It’s “back to school” season, one of my favorite times of the year after a summer of languishing in the heat. School might bring up all sorts of negative connotations for you, but in its ideal form it is meant to be a safe place to learn.
You know what else is a safe place to learn? A sketchbook!
Sketchbooks are the ultimate tool for experimenting, exploring ideas, and practicing your art in a low-pressure environment. (I won’t say no pressure, because let’s be real, we are always giving ourselves lots of pressure in front of a blank page).
You can see a bunch of my past sketchbooks here—but you might have noticed, I haven’t been sharing much developmental sketchbook work lately. I’ve fallen off my sketchbook game this year, and I am determined to get back into it.
If you’re feeling the same, let’s begin with figuring out why we haven’t been using our sketchbooks. In Part 2 next week, I’ll cover various strategies and resources for you to get back into your sketchbooks!
Why aren’t you using your sketchbook?
Remember the creative archetypes? Each of the four archetypes has a distinct belief that often blocks them from making art in their sketchbook. Take the archetypes quiz if you’d like to refresh your memory on which type you are, then read on to see if it matches your situation:
Strategists believe every art they make has to become an end product. If this is you, you are great at developing and finishing projects, but don’t make time to play! If you’re a Strategist feeling too blocked or tired to “work”, then you’re not making at all.
Shapeshifters believe they need someone else to set their creative agenda. These are the folks who love group drawing sessions and classes where they can show up and create under someone else’s guidance. If you’re a Shapeshifter, your challenge is that once you’re out of that collective environment, you revert to not making stuff.
Visionaries believe they don’t know how to realize their abstract ideas. Cool concepts swirl in their minds but how will they ever bridge the gap between their fantasy and the reality of putting things onto paper? If you’re a Visionary, you’re attuned to your own thoughts but deathly scared of working things out on the page.
Voyagers believe life gets in the way of art. They’re busy living a vibrant, creative life but don’t often have time or energy to channel it onto paper. If you’re a Voyager, you find it tough to get back into practice after a season away.
Which reason resonates with you most? There might be a clear standout—for example, you may have been running around traveling and taking care of kids on summer break so you know that it’s everyday life that’s gotten in your way. Or you might recall how you had open patches of time for you to play in your sketchbook, but you felt overwhelmed by the thought of doing it on your own.
Whatever your reasons are (it could be all of them), hold them lightly in your thoughts without beating yourself up about it. Remember that making art is a lifelong practice. Your life ebbs and flows as it shapes itself around momentous and infinitesimal changes. The same goes for your art!
Reflect before you try again
Before you jump into using your sketchbook with feelings of guilt or pressure, it’s important to get a better sense of your reasons and motives. A fear-based action might work today, but it is not going to last!
I don’t want you to vow to use your sketchbook just because somebody who seems like a successful artist tells you to. Why do you want to? Take a few minutes to reflect on the prompts below:
What keeps you from using your sketchbook? Refer to the four reasons in the last section if you’re stuck!
How did not using your sketchbook serve you & your life in the past?
Why do you want to use your sketchbook now?
Here are my own answers to give you a sense of what this reflection might look like:
My reasons for barely using my sketchbook are a combination of not knowing how to realize my ideas (a Visionary problem) and feeling compelled to make art for an end product (a Strategist problem).
I actually stepped back from centering my practice around my sketchbook so I could write and make more project-based work. In the past I focused on drawing from life in my sketchbooks, which was useful practice, but I found it hard to develop my own visual vocabulary if I only focused on observational drawing. I didn’t really know how to bridge this gap so I put my sketchbooks aside and turned to more creative journaling instead.
I want to use my sketchbook again because I miss painting. I am eager to use more color! I also want to develop more of an abstract, graphic language to incorporate into my work.
Now it’s your turn: Are you ready to get back into your sketchbook? I’d love to hear your reflection answers—feel free to share one or two in the comments!
Next week, I’ll be sharing four strategies based on each archetype block to get you creating on paper again. And if you missed it, paid subscribers got a behind-the-scenes look at how I illustrated my first book project earlier this week!
I didn’t take the quiz today, but judging by the descriptions I’m a shapeshifter/visionary with a bit of voyager thrown in since having kids. I just realized that every Monday this fall I will have a lot of down time while waiting for my kids to complete activities, I could totally bring a small sketchbook and pencil (keep it low pressure for now) and throw it in my bag. That way wherever we are I can draw for 15-30 mins at a time. Using this space to declare I’m going to follow through next Monday.