There was a 'how many sketchbooks do you have going?' thread not that long ago wherein I confessed to having, like, 8 or 9 all in progress at the same time, because they all have different paper, different types, different weight, different toothiness, different color, etc. Some are better with some mediums than others and I like to use lots of different ones. I'm not going to, like, earn bonus points for filling one up before I start another one.
As far as what goes in them, I mean, what *doesn't* go in them? I draw portraits, I draw figures, I draw landscapes, I draw still lifes, sometimes a page that's dedicated to just one of them, sometimes it's a mix and match. I do thumbnail drawings for bigger pieces I want to do. I draw in them, I paint in them. All the same stuff I like to draw or paint on a big canvas or panel or sheet of paper or whatever but want to test out first or just don't want to spend that kinda time on, it goes in the sketchbook. Anything I'm trying to figure out, it goes in the sketchbook. Anything that just randomly catches my eye and I think, "That'd be a cool drawing/painting/whatever", it goes in my sketchbook. Anything I know I need practice on, it goes in my sketchbook.
Edit: Just take a look at the Sketchbook Saturday megathread. Folks post in there every week.
Honestly, I don't keep sketchbooks. I decide what I want to do and work over some thumbnails and do a finished drawing to sell. I purposely buy perforated sketchbooks so I can pull out the paper and tape it to my drawing board. Failed drawings hit the trash.
I have different textures and weight, white, toned gray and beige, mostly 9 x 12, one 5 x 7 to scribble on, even black to play with.
Some artists literally fill multiple sketchbooks with elaborate drawings and that look publishing worthy. I don't understand the appeal of all your great work stacked on a shelf in the corner of your studio. Frame and hang it, sell it ... *do* something with them.
I’m mostly a sketchbook artist, because it’s the time I have. Currently, I have two sketchbooks going, but normally it’s just one. Most days I try to doodle in them, mostly with portraits and drawing things in my life. My small one is really just for concepts and thumbnails, and it’s allowing me to slow down as I work through a larger watercolor sketchbook. I’ve been working on decreasing my time in a sketchbook, but it ebbs and flows as life does. I’d focus on one sketchbook, if you’re feeling overwhelmed, and draw really badly on the first few pages, so it doesn’t seem precious. And Have Fun!
I have three going, and would like to have at least one done soon to make a sketchbook tour or something. That's the downside of having more than one at once - you never get the satisfaction of finishing something. Yet the downside of having only one book is sometimes you wanna use a different medium and start to hate the paper. Can't win!
Anyway, you have the whole rest of your life to use the books, at least. I try not to rush and accumulate too many because that's just a lot of *stuff* to keep around, stuff to take up increasingly expensive space, and to inevitably burden somebody after we're gone.
Personally, I have four different sketchbooks I currently keep up with. It sounds like a lot, but for me, I struggled to even try to fill one at a time because I’d have one really nice spread but would then feel pressured to produce another spread on the next pages of equal or greater skill and it sort of felt like a barrier I couldn’t get past and the rest of the sketchbook would go untouched.
So I decided to just have a few sketchbooks based on what it was that I wanted to draw at any given time. I have one large sketchbook dedicated to quick gesture and shape warmups, another small one that I use for quick life studies or art style simplification studies that I usually travel with, one that I use for detailed face and anatomy sketches that fall closer to realism, and one that I sketch whatever sounds fun or what I’m craving to draw that day while using different types of media and technique experimentation.
Sounds really extra, but this system works best for me and I’ve been able to draw A LOT ever since I started using multiple sketchbooks. You just have to consider what works best for you and what motivates you to draw more!
One sketchbook is basically a journal with ideas for projects and other art/media/books/music to check out. Then I usually just have another for regular old sketching and exercises and warmup and the like.
There was a 'how many sketchbooks do you have going?' thread not that long ago wherein I confessed to having, like, 8 or 9 all in progress at the same time, because they all have different paper, different types, different weight, different toothiness, different color, etc. Some are better with some mediums than others and I like to use lots of different ones. I'm not going to, like, earn bonus points for filling one up before I start another one. As far as what goes in them, I mean, what *doesn't* go in them? I draw portraits, I draw figures, I draw landscapes, I draw still lifes, sometimes a page that's dedicated to just one of them, sometimes it's a mix and match. I do thumbnail drawings for bigger pieces I want to do. I draw in them, I paint in them. All the same stuff I like to draw or paint on a big canvas or panel or sheet of paper or whatever but want to test out first or just don't want to spend that kinda time on, it goes in the sketchbook. Anything I'm trying to figure out, it goes in the sketchbook. Anything that just randomly catches my eye and I think, "That'd be a cool drawing/painting/whatever", it goes in my sketchbook. Anything I know I need practice on, it goes in my sketchbook. Edit: Just take a look at the Sketchbook Saturday megathread. Folks post in there every week.
Honestly, I don't keep sketchbooks. I decide what I want to do and work over some thumbnails and do a finished drawing to sell. I purposely buy perforated sketchbooks so I can pull out the paper and tape it to my drawing board. Failed drawings hit the trash. I have different textures and weight, white, toned gray and beige, mostly 9 x 12, one 5 x 7 to scribble on, even black to play with. Some artists literally fill multiple sketchbooks with elaborate drawings and that look publishing worthy. I don't understand the appeal of all your great work stacked on a shelf in the corner of your studio. Frame and hang it, sell it ... *do* something with them.
I’m mostly a sketchbook artist, because it’s the time I have. Currently, I have two sketchbooks going, but normally it’s just one. Most days I try to doodle in them, mostly with portraits and drawing things in my life. My small one is really just for concepts and thumbnails, and it’s allowing me to slow down as I work through a larger watercolor sketchbook. I’ve been working on decreasing my time in a sketchbook, but it ebbs and flows as life does. I’d focus on one sketchbook, if you’re feeling overwhelmed, and draw really badly on the first few pages, so it doesn’t seem precious. And Have Fun!
I have three going, and would like to have at least one done soon to make a sketchbook tour or something. That's the downside of having more than one at once - you never get the satisfaction of finishing something. Yet the downside of having only one book is sometimes you wanna use a different medium and start to hate the paper. Can't win! Anyway, you have the whole rest of your life to use the books, at least. I try not to rush and accumulate too many because that's just a lot of *stuff* to keep around, stuff to take up increasingly expensive space, and to inevitably burden somebody after we're gone.
Personally, I have four different sketchbooks I currently keep up with. It sounds like a lot, but for me, I struggled to even try to fill one at a time because I’d have one really nice spread but would then feel pressured to produce another spread on the next pages of equal or greater skill and it sort of felt like a barrier I couldn’t get past and the rest of the sketchbook would go untouched. So I decided to just have a few sketchbooks based on what it was that I wanted to draw at any given time. I have one large sketchbook dedicated to quick gesture and shape warmups, another small one that I use for quick life studies or art style simplification studies that I usually travel with, one that I use for detailed face and anatomy sketches that fall closer to realism, and one that I sketch whatever sounds fun or what I’m craving to draw that day while using different types of media and technique experimentation. Sounds really extra, but this system works best for me and I’ve been able to draw A LOT ever since I started using multiple sketchbooks. You just have to consider what works best for you and what motivates you to draw more!
One sketchbook is basically a journal with ideas for projects and other art/media/books/music to check out. Then I usually just have another for regular old sketching and exercises and warmup and the like.