How to Start a Sketchbook

For many artists even thinking about how to start a sketchbook can be a huge source of anxiety. (Photo Credit: 123RF.com Image ID: 31733833 Copyright: Antonio Guillem)

It shouldn’t be so nerve wracking, but for some reason, even contemplating how to start a sketchbook often grips many artists with uncertainty. Similar to the terror of the blank canvas, making that first mark in a new sketchbook can grip us with anxiety. Perhaps it’s a reluctance to mar a pristine surface as strong as the desire to create on it? Maybe it’s a fear of screwing up. It could be anything. Each artist has their own strange quirks, but in each case, a few simple hacks and/or change in mindset can get you on your way to breaking in that new sketchbook.

Ultimately, a sketchbook is just a sketchbook. It’s not going to hang in the Louvre. (Photo Credit: 123RF.com Image ID: 59483769 Copyright: Panudda Nopboonchollatee)

1. Remember that it’s JUST a sketchbook!

   Merriam-Webster defines the word sketch as “a rough drawing representing the chief features of an object or scene and often made as a preliminary study”. If we take that definition as fact, then we can trust that sketchbooks are for practice, not masterpieces. You can doodle in them, try things out in them, work ideas out in them. You might simply jot ideas down in them. Ultimately, sketchbooks were meant for sketches (thus the name) and not works that hang in the Louvre.

2. You don’t have to start with a sketch.

   That first blank page does not have to contain a sketch. If making that first mark on that first blank page freaks you out, use that page for something else. Put your name on that page in big block letters. I know some artists that use it to put their name and email address under a line that reads, “If found, please contact…” Or, you could use the first page as a warm-up. That first page having been marked up should take the pressure off for you to continue making art.

3. Start in the middle or the last page.

   You don’t HAVE to start from the beginning. Maybe use the last page to write your thoughts down about how to start a sketchbook or maybe what you’ll be using this sketchbook for. And just like with #2, you’ll have made marks on a page, thus “breaking in” your new sketchbook.

4. Designate a purpose for your sketchbook.

   When it comes down to how to start a sketchbook, it could be as simple as stating a purpose for it. Not having a direction could be part of the problem. Figuring out what to draw can stop people from drawing even in an old sketchbook! So, minimize that by coming up with a purpose. It could be a theme for the entire sketchbook or a certain style. Maybe it’s a sketchbook for a particular medium. Or maybe you’ll use it to take on Inktober’s daily or weekly prompts. Having a purpose can help facilitate making those first marks.

These four tips seem so simple and perhaps even insignificant enough that they shouldn’t make any difference. You might be surprised. It might just take the smallest thing to shift your thinking from flawless new sketchbook to a book that is a working tool you’ll use to improve your work and/or to just have fun in.

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