Art Practice Tips The small sketchbook

Keeping a sketchbook is a great way of keeping track of creative ideas and getting in the habit of regular drawing, as well as being a useful resource for large works when you are feeling short on ideas.I tend to use the small sketchbook for making quick impressions of what I see or aides memoirs for later. It is your invaluable personal tool and usually it isn't something that you would show someone else except as a discussion point. For me the small sketch book contains drawings some paintings, notes about a certain painting such as colours and moods. Notes and memos to aid yourself plan for a show, an outing or a new line of work.

Remember that not every drawing you do needs to be a finished work of art. You can use a sketchbook for rough notes, thumbnails and ideas, too. When you open your sketchbook, think about what your intention is for your drawing session. While trying something challenging is always worthwhile, simple subjects can often be rewarding. Don't feel constrained by what others think art should be about - make your drawings about whatever you find interesting, be it an unusual object, an interesting face, a beautiful landscape or an invented fantasy.

The great English sculpture Henry Moore for example made large sculptural shapes, his sketchbook however contains detailed beautiful drawings of the sheep that grazed outside his window the drawings eventually led to large sculptural pieces. In fact its true to say that the sketchbook is the crucial piece of kit for sculpture, designers, dancers and many other creative artists as well as painters.

I have posted 6 notes from a small sketch which are pages from my Andalucia sketchbook as examples of the kind of work that I do. They are currently small drawings 19 x 14 using both sides or pages of the book when it is fully open. The books are Daley Rowney and are far from expensive, the paper which I think is recycled is very soft almost like sugar paper, and has an off white colour. I was put aback a little because it is quite porous and for many years I have used a more expensive solid cartridge paper sketch book from Windsor and Newton. But having got used to this ones character I have in fact grown to like the way the pen strokes or paint soaks through the paper.