Hello Everybody! How are you all doing?
Today I want to talk about the process of breaking into a new sketchbook. For some, it is not an easy obstacle to overcome. Starting a new sketchbook is nerve wrecking for me. At first, it is very exciting to have a new blank slate to work with. Then, that excitement turns into fear, afraid of making a mistake. When I have a new journal, I dream of perfection on each page. And because of that, I never get to use it. Always waiting for the right moment, waiting for that perfect piece of art.
Page One: This is the first page of my sketchbook. The first blank page is so daunting. That blank page looks so perfect and scary at the same time. There is only one way to push forward from that stage. You have to ruin it. Make it imperfect. Rip a page off, stain it, cut it. Whatever you do, you’ll lose stop seeing your sketchbook as precious and pure. Because of it, you’ll always be scared of ruining such a “perfect” sketchbook. Sketchbooks are supposed to be used, not to stored away on a shelf.
What did I do? For me, the first page is like an introduction to my sketchbook. At this stage, I am not trying to make anything creative, pretty nor perfect. All I can do is write my name. A bit of my personal info, if my book gets stolen. Lower down the page I would write a title. The title would be a topic I would be working on in my sketchbook. For example: “Main Female Characters”, “Chibi Cute Collection Characters”, “Drawing Practice”, etc. Then at the bottom, I’ll write their time frame. It is a reminder of when did I worked on this sketchbook and how long it took me to complete it.
Page Two: This is the second page of your sketchbook. Sometimes ruining the first page is not enough. Because any other page is as perfect and clean as the next one. So on this page, I continue trying not to do any creative nor pretty. If I get inspired to do something creative, then I’ll do so. But I won’t force myself for no reason.
What can I do on this page? Sometimes I need a basic guideline. So I wrote a list of creative rules. Things to remind me not to do. I always have to remember to never compare my art to other people’s artworks. And the golden rule of all is to always keep practicing. For more rules, I would look for them online. It might sound silly, but these rules are so helpful when you are feeling discouraged.
Page Three: After reaching the third page there is no need to keep filling up random pages. At this point, you can start drawing and sketching. But when I started this I was on a roll. And I continued filling up pages until I felt ready to start drawing. In a way, These pages helped me draw out my plans and ideas.
What more did I add? If I had some rules, then this time I wrote down my goals. I needed to bring out everything that I was planning to do why my sketchbook. One of my goals was to practice every single day. And the other one was to develop my own art style. With goals like those, my sketchbook would be complete in no time.
Page Four: At this point, I can’t stop myself. Now I am so into working through more pages of my sketchbook without making a single drawing. I didn’t know that “breaking” a sketchbook was going to be this much fun. From now on I want to do this to all my future sketchbooks. It is creative in a different kind of way.
What did I do for this page? All you artists out there know that not all sketchbooks are the same. The same goes for any art supply. So before diving into an artwork, I make sure to test out my supplies. I have to know how well does the paper works with certain inks and pens. With this kind of testing, you learn more about your supplies and the quality of the paper you are working with.
Page Five: We are now on the last three pages. There could be more pages to wreck the sketchbook. But I decided to have a limit. The reason for having a sketchbook its to draw in it. And I plan to do so as soon as I make my point across. But because of this, I now enjoy making random creative pages like these. One day I want to have a journal only for that reason.
What is the fifth page about? I needed some motivation. Something to keep me moving forward. So I dedicated a whole page on motivational quotes. Nothing more than quotes about art, colors, creativity, inspiration, etc.. I wish I could have added more. Only two quotes were enough for my page.
Page Six: Since young, I never learned how to draw in the traditional way. So I always looked up to other artists. Little by little I imitated their art style. Soon later I learned how to draw on my own. And till this day I still have many art styles that I admire. I don’t imitate them anymore. But I like to look at them once in a while. My dream is to make amazing artworks like the ones that I admire so much.
For what did I use this page for? I took a page and dedicated it to my inspiration. I made a list of all the artists that I currently admire. There are quite a few. Sometimes I have to add a new one to the list. In my list, I have from Tony Taka to Carnelian. I can’t stop myself from being a fan-girl over how great their artworks are. If I could, I would love to have a collection from each of them.
Page Seven: This is my last page before starting to draw. This page could have been anything. But I decided to do something with a drawing on it. At this point, I knew I made way to many pages. And like I said before, the main reason for this sketchbook was for drawing purposes.
What kind of drawing did I make? I drew a character in my own art style. With this sketchbook, I am trying to perfect that art style. I want to become better in my ways of drawing. And that is why I need to keep on practicing. I’ll practice until I that art style becomes more natural to me.
So there you have it, a new creative post. To be honest, I am quite proud of this post. I poured everything I wanted to say about my recent sketchbook. For me, this is the best method I could find to overcome the new sketchbook syndrome. Well, at least now I have found two solutions to my creative issues. All I need to do now is to find a way to stop procrastinating and avoid from getting burned out. I guess it takes time to figure all those things out. I am not an expert, I write from my personal feelings.
Do not forget to give me a visit at my website The Senspirational ArtRoom. All I need is your support and now you can do so by going to my Patreon page. Or go to see my older drawings at DeviantArt. There are also many other sites that I am currently active. Never forget to add me at Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Tumblr, and on Pinterest. Well, I’ll leave now. Be nice to others and have a nice day!
See you all later and take care,
from Ijiserure.