Why You Need to Start a Sketchbook Today!

1. INTRODUCTION: Artist and educator Irwin Greenberg said, draw everywhere and all the time. And artists is a sketchbook with a person attached. My name is John storm and I'm an artist and an educator as well. And today I'm excited to dive into the world of keeping a sketchbook. I've personally that a sketchbook is the backbone of a creative person. Today we're going to look at the importance of keeping a sketchbook. How to keep a sketchbook? What do you do when you first get a brand new sketchbook to break it in and all the important factors of what it means to journey with your sketchbook. I can't wait for today's class and I'm super pumped to explore one of my favorite things, which is keeping a sketchbook. 2. WHY YOU NEED TO START TODAY: So I guess the next thing I want to look at with you is simply three reasons why you need to start a sketch book. First off, think of your sketchbook as a creative home. A creative home that is a safe place for you to explore, for you to experiment, for you to get to know your own creativity. Anyway, you want to, the sketchbook is just the perfect place for you to safely express yourself any way you want to. Once again, the sketchbook is just a great, creative home. That's a safe place for you to create. The second reason why you need to be working in a sketchbook is that the sketchbook is a creative playground. It's a place just to have fun. It's a place to get weird, to make strange R that you normally wouldn't create. Maybe for the world to see. The sketchbook is a creative playground because he can try things and experiment with things that maybe you wouldn't want to do anywhere else. And once again, you can always just close it and maybe nobody else will see your experiments. So it's a creative home, it's a creative playground. And lastly, I really believe that the sketchbook is a creative weight room. It's like a creative exercise place. It's a place for you to exercise and practice your creative muscles. Practice makes progress and it builds better discipline when you consistently work in the pages, sketchbook, experimenting, trying new things, playing around, those are really the core of what it means to keep a sketchbook. So whether you need a safe place, whether you did a place to play, whether you just need a place to build creative discipline, the sketchbook has it all. And I believe those three reasons are reasons enough to dive into the world of consistently keeping a sketchbook. 3. SKETCHBOOK INSPIRATON: Real quick, I want to go to a quick commercial break and I want to share with you a book that turned on the lights for me, transformed my creative journey and really got me hooked on working in a sketchbook throughout college. I didn't really keep sketchbooks. I remember in high school having a little spiral notebook that I will doodle and draw in. But I never really thought of it as a sketchbook. Like I mentioned, a college didn't really keep the habit working in a sketch book. But it was actually after college when I began teaching art. And I thought it would be a great idea to have my students keep a sketchbook, mostly just the practical where they have all their work stay together. But I started keeping a sketchbook myself. And slowly over time it felt sort of clunky and I felt sort of clumsy and I didn't know what I was doing. And I thought a sketch book was like a pencil drawing in the center. You turn the page, another pencil drawing. Turned the page pencil drawing, pencils drawing, pencil drawing because that's what I thought a sketchbook was. But it was when I found this book. And it is called street sketchbook at a local bookstore. And I started flipping through it and I was blown away. Okay. I had kind of an interest in street art and graffiti are but what this book does is it dives into the sketchbooks of various different street artists. Some of you may know like Bank C, But there's also a lot of great obscures, three artists. And so I would just pour over the pages of this, this, this book oftentimes copying what I saw in my own. And just as I was getting started and literature is look at the pictures and copy them. And that began the ball rolling in my own various creative directions. The author is an author named Kristin mango, and I would highly recommend getting this book as soon as you can. And man, I can't say enough about it. He also put out a second volume which explores in death other street artists sketchbooks and their work. And both of them, both of them are just phenomenal. Okay, so that's a little bit of inspiration. And I can't say it know about finding books, finding videos, finding artists, websites, finding people who follow that feed your creative flame. I artistically indebted to this author and these artists and this book. And I encourage you to find what feeds your creative flame as well. 4. WHAT KIND OF SKETCHBOOK?: Now, before we continue, another very common question is, well, what type of sketch book should I use? First stuff, once again, your sketchbook is unique to who you are, okay, so I recommend trying different formats, trying different sizes, different types of sketchbooks, and eventually your land upon the type of sketchbook that you'd just love to create it. A little bit about my journey in selecting and finding sketchbooks I like to work in. First off, on a smaller size is that these are mole skin sketchbooks. Okay. Most skin sketchbooks come in a variety of different sizes. Some smaller, some a little bit larger. But I think this is maybe about a man, I want to say about a 5.5 by maybe eight or so. And this is just a great size. It travels very easy and more skin just has amazing paper inside. And so I always have one of these mole skin sketchbooks going. They're small. They travel well and I always just have one of these going. At the same time. I always have a larger sketchbook going as well. I typically lead into the book bound, what I call sort of book bound sketchbooks. And these I will get at a local bookstore and I would transform the covers and make them how I wanted to in various ways. And then just attack the pages, experimenting, exploring, having fun, creative playground. Don't forget, now, I've got one of those is going right now, but I also wanted to play around with a spiral bound sketchbook also. Now I typically don't work in a spiral bound sketchbook, but one of my core creative values is always try something new. So currently, I thought you know what, I'm going to give the spiral sketchbook as sharp. And I'm currently working in it and I'm enjoying it. I'm just curious how long it's going to hold up for the long haul. These Brooklyn sketchbooks. Some of these are almost 1015 years and I've got some of my old Norse skins. I've got some of these and they're holding up really well and they go through a lot of wear and tear. And I'm just curious how a spiral can hold up to my level of wearing tariff, which is pretty brutal. But once again, find the sketchbook that you like to work with and the size that you like to work with. One quick thing also is that I always also that a small little sketchbook, also these cell. And at the end of the video I'll talk about how you could get one of these of your own, but these are just small little pockets, sketchbooks. I spray, the cover is a little bit, and I always recommend having one of these with you all the time. Sometimes a larger sketchbook isn't practical, but you can always have a pocket schedule it with you wherever you go. So that's just a little bit on what type of sketch book try to form once, see what works for you, and always try something new. 5. SKETCHBOOK GUIDELINES: Now, before we continue any further, I want to talk about a few ground rules. Now, I'm hesitant to use that word rule because first off, your sketchbook has no rules. It's yours. How you want to use it, how you want to create an IT IS totally you. Everybody has a different person were unique and what we do to create and how to create and how we enjoy creating is unique to who we are. So your sketch books will be unique to you. They're going to be different than, say, my sketchbooks and what I've put inside my sketchbooks. But instead of roles, I like to think of them as guidelines. There's a few guidelines that I recommend others and when keeping a sketchbook, first off, don't expect. Perfect, okay, this is a big core value of my own creativity, is the importance of imperfection. The sketchbook is a place for imperfection. Remember that safe place to create. You have to be willing to make those mistakes, willing to try something new. Please don't expect that every page in your sketchbook is going to be perfect because it probably won't be. Which brings up my second is that don't tear out pages when you make those mistakes. When you make those imperfect drawings are creations in your sketch book, you'll have this feeling that you just want to rip it out. I know I've had that feeling before. I know my students and people that I've worked with before have that feeling just to rip it out. It's almost like they can't stand to look at mistakes and imperfections. They may. And I find that very interesting. And I challenge you to explore that. What is it about that drawing? What is it about that painting of that collage that, that really rubs you the wrong way. That kinda gets on your nerves, explore it and instead of destroying it and ripping it and trying to get rid of it out of your life, dive deeper into it, leave it as it is and face it day after day to kind of get used to it. And I believe that those failed pieces, those mistakes, those imperfections, are essential, teaching you to become a better artist. And I firmly believe that you can always take anything and transform it into something that works. So on a philosophical level, don't tear things out because he can always rework it into something new. On a practical level. The more you ripped and tear pages out of your sketchbook, it just starts to make the sketchbook Week and the bindings starts to get affected as well. Another guideline that I highly recommend is it's important to break in a brand new sketchbook. And what I'd like to do next is I want to show you a handful of techniques and methods that you can use to break the ice of a brand new sketch book. And why I believe that's important is because when you get a new sketchbook and you have all those nice, clean, clean pages, they can be very intimidating. Many writers and artists had talked about the fear of the blank page. And if one page is fearful enough, imagine a whole sketchbook full of blank pages. That can just cause a lot of anxiety and artistic apprehension. And so I believe even before you make any drawing your creation in a sketchbook, One of the things that I love to do is just to break in a new sketchbook, to break that ice, to make sure that the pages are no longer precious and perfect and that they're ready to begin creating it. And I do all sorts of little tricks, whether it's writing by name and maybe the year on the side of a brand new sketchbook. But as you start making those initial marks, you start to kind of break the ice. And let's take a look at a few different techniques that you can use. Just a break in the pages of your new sketchbook. Let's check it out. 6. WHAT GOES INSIDE?: So guys, the next thing I want us to look at is, what do we do with the sketchbook? You may think in your mind that a sketchbook is just for drawing in. You may think that a sketchbook just has these immaculate, perfect drawings inside. And that's what a sketchbook is. Four. And yes, you can draw and create in your sketch book, but that's just one of the avenues of expression. There's so much more you can do inside the pages of her sketchbook than simply just draw. And now I love drawing, but my sketchbooks are much, much more than just me drawing. For example, your sketchbook can be an everything book. It's a creative laboratory where you try different things. Maybe it's new techniques that you want to explore. Maybe it's new mediums or materials that you just want to try out your pages of your sketchbook or perfect, free to try those different avenues of expression. Collect things, collage things in your sketchbook. I am constantly on the lookout for any visual imagery, whether from magazines, whether from books, whether from newspapers, whether it's a movie ticket stub, whether it's something that comes in the mail and even the inside of the envelopes that have patterns. Those are the things that I collect and keep an order to stuff into the pages of my sketchbook. You sketchbook can also be a place for you to make lists, to write things down, to keep track of things. For example, I keep track of the books, I'm reading, the movies, I'm watching in the pages. My sketchbook. If you're a person who loves riding list, failure sketchbooks with all sorts of lists as well. Once again, your sketchbook can be so much more than just a place to dry in, to paint a collage, to try something new. Your sketchbook is an everything book that can hold it all, okay? Even journalling, even writing your thoughts out and expressing yourself through writing is such a great way to use the pages of your sketchbook and mixing it and mashing it all together, drawn in collaging of riding. That's where the magic of the sketchbook really comes together. Yeah. Okay. Okay. 7. BREAKING IN - STAINING: So the next thing I wanna do, guys, is I want to show you a few different methods that you can use to break in your new sketch. For. The first technique we're going to look at is a stain. It's a simple, easy technique and method that you can use just a brick and pages, but it adds a really nice quality to your sketch book. Pages. Staining can be done with lots of different materials, as you'll see, I like to use as good or plain black coffee, but you can use lots of girls to saying your pages. So staying looks like your sketchbook. Alright guys, so here is a real quick, easy technique to break in the pages of your sketchbook with staining. Here I just have a cup of black coffee and a paper towel. And all I'm gonna do is simply apply that to the pages of my sketchbook. Okay? Staining is a great way just to apply a little bit of kinda something interesting to the background that makes it different. Leonardo da Vinci would often look at stains on his the walls of his home to kinda look for inspiration. And so just taking that pair of Italian dabbing it onto that sketchbook page, staining can be pretty subtle and pretty light, or you can apply it like that, a little more intense and a little bit stronger. But it's totally up to you. Tea, coffee, water with food coloring in it, watered-down paint or watercolor. Anything that just has a pigment or color can work pretty well. Okay? And that right there will work also besides a pair Vitale, you can also take a sponge and of course, within the liquid coffee, whatever, you can use a sponge and get a different texture, a different effect. And that can be kind of a fun thing to experiment with with a sponge. Okay? And so I'm just gonna kinda spun it around a little bit and see what happens. Here is just playing around with some bubble wrap with some staining effects. And once again, always try something new. Always try a different material and see what texture you get. And staining is a great way just to add a nice depth and background to your sketchbook pages. Have fun with it. 8. BREAKING IN - MARKER BLEED: The next technique I want to look at is what I call a marker. Ok, I'm just going to be using simple Crayola markers, but you can use pretty much any material or marker or medium that will, I guess sort of is water soluble. That kinda runs when you apply water to it. The martyr bleed is, is a great way to add a little more punch to the pages where the stain is, little more. So let's take a look at a marker bleed and how that can be used to break in the pages of your sketch. So another great way to break in pages in your sketchbook is just to take a ANY washable marker. I'm using just a cheap Crayola markers here. And just take the marker and around the edges of your sketch book page, you can just apply just kind of a, a line or boundary around the edges. And this marker is running out of gas clearly, as you can see, but it's going to be actually perfect for this staining exercise. The marker bleed provides a little more of a visual punch than just the staining. Where the staining areas on the set of subtle and I went around the edges and I'm just going to take a damp paper towel here. Nothing fancy, nothing special. And I'm just gonna go around and activate that marker and it will turn into a marker bleed and a marker stain. And the colors are a little more vibrant, little more intense. And you can go around the edges and you can leave the center blank like that. Or you could bring the marker bleed into the entire pages. Well, once again, what you're looking for is just a nice backdrop with which then to draw, create pained collage, whatever you wanna do. Just a nice background, something different than just a blank page. There it is. Marker bleed. 9. BREAKING IN - COLLAGE: Alright, the last technique I want to look at with you guys is collaging. Collage comes from the French word, which means to simply the glue or to pace. And you can collage items that you find through, like I mentioned before, books or magazines or newspapers, things that come in the mail. You can print off images that you like. Like this little bug here. I guess I've printed them off at some point and I'm going to collage them into one of my sketchbooks or paintings or drawings. Sometimes. Collaging is a great way to add just another level of visual interest in your work. So let's look at how to collage very easily and very simply for the purpose of breaking in your sketch book. Alright, one of my favorite ways to break in my sketchbook is by collaging found materials and things inside of it. And here I just have a couple of examples of just some yellow paper could be grid paper or magazine clippings, anything really. Once you have the collage it pretty much anything you find that you feel like you could work with. Here. I'm just going to take this piece of grid paper. And I like the grid and the squares just to be able to kinda doodle and draw upon. I think it's a grey background. And I don't really use too many fancy techniques or anything. I'm just taken a bottles, glutes, school glue and I'm putting just a thin line of glue around the edges of the paper. Edges are most important. And I'm just going to slap that down in the pages of my sketchbook. Let it dry and I'm good to go. Rubber cement works really well. And that's all there is to it for collaging into your sketch book. 10. FINAL THOUGHTS: Alright guys, we are getting close to the end of this class. Hopefully I've been able to convey and share with you guys how important it is to keep a sketchbook. And I really believe that we're just scratching the surface. I believe this video's going to be part of a series of episodes all about working in your sketchbook. So please stay tuned. Episodes and other additions that will accompany this course in the future. But I want to leave you guys with a couple of thoughts. When you start a new sketch book. A brand new baby. It's just born, it's young, it's amateur, and you have to feed it over time. You have to add things to it, you have to give it things you have to spend time with it, and your sketchbook will slowly grow. I believe a sketchbook is also like a journey. And when you start the journey, you're just beginning. And every day you work in your sketch book and as the days and the months and sometimes even the years go by and you're adding and developing and working in that sketchbook, it will continue to grow with you. One of the biggest reasons why I encourage you to begin a sketch, but is that a sketchbook is a doorway into the creative flow state, that state of being sort of in the creative zone. I believe it's very therapeutic to work in a sketchbook and to have it be that creative haven, that creative safe place, that home, that playground, that workout place. But mostly the importance of being therapeutic for you. We live in a world that there's a lot of stress, there's a lot of anxiety. And we need those creative safe places just to be ourselves, to allow our inner creative artist a safe place to play. Okay, so begin your journey. Begin walking with the campaign and of your sketchbook today. And if you don't have a sketchbook on, you are handy. Put something on a piece of paper that you can eventually collage into the pages of your sketchbook. Alright, earlier I mentioned these little pockets sketchbooks. And if you're interested in getting one of these or purchasing one of these from me. Here on the screen. I provided my email as well as my Instagram account. Please send me an email, send me direct message through Instagram. And if you've mentioned that you took this course, I'll sell you one of these Ansel for only $5, okay? And I'll kind of explain how to make the payment and things like that once you contact me. But these are a great way just to start small and easy with a sketchbook. But everything we've done today, everything we've talked about could be done in this format, this format, or even a larger format. Once again, it doesn't matter where you start. It just matters that you begin today. Creates something, draw something collage, something starts something creative today. And you won't regret it. Once again, thanks for joining me in today's class. I had a blast sharing with you guys. And thank you. Look forward to other different episodes coming soon about the sketchbook. Thank you.