my fourth sketchbook, but not really. I just kind of add a date sometimes where I leave off if it has been a while since I've been in it, and then I just continue on where I left off. This way, I'm not wasting any paper, and I'll still see progress, even if there's jumps in skill over time. It's still kind of cool to have all those. I do recommend you date your drawings or paintings if it's hard for you to be consistent. So you can know when you made whichever artwork in the future. I've seen artists paint the dates or make them very pretty or large numbers, whatever, make them part of the artwork. You can make a cute or you can make a super tiny date in the corner just like I like to do. But find what you like and see what works for you. Just remember, you never ever have to share any of your sketchbooks. So do whatever you feel led to the kind of sketchbook you decide to work in and how many is up to you. It depends on what skill set you want to develop, or if you just want to have fun. You can have as many or as little as you want, find what you enjoy. I've realized that I really want to be loose, but it looks so much easier than it is, like I said before. So, to me, painting realistically is easier than being loose right now. And I choose to work on the looseness because I enjoy the challenge, and I love the results when they do turn out good. It makes me feel self fulfilled. So the more time I practice being loose, the faster I improve in that, and that's why I'm focusing on that skill set. But when I felt stia drawing, I did my freehanding sketchbook, mostly freehanding and time drawings, and that really helped me to get good at free handing. And I took that skill into my new main sketchbook. So, focusing on what you want to develop and improve it will make you better at it with practice. And I love being able to freehand now. It's so much fun. Another amazing benefit to having multiple sketchbooks is that you can work in one with wet media like watercolor or gouache or acrylic. And then while that's drying, because it can take a while, especially if you use more water, just go into a different one. Not having to wait for it to completely dry or use a hair dryer, if you want to, you can do that, as well, but I find that letting it air dry makes it look prettier. This is great for us inpatient types. Maybe you want to have a sketchbook just for flowers, another for landscapes, one for birds. There's no limit. Like I said before, you can have themed ones, and sometimes that makes it easier to pick what to draw when you sit down with it, 'cause we get this thing, what tread? What trey draw? If you say, I'm gonna draw birds here, it's going to be easy. Pick a bird, and it helps you to see a progress in that particular subject. Or focus on a particular medium like watercolor or guash or ink or brush pens, Wever medium you want to get better at, if you focus on it in one sketchbook, you will grow really quickly. It can help you master it in no time. And, of course, you can always just have one sketchbook and not have it themed at all, and just do whatever you want day to day, which is the most freeing to me in what I personally like to do. But I still have the multiples. I just like to do whatever. So really, it's up to you. You also don't have to work in all your sketchbooks every day. Just go back and forth depending on your mood or the day, or you can skip a day or skip a couple of days. Do try to do something almost every day, and you'll be on the right track. But it's okay if you skip a day or two. It's not a big deal. I like to have my drawing sketchbooks in the morning with coffee. If I'm too busy with the rest of the day, that's the place I'll be. But if I want to paint, I'll go my other one. So it's up to you. Do try to do something almost every day, and you'll be on the right track. But remember, all practice is you never have to share your sketchbook, so just fill them up and have fun doing so without judgment. The more, the better. Now, let's do a sketchbook tour of my recent three main ones so you can see how I evolved and get more ideas of what you can put in yours. 8. Recent Sketchbooks Tour: I'll write you guys. We're going to do a little sketchbook tour thing, and we're going to talk about my experiences with sketch booking for the past year and a half because that's when I actually really started finishing, and it started with this sketchbook right here. So a year and a half ago, I started this and I dedicated it to play, no pressure and expectations, just fun and experimenting because I know my problem. My problem is that I don't finish sketchbooks because they don't turn out the way I want them to. And I compare myself to other people. So, here is one of my older sketchbooks that I abandoned. I have a lot of these, a lot of abandoned ones. They start out good. I'm like, a, I'm doing a good job. This is fun. I feel pressure, right? And I'm like, Oh, no, I did something bad. No, I did something bad again. And this is when I'm like, Whatever. See, I just did a sketch. Didn't even finish it. This one was cute. And then, again, just a cue drawing, empty page. I would fill this up nowadays. This one didn't turn out that I wanted. I redid it, I think digitally. This one was cue. Left prep this page, never did anything with it. And so this is where I banded the sketchbook. Look how far. This is, like, the majority of my sketchbooks. So this is the first one I finished in a long time. So, yeah, I just kind of left off where I left off. I came back to recently August 20, 2024, so over six months ago. And I just kind of just continued where I left off. See, look, I did the same reference twice here. I love doing that. That's a great way to practice. I love this one. I didn't even share this on social media. I don't know. I'm not sharing as much as I used to. I'm enjoying being private. But yeah, I just continue where I left off. I did a couple of things for, like, a week, and then I kind of left the sketchbook again. This was a gorgeous piece. So I ended it here. And then I can come back to this whenever I feel like it. I sell all this beautiful paper. I can just date it. If I've been in it for a few months, just date it again and continue. It's still fun to look back at. Why should we waste paper? There's no reason. So I'm slowly going through my old ones, but this is the one that I started, like I said, with the goal of playing. And I did this first break because I know to do and thought, Okay, I'm gonna write down things I want to draw more of and things that are my comfort zone. And I just kind of did little lists and put, like, loose watercolor in the background. I think this is really fun to start a sketchbook. It's really easy. If you want to do it, go ahead. I recommend it. Then I did a bunch of swatching. And I didn't do all this in one time. I just kind of left a bunch of blank pages for it and came back to it later. You couldn't even do a whole sketchbook of just watching. I think swatching is amazing because you can see what you have. You can see your colors. Like when you have a lot of supplies, like I do, you tend to forget what you have. So I recommend. And it's a good way to break the ice. So this is the first real spread, but it doesn't feel like it because of the swatching. Oh, yeah, I didn't turn out good. But you know what? At this point, I was like, Who cares? This is gonna be the point of the sketchbook. I really wanted to just finish and just to play. And I didn't rip out any pages in this book because I used to rip out the good ones and the bad ones. So my sketchbooks were just empty at the end. I ripped out the good ones to put on my walls and the bad ones because I didn't want to look at them. But nowadays, I just either cover it up or leave it. So, like, this is covered up. I painted with acrylic paint, and then gouache on top. Acrylic paint first because it's cheaper than acrylic wash, and it's waterproof. And then you can paint with quash. But yeah, I love how this turned out. You don't have to cover mistakes, but if you want to, there's tons of ways to do it. So you can tape a different artwork in with some washy tape, anything you want. But see, these are messy. They're messy. This is messy. It's okay. Sometimes they're a little cleaner. But that was, like, the point of the sketchbook. I was just to be playful. I love this. Maybe a lot of people don't like this kind of stuff. I kind of learned how to just do what I like, and then the people will follow. The audience will follow. It's okay if you lose some people if you evolve in your art. That's normal. We create because of the joy we feel. So as you can see, it's just mostly just one drawing a page or a couple of drawings a page, and then you can kind of border off things and make little illustrations. It can be super messy. Here, I was testing out new colors that I got in watercolor. They're so cool and responsive. I love these textures. It's the core colors. I was just playing with those for a while. This is one of the only spreads I like in the sketchbook. Most of it is not pretty, like I said, I really like this spread. I actually share this on social media. But, see, it's like I tried I tried to make a pretty spread. It didn't feel as organic as just whatever playing. But if this is what you want to do, you can totally do it. It just takes time and practice, like anything else. Oh, I love this. I love little vintage figurines lately. So yeah, here I did a bunch of gouache backgrounds. And then I went in and just filled them out. This one didn't turn out good, so I painted over it, and then I kind of messed it up a little. But it's okay. I really like this one. I really like this one. I like this one. So, you know, you win some, you lose some. I like the texture in this. It's cute. This one turned out terrible, but it was fun to play with markers and see what happens. And you can put little notes in your sketches, too. Just be free. Oh, I love this. I love the little texture here. So, see, like, maybe it's not my favorite piece, like, altogether, but I will like something in the piece. Like, I really like how this bled, the little flower shapes. I like the silhouette of this. I like the texture with this brush here. You can find something beautiful with everything you make. Even like this, this is a mess. I slick and find something I like in this. Here he is. Look how cute this is. That's cute. I also like to do like, the same subject multiple times. I tried this bird right here, and I really like it, and I did the same bird again. Actually, like, my first one more. Sometimes the second one's better. Depends. This turned out absolutely terrible, and I did not cover it up, and here I am showing it to you. So just experiment. Don't worry about results. It doesn't make you a failure. I actually shared this one on social media. I like that one. This is cut two. I think this is Creola Crayola crayons or something. This is cute. Grounds, like a children's book thing. Yeah, the dock is cool, but I don't know what I did here. That's fine, though. I like this. It's cool. I like this, too. Oh, that's cute. Yeah, I was playing a lot with different supplies here. These are, like, these weird paint markers. Oh, yeah, yeah paint markers. Those are pretty cool. They're pretty hard to control, but they're fun 'cause they're really thick. I love this, you know? I don't think everybody loves this, but I do. This I hate. That's okay. I learn something every time. And sometimes you have, like, good days and bad days. Oh, yeah, here are the pain sticks. I got more pastel ones. Terrible drawing with them. That's fine. I like this one and ended up buying this figurine. Because of that, it's actually the class cover image. Terrible moth. Sometimes my moths look so bad. I'm like, Why do they look so bad? That's okay. I have to keep working on it, 'cause I don't want to draw moths, so I just keep practicing. And then this is so cute. I actually love this. Cute. This one didn't turn out as good. It's okay. Oh, I love the colors in this. I love the looseness. See, you find something you love in every piece. This one, not really. I love this one. I like the pencil marks with the marker. That looks really cool. Yeah, this one's okay. Not really my thing. Yeah, so the sketchbook started off messy and ended messy and was in the middle messy. This is just my messy sketchbook. You know what? I felt rusty, but I really enjoyed it. This is fun. I like this. I wanted to continue that. This was cute. This wasn't wasn't wasn't okay. This is a little too messy. This is just, like, a Joseph original, a little study of it. It's like a dream piece. I wish I had. That is too expensive. Uh, this didn't turn out good. I tried doing a fountain pen with the pate markers, but it's okay. Now I know better. You learn what works and what doesn't when you try different things. That's just how it is. I never draw people, so I was like, Why not try? Oh, hate it. Did I cover it up? No. Did I rip it out? No, that's okay. Love this. And that's pretty much the whole book, I think. Yeah, so these are just like little studies of Hauswn Castle. I got a book with stills in it, and just quick little studies. But that's it. I just kind of do a little reflection at the end. And I think I wrote I have to work in composition and stuff. But as you can see, very silly sketchbook. Very fun. Is it pretty? No. But my next one was pretty. Okay, so when I finished that sketchbook, I really want to make something pretty. So I picked a really small sketchbook to work in because it's easier to make pretty stuff in a small sketchbook. You don't have to make a whole spread. You just work on one little piece at a time. And I will say this one turned out much, much better. But I will also say, I really enjoy not caring about results. So after this one, I went back to that. But some things didn't turn out good. Like, here, I had to repaint this to fix it up, and I would kind of go back in pages that were older and fix them up with other mediums. So, for example, these are acrylic paint markers. I came in and added more with that. I tried using pastels underneath did not look good. So I just give myself freedom to fix things with this one. And I just would go back and forth all the time. Because sometimes I don't feel like making a whole drawing, a brand new one. I would just go back in time and try again. This is the same colors, same medium, same subject, but just a little different take on it. I really like it. Again, same subject, different take on it. Different medium. One thing I noticed is I don't like colored pencil or pastels on textured paper like this, see all the texture it makes. I don't think that looks pretty. Sometimes it does. Here's okay, but usually I don't like it. And I realize I really like alcohol markers more. I should use them more. Oil pastels tend to kind of bleed into each other. You can use a fixative if you want to. I tend not to because I think it's a lot of work. You have to wait for it to dry, go outside, spray it. Not my thing. But I really played with different mediums in this one, and I just kept it simple. So this one, for example, I messed it up and I painted over it and I just put a little froggy on it. You can paint over things. You don't have to leave it in there. This little fig is cute. I love the simplicity of this landscape. This one's cute, as well. And then the star turned out okay, but it's still fun. I love this. I love adding colors of whatever you use on the other side of the page. I think it makes it look really cool. And I never have white space in my stuff, but you definitely can. I think it really helps. These are so cute. So it's the same subject. I just kind of zoomed in on it. This one's okay. I like these. These are little vintage planters. I thought those would be cute to draw. Draw what you love to draw, whatever that is, draw what you love, and then you'll find something cool with it. As you can see, I'm still really loose, but these have a more finished feel than the other sketchbook. If you want to have a prettier sketchbook like this, I really recommend to do a small one, like I did. I think it really helps. This is cute. I love this. This one's okay. The anatomy is a little strange on the bird. That's okay. I like to do a little pattern on the other side, as well. This one's okay. I did not like how these turned out. This one turned out really good, and then I had to paint over it and make it worse. Sometimes you don't need to know when to stop, you know? Oh, I love these. So cute. This was cute. This was silly and whimsical, but I like it. And I had a hard time finishing these. They just kept turning out bad. I painted over this a lot. But I like how it turned out. It's cute. It's cute. So that's it for this one, and it took me a little bit over four months to finish. So that's pretty good. Now I'm still working in the drawing one at the same time. So here is my current work in progress sketchbook. I started on 129. I finished this one on 128, so right after, I wrote a little thing that I want to be loose and be playful and have fun. And I started out, like, trying kind of hard. I kind of just did what my safety net is. Things I already know, like watercolor, little scribbles in the background. But I didn't I don't know. I didn't feel gray. I started to loosen up more and play with mediums more. I kind of alternate between trying and just being silly. Different compositions. I painted over this. I forgot what was underneath, but it wasn't good. And then I'm like, Okay, I want to be silly. So this is me being silly again. And here I am being silly and it didn't turn out good. You win some you lose some, you know? I love this one. This one didn't turn out good. You win some of you lose them. It's okay. This one I tried a little harder. We're like a finished piece. Again, we're like a finished piece. But I'm like, Why am I doing this in my sketchbook? I just want to have fun. This is kind of where my mindset kind of merged the two, the pretty stuff and the fun stuff. And I just kind of decided I'm leaning towards playful. I want to be playful. So I started being more playful, and I did things like this, scribbles. I actually really like the colors in here. But this doesn't look good or cohesive. It doesn't matter. It was fun for me. Again, not as pretty but fun. Cute and silly. Again, silly, but I like it. This was me having fun. I didn't really care about results anymore. I was like, Okay, this is how I want to sketch book. And when I did that, it's just like it became easy. For example, this piece right here, I would not put this on social media, but I personally love the texture in the face. I love the crayons, making like a wax, and then the watercolor makes this texture on top. I love this look, so it doesn't matter what other people think as long as you like it. Same thing here. Probably not super popular piece anywhere, but it was really fun to make and then practicing different things. You can do your serious pieces on other paper. They don't have to be in your sketchbook. Or you can just have a sketchbook of serious pieces. There's 1 million ways of sketchbook. You do you. So this is the only time I use a post it node. See, it looks way better. These are great for fixing mistakes. You can paint over something. You can put a post it note. You can put another artwork. There's all kinds of things you can do. Just find what you like. I don't recommend ripping up pages, but if it makes you happy, you do that. Whatever makes you happy. Okay, so I really like this. I think this is a really nice spread. You can see I used a pencil to get you, then I put ink on top, then I put water coldneath here, acrylic paint markers on top. I'm just mixing tons of mediums. This was, like, a watercolor brush pen with fountain pen, a pink fountain pen. It doesn't look great, but it was fun to make. I was kind of just doodling while I was listening to something or talking to someone. I don't remember what I was doing, but just in the background kind of thing. I love this. It didn't look good until I added the black outlines, but now it's cute. Just little flower studies with acrylic paint markers. I got some doctor PH Martin's India Ink. I used to have it, and then it dried out, and I got more of it in glass bottles. And these are way better. They don't dry out in my experience. And yeah, these are great 'cause they're waterproof, and I just kind of wrote little notes about it, tested out the colors, and just played with it. Your sketchbook is a great place to try out new supplies, see how they interact with other supplies. This is just guash. I love this. I want to do more of this kind of stuff in here. This is a little deer that I have figurine. I love doing little studies of them and just playing with them. Just some watercolor brush pens. Acrylic brush pens, just a little positive notes. So pencil, watercolor. I think that's it. This was fun. And then some freehand sketches of Joseph Originals. Oh, so one thing that's interesting is I never used to do freehand, but almost everything in here is freehand now. This is freehand because I did that one whole sketchbook that is all freehand. So now I'm more comfortable with it, so it's easy for me to do. Is a perfect note, but it's fun and easy, and I enjoy it. I think it makes my work more loose and that's kind of one of my goals. So just practice what you want to get good at and you will. So this is actually an example of what you can do in your sketchbook. So if you're batter color, for example, do this, make the same drawing, and then fill them out with different colors and see how it looks. See what you like. You can write it down. For example, I don't like this, but I love this one. I love this one. I love this one. I love this one. So, you can see what works and what doesn't and practice your intuitive color picking and mixing and just see how they interact. Like here, I use watercolor. You can see I let them blend and it's just a fun way to practice. You can also do color studies of things. That's also great. Here's another example. So I did, like a little sketch, like a little thumbnail of what I was thinking, a tiger in a window, and then I refined it, thought of the colors, did not like the brown, changed it, put some notes, made it at a curtain, and I did a little illustration of it. I didn't finish it. I have to go back to it. I want to add a little quote or something. But as you can see, you can plan out your compositions and do a finished piece, like, even a fine artwork that is on a different paper, but you can use your sketchbook to plan like this. I mean, this is what a lot of people use their sketchbooks for. Another thing you can use your sketchbook for is to practice different mediums, mixing them, testing them out. Like here, for example, these are the acrylic paint markers. Here it is normal. Here it is with water first. And then here it is with water after before it dries. And you can just test out different supplies, see how they interact with each other, with water, different techniques for how things will look. And this is something I did a lot in my older sketchbooks. But this is where I ended it. It's been two months now, and I'm a little bit more than halfway through, which is great because that's over 80 pages. So I'm doing really good pace with this one, and I cannot wait to finish it. This was so much fun to work with. But as you can see, the way I use sketchbooks has evolved. It's changed. It's always changing. I really prioritize play and experimentation. Maybe you prioritize pretty spreads. That's fine, too. Just find what you want to do and practice that and you'll get better at it. So that's my message to you. Find your favorite way to sketch book and just finish. Just finish. Don't care about results. I showed you my ugly one, and I showed you my prettier one. And guess what? All that matters is the fun I had along the way, and I had more fun making the silly stuff like this. So just be silly. Have fun. If you want to be serious, that's fine, too. Just practice whatever your goal is because when you practice, you get better at that specific thing. So that's my message to you guys. Just practice. Have fun and finish. Just go for it. Even We if you have to take breaks, even if you stop, just get back into it and try again. All right, now let's talk about how to make sketch booking a habit, so you can finish. 9. Building Semi-Daily Consistency: Consistency can be tricky for most people. I completely understand. I'm the same way. I think the secret is to find why you have a hard time with it, and then you can fix it. For me, when I didn't want to create for a long period of time, a lot of it had to do with imposter syndrome and an overly harsh nocritic. There have been times when almost everything I made looked bad, and that made me feel bad. But as I talked about in the first few lessons, I've learned how to fix that mindset, understand that the ebbs and flows in creativity are normal. Now, with my new perspective, I want to create more art because it's what I love to do. For me, it was a psychological challenge. But now that I've mostly overcome it, I do find myself being fairly consistent. Of course, there are days and sometimes even a week when I don't feel like making anything at all. On those days, I might just practice drawing in my sketchbook. And sometimes I really just don't do anything, and that's okay, too. Sometimes I need a few days break. And when I come back, I feel like my skills have improved because I have a theory that the brain subconsciously processes information, especially if you're using a new medium or doing something different, and it grows. So if you go through periods of study, sometimes a break is great because it helps you to process. Try not to take a week or more off because then you just start getting rusty and don't make a habit of taking really long stretches of time off because that can also stunt your growth and kill your habit. You can be super rusty at the end of a month of not doing it, trust me. On average, I'd say I create art about seven or eight out of ten days, which is pretty good. Some days I only draw for 15 minutes, other days, I'll go for 3 hours. But doing something anything is always beneficial, even if it's just 5 minutes. I truly believe that. So if you have a really, really hard time, why not set a five minute drawing challenge a day? You can do it. When I felt my rustiest, I started my drawing sketchbook. I made it a habit to spend just 15 minutes every morning while having a coffee. I had some great streaks in there of almost doing it daily. By the end of the year, I noticed my line work had improved dramatically. Almost invisibly, those small sessions he built up my muscle memory and confidence. It taught me the skill of drawing free hand, which I always wanted but wasn't able to do before. Being able to draw without sketching first always look daunting, but having that ability makes it so much easier to draw, especially loosely. So, in turn, this upgraded all my skills even painting. That's the magic of consistency. Improvement happens beneath the surface, even when you don't see it day by day. When you look back to a month ago or a year ago, you'll see it clearly. The only way to build a habit is just to do it. I found that drawing in the morning works best for me, but maybe you're a night out or you're really busy, can only carve out time during your morning commute or while unwinding with Netflix at night. Yes, you can draw or paint with the TV on in the background or while lounging on your couch, especially if you have an iPad, Apple pencil, you can even start a little sketchbook on your iPad. Why not? Even if you don't, why not just use your sketchbook? You can easily pull up references on your phone and put it nearby. Just get yourself a nice little light source. If you have a longer lunch break, you can bring your sketchbook with you and take 10 minutes to sketch. And if that feels like too much pressure, you can make art in even 5 minutes. Like I said before, 5 minutes is all you need. One of the most beautiful things about a sketchbook is how portable it is. You really can draw anywhere. If you're busy, think of creative ways to sneak in some drawing time and challenge yourself to do it for a week. Then reflect. Did it make your day a better or worse? Is there a better time to do it, a different time? Maybe you can try something else for next week if it didn't work out. Try attaching your sketching time to something you already do daily, like having your morning coffee, like I do, or right after dinner. This habit stacking makes it easier to remember to do it. You can also set up your creative space to reduce friction. Having your supplies visible and ready to go means you're more likely to use them. Even a dedicated corner of a table can become your creativity zone. Or this could mean you'll fill a makeup bag with your favorite art supplies and always have it on you or near you if you don't have a creative corner. If you have to spend all day watching your children, why not make creativity time a family event? There's tons of kid friendly art supplies out there that won't make a mess, and you can play with them with your children. Get creative and find what works for you to create more. We all have some extra time tucked away in our day that we can make into a creative habit. And you really can make progress with just five, ten or 15 minutes of art making a day. That adds up to 2.5 hours, 5 hours or 7.5 hours a month, which is significant. And if you can dedicate an hour day, why not try? Many of us watch too much TV or spend time doing scrolling on social media. We can sacrifice a little bit of that if we truly want to improve in our craft. Think of creativity as a muscle, an exercise. Remind yourself how creating art makes you feel joyful, free and relax. Instead of consuming, we should focus on creating, it really fills your cup and uplifts your soul. Plus, there's tons of research out there on how creating art reduces stress and anxiety through the meditative aspects of creative flow, while simultaneously improving your mood and emotional regulation and enhancing problem solving abilities as your brain forms stronger neural connections through consistent visual spatial practice, which leads to greater self awareness and deeper sense of purpose and meaning in your life. We also developing discipline through daily routine, all without the pressure of creating good art, because the research shows it's the process rather than the outcome that matters. And it does sound like a mouthful, but pretty much making art equals good. Even brief sessions are enough to experience these benefits, as long as you remain consistent with your practice, making it a part of your daily life rather than just occasional hobby, which is why so many therapists and mental health professionals now recommend creative expression as a form of self care and healing, regardless of your skill level or artistic background. So, yes, it is exercise for your soul, for your mind, and your mental health. On days when you really don't feel like creating, commit to just 2 minutes. You can do it. Often, getting started is the hardest part. And once you begin, you'll likely continue a little bit longer. If time is your biggest challenge, try breaking projects into smaller pieces. A complex drawing doesn't have to be completed in one sitting. Outline today at Details tomorrow, color the next time. You can even abandon a sketchbook page if it isn't working out. You can come back to it at a different time or just not finish it at all. I've done both. You don't always have to draw something new either. Why not revisit a previous page that needs a little bit of something extra to add to it, like I did with my previous sketchbooks. I love doing that, especially with mixed media, since I can layer elements over time. It's also a great way to warm up. There isn't one magical way to be consistent. It's just about making the effort daily and putting the time in over and over again. It becomes second nature if you do this. Creating at the same time each day helps turn art making into a natural part of your schedule and routine, like brushing your teeth. Your brain begins to expect and look forward to that creative time, especially with how good it makes you feel after. Keep in mind that different seasons of life might require different approaches to consistency. During busy work periods or holidays, you might need to adjust your expectations. It's okay if you miss a day or a week. Art making shouldn't be stressful and it shouldn't take away from your life. I should add to it. If we all approached art as something we do for the process rather than results, we wouldn't struggle with art block, fear, or avoidance. Those negative emotions steal our joy. We create because we love to create. So if you're having trouble staying consistent, find a way to fall in love with art again. You can try a different medium or identify what's making you avoid it and address that issue. Maybe posting on social media drains you, photographing, editing, captioning, it all takes time. Before you know it, 2 hours have passed. I try not to post as much as I used to personally. Then there's the worry about engagement. What if nobody likes it? I've been there. I had to learn to care only about what I think of my art. And that's a much healthier approach. Audiences are unpredictable and don't define us. If we create our art just to please other people, we're never going to find our true artistic voice or grow. We'll be just stuck making what we think we should be in this little box instead of what we truly love to do. Love is key here. Just focus on the love you feel for your art, and nothing else matters. This is partly why I don't really care about posting on social media anymore. I just do what I feel like when I feel like it, and I've had a much healthier relationship with my art since then, because to me, what really matters is how I feel about my art, and then the people will follow. If sharing your sketchbook makes you feel self conscious, keep it private. Make it your personal creative sanctuary, and you'll be more likely to return to it consistently. Ironically, this freedom can lead to better art because you're not weighed down by perfectionism. You can just share your prettiest pieces. You don't have to share the whole thing or share nothing at all. I'm sharing my sketchbooks because I want to show you that it's dormal to make things you don't love, and I want to show you the process and how I've grown in it. But you can always love the process. Every page, no matter how imperfect, teaches us something. It's a joy to create. Unless I get self critical, so I choose not to. And now I invite you to do the same. Consistency over time is also how you develop your unique artistic voice. When you show up regularly at your sketchbook or canvas, patterns emerge, certain colors you gravitate towards, subjects that repeatedly inspire you, techniques you naturally refine. This personal style develops organically through consistent practice naturally and effortlessly. It's your voice that's inside of you that you had all along. If you have a hard time starting the habit, consider joining a prompt or challenge online. There are so many on Instagram and other websites, or you can challenge yourself by writing down things you like to draw, putting them in a bowl and pulling out a word or two whenever you want to draw. You can also set a goal to finish your sketchbook in three or six months or one month if you really want to make it hard. You can get a calendar dedicated to sketch booking practice and cross off each day you complete a page. Seeing it in person can be very motivating. Consider using a simple tracker in your sketchbook itself. Maybe make a grid on the first page where you mark each day you create. If you do multiple pages, mark multiple pages and just have a goal of 30 a month, let's say, whatever you want to do. Finding an art body or accountability partner can also work wonders for consistency. Share your sketchbook pages with each other weekly or set up a virtual coffee day where you both draw together. Community support makes journey more enjoyable and helps you push through those low motivational days, which we all have. But for me personally, I like to keep it simple. I just like to have my sketchbook and supplies out on my desk and I try to make something, anything, every morning so that I've already done it for the day. I don't feel like doing it, I can skip it, and it's not a big deal. But if I do work in my sketchbook, if I do no other art creating that day, I feel accomplished. So don't make it into a chore and have fun with it, and you'll have a much lower chance of stopping and burning out. Keep it fun, keep it like. That said, don't feel like you have to confine yourself to sketchbooks, either. I'm also learning oil painting and working with oil pastels right now, which don't always suit sketchbooks. But it's been so much fun. Not all my art has to fit into one place. There are no rules for where or how frequently you make art. The key is to enjoy the process and create in a way that works for you in the present moment. Over time, it builds into a consistent habit, and it'll be easier to make art than not to. So stick with it and keep going. If you take a week off or a month off, don't beat yourself up. Just get back on it. Open up your sketchbook and start again. I learned to be gentle and forgiving with myself. I took the pressure off and made it all about play, and this really helped me to finish. We don't force ourselves to watch Netflix, do we? Or play video games, because those activities are fun. So make art fun, and you won't have to force yourself either. Art is naturally enjoyable. We just need to stay in that mindset. That's why it's so important to forget results and just do it for the process. And the next lesson, we'll do a mini tour of Victoria Osario' sketchbooks, and she's going to answer some questions I asked her, so you can see that making pretty sketchbooks takes time and practice, and it's a process for all of us. 10. Q & A With Victoria Osorio: Okay, now let's take on another perspective from Victoria Osario. Please check her out on Instagram. Her work is gorgeous, gorgeous. Give her a follow. I'll alternate between old and new sketchbooks to show you the contrasts as we go through the questions. Did you struggle with a loud inner critic or fear of making bad art? How did you overcome it? I did struggle a lot with an inner critic, and I think I continue to do so nowadays. I think fear of making bad art is something a lot of artists struggle with. Important thing is not letting that fear paralyze you. What helped me coexist with it more comfortably was not taking my to art so seriously. To accept that perfection doesn't really exist and to realize that some of the art I deemed ugly or flawed, it could be perceived as beautiful by other people. You never know. What kept you motivated during tough times when progress felt slow or self doubt crept in. With time, I've come to accept that for me, creativity is kind of seasonal. There are periods of time when I have lots of ideas and everything seems to fall into place effortlessly. But there are also times when Arp lock hits, and now that I'm a bit older, I accept those hard times instead of fighting them. I try to find inspiration or fill my creative cup, like Emma Block says, by watching films or reading books or graphic novels that inspire me. I also try to learn new things by watching online courses by other artists. What do you think helped you grow the fastest? Nothing can beat consistency in showing up and making art. Making creativity a daily habit is what helped me improve my skills as an artist and grow my Instagram account. But breaks are, of course, allowed and healthy, in my opinion. What words sum up your sketchbooking goals then versus now? For example, minor play, fun and prolific. Now, whereas back then they were practice learning and discovery. At the beginning, I would say, learn, practice, and experiment. I just wanted to get better and grasp the art fundamentals. Now I think practice and experiment still sum up in my sketchbook goals, but I would also add craft because what I'm trying to do now that I'm more confident in my drawing and painting skills is to create my own visual language. How has your mindset about sketchbooking changed over time? Back then, when I was a beginner, I was way less mindful about sketchbooking. I just opened my sketchbook and practice whatever I felt I needed to improve. I was also less consistent in the sense that I just drew and painted when I felt like. Now I try to be more disciplined because my conception of art making has changed over time. I see it more as a craft than art in the sense that I don't feel the need to make anything perfect anymore. The practice is as important as the final result, and it's so enjoyable. What is your favorite part about sketch booking? My favorite part is the ritual it entails. I work full time as a teacher in the afternoons and evenings, and for me, it's a very stressful job. Since I'm a huge introvert and spending all the time in the classroom in front of people completely drains my energy. In the mornings, however, after I've prepared my lesson for the day, I can sit down, make myself a cup of coffee, light a candle, and open my sketchbook. It feels like a magical portal opens up. I forget about my anxiety and I enter a state of flow when I'm painting. It's like meditation for me. Looking back, what advice would you give to new sketch bookers or your younger self? I guess, just to keep at it, be consistent, but also take breaks. Be mindful of every little sketch and enjoy the process of it just sitting down to create. It's a cliche, but trust the process is a beautiful motto to have as an artist. I think leading a creative life requires faith. And if everything else fails, watch studio Gib films like Kiki's Delivery Service and Whisper of the Heart. They're so inspiring and speak directly to the creative in us. That's it for the Q&A. As you can see, me and her have very similar perspectives. I hope you found that so inspiring like I do. She is so talented and I just love seeing the progress of her work. Her Instagram is so beautiful. Do check out all her artwork there. I also encourage you to check out sketchbook tours on YouTube or other sketchbook classes, so you can learn from lots of different people and see how they all create differently. There is unlimited potential in sketchbooking, and you can have any mindset you want. Just find your favorite ways to create and whatever inspires you the most. Now, let's finish off the class. 11. Class Project: Class is done. Yay, good job on finishing. Now for the class project, let's do three things. First, if you haven't already, think about what your art goal or word is for sketchbooking. Mine was to be prolific, have fun, be loose, and not care about results. This is my sketchbook goal. Second, make a sketchbook appointment that you will keep. Ask yourself, when do you want to create and make it a priority to do so so that you can become consistent. If you want to set a challenge like making art every day for a month, write that down. And it's okay if you can fall off the wagon, just do your best and try again. Third, start a sketchbook or continue in one you abandoned. If you're going to one you abandon, just add a date and your goal. You can be as brief or detailed as you want to be, or if you're starting a new one, do the same thing. Now, sketchbook away. No pressure, just fun, find your flow and your favorite way to work in it. Just start. Your goal is to create on a daily or semi daily basis and see what comes out of you. Remember to make it no pressure, fun. You're just practicing. It's just a sketchbook, and if your goal is to make pretty sketchbooks, do remember you'll have to go through some ugly ones first because it's a process to get there. It's a skill like any other and takes practice and time. I would love for you to share your goal with the other students in any experiences you've had, like your struggles or victories. You can share any sketchbook spreads you like, as well. If you make something you really hate, instead of being ashamed and feeling like a failure, I dare you to share it next to something you love. This will help you overcome your fears and realize we all make ugly and beautiful art. It's completely normal. Or maybe even share how you fix something you hated with before and after photos. Let the class project be a place of discovery and play and sharing of vulnerabilities. If you're up to it, just remember there isn't one perfect way to sketchbook. How you use your sketchbook is up to you. If you don't want to share it, you really don't have to. It's your save space for play and grow. Okay, so that's it for the class. Remember, it's all about the process and happy sketchbooking. If you want to continue learning for me, I have tons of other classes on all kinds of topics, 31 of them to be exact at this moment. This is 32. I'm sure you'll find what you're looking for. And I even have a book on drawing cute animals. I'll see you guys around. Keep creating and growing and learning and yay we've finished the class. Ya, go have fun in your sketchbook right now. Have fun. Just do it. Just play. Bye.