In Praise of Sketchbooks and Journals
In which I expound on my love of sketchbooks and journals, plus some things I'm into this week
God forbid, but if this place goes up in flames the only material thing I care about saving are my sketchbooks.1 Mostly moleskins, but a few are spiral bound watercolor sketchbooks. Probably my journals too, which are all grouped together in a box in my studio. I’m hoping that because my studio is a metal shipping container, if I can’t get here, they’ll be safe. Fingers crossed though ya’ll. With climate change ramping up natural disasters like it has, it’s a terrifying prospect.
But let’s talk about nicer things. Let’s give thanks and praise to sketchbooks.
I had no idea what I was going to write about earlier today, until I listened to this Radiowest podcast about the surprising history of notebooks. This was an interview with Roland Allen who wrote The Notebook - A history of thinking on paper. For me, my sketchbooks are basically an extension of my brain, and I had never even fathomed that there was a time history that no one had them. For much of human history, no one wrote down their ideas or their crazy dreams. No one sketched out floor plans, wrote down recipes, doodled while they talked to their neighbor, or painted the street scene while at a cafe. No one transcribed a favorite poem, vented about their family, or drew their dog while they were asleep. Notebooks have really only been around for the last 600-700 years. And this to me is mind blowing.
As a child, I was a sporadic diarist, but I long had this fantasy of finding someone’s old diary in an antique shop. As a teenager, I drew a lot for my art classes and have a number of old ratty sketchbooks filled with drawings of my shoes and attempts at portraits. When I began traveling, I kept journals and glued in scraps of paper while enroute. In my twenties, I experimented with digital journals, email newsletters sent to family and friends, and of course blogs. I’ve always tried to record the things I see and experience.
But it was when I went to an art retreat in 2016 that I really fell in love with the sketchbook. Before that time, I dabbled, but was always so scared to ruin the sketchbook, so I didn’t create in there too often. For a long time I was convinced I just needed to create a sketchbook where I could add pages as I went, that way there would never be a bad drawing. But on this art retreat, everyone was letting each other pour through their sketchbooks, and I had just gone on a trip to walk the Camino de Santiago and documented it with journal entries, stamps from our stops, and drawings and paintings. I had felt so self-conscious sharing it, because it was NOT perfect, but people loved it despite the bad drawings, messy handwriting, unfinished paintings, and all of it.
So I embraced it, because I learned that it didn’t matter. They liked them because they were messy. Because they were random. Because they were unfinished. Because they weren’t perfect. Sketchbooks and journals are extensions of a creative’s mind and it’s fascinating to get glimpses of their ideas and how their mind works. I would kill to be able to pour through any artist’s sketchbook collection. Jeremy Collins collection specifically. PS, he started a Substack, and you should go follow him now.
The blank page though can be intimidating, so it’s hard to start. Then sometimes I have the urge to paint or create, but don’t know what to do. Other times, I have so many ideas that I don’t have the time to get it all down. Also, I go in phases or waves of playing in my sketchbook where I’m in there almost daily, and then other times, I won’t touch it for a couple months. The great thing though, is that sketchbook is there when I need it, and I refuse to feel about it like how I felt about my stuffed animals as a child - which was guilty if I didn’t give them attention. Sketchbooks aren’t something to feel guilty about. They’re just a tool, and sometimes you use it a lot, and others, not so much.
Back last summer, I taught a watercolor class at a local community garden. I came up with a few guidelines for sketchbooks that I shared with the class, which I feel like it’s appropriate to share now with you.
Rules for Sketchbooking
ALWAYS bring your supplies. You can’t create if you don’t have them.
You don’t need to be perfect. As Shawna Moore always tells me “Practice Makes Practice” and with more practice you get better, not perfect.
Paint, draw, write or create WHATEVER you want. Just make what you’re pulled to and the rest will sort itself out. Also don’t save the sketchbook for special times or only one kind of thing. The most interesting are filled with all sorts of topics, ideas, and mediums. Record ideas for anything - quotes, poems, journaling, collaging, drawing, painting, mind maps, doodles, notes from a meeting, dreams, goals, and to-do lists are all fair game.
You don’t have to finish in one session. The art takes however long it takes. You can always add to it later, change it, or even paint over it and start again. Collage is great for the messy bits you don’t like. These things take time.
It’s just paper. Sketchbooks are not meant to be serious. Don’t be precious about it and don’t worry if it’s not good enough. Just make.
I’ve been in my sketchbook a lot lately, which has been lovely. I am definitely a better version of myself when I making art here. We were on vacation in Hawaii, and I am generally more inspired while traveling to make art in my sketchbook. But I came home and continued with it, drawing an intricate bird’s nest I found that had been blown down after a big storm. I also tried to paint a landscape that came to me in a fever dream while trying to fall asleep. Collaging has been a thing lately as well, inspired of course by my recent collage zines, so that’s been fun.
Basically, I think it’s just been really helpful to spend more time in my sketchbook than scrolling the fucking news. I’m actively working to reduce my time spent online and live in the here and now. What are you doing to stay sane?
Other Tidbits Worth Sharing
PODCASTS
Retreat from Day-to-Day Life from To The Best of Our Knowledge
I almost wrote this post about this podcast, because I wanted to be a nun when I was a teenager so I could live in a stone monastery and work in a garden and make art all day. But perhaps that’s a story for another day.
Can Democracy Survive the Attention Wars? from Offline with Jon Favreau
Also really enjoyed this podcast this week and it felt right in line with what I’ve been thinking. Favs and Max are starting a new offline challenge to cut back on their phone use. This is a work in progress for me. I have spent too much time as of late scrolling, because I am worried and feel like I need to know all the takes.
APPS
Screen Zen Screen Time App for iPhone, Mac, and Android
Speaking of offline, my therapist recommended this app to me to cut back on my phone. I don’t even have social media apps on my phone because of the scrolling, but I was working around that by just going to the website via a browser. So this app not only controls screen time in a variety of ways for apps, but can also do it for specific websites, on your computer even, in case you have a porn addiction you’re trying to get a handle on, for instance.
Or perhaps you’re just like me and refresh news sites because you’re looking for a hit of dopamine after you deleted Instagram from your phone and have nothing to scroll. You can set up all sorts of schedules, amount of times you can look at said app/site, and even how many times you can open it. You can also block yourself from them all together. I’m trying out a hard block on social sites on the weekend, but still trying to figure how to block the Substack feed, but not the dashboard because I usually write these on Sunday.
I downloaded the 5 calls app this week to start telling my elected officials where they can stick it. I am trying to use it once a day during the week to overload the capital switchboards. The world is insane, but we can’t succumb to nihilism and give up - there is too much at stake.
BOOKS
I usually save book recs for the end of the year, but this one was so good that I wanted to share now. It’s about a group of guerrilla gardeners in New Zealand who come up against a billionaire. It feels really appropriate for the times right now. You might want to smash something (many things) while reading it, but at least you’ll feel like you’re not insane, even though the world feels completely bonkers right now.
The Notebook - A history of thinking on paper by Roland Allen
While listening to the Radiowest podcast, I immediately went to purchase this book. Did you know Marie Curie’s notebooks are STILL radioactive?! And I’m terribly curious about Frida Kahlo’s sketchbooks. Really looking forward to this one.
On Artists & Hopelessness and Making Art During Fascism by Beth Pickens
You can get these as digital downloads if you need a pick me up or a little workbook to get you motivated. I struggle sometimes (ok. a lot of times) with making art when so many people are suffering. I am often jealous of my husband who literally saves people’s lives. When I despair, it is often because I feel overwhelmed by my privilege and good fortune, and don’t know how to help. This is a good reminder for me that art is still important even when your country is being overrun by fascists and billionaires.
Please tell me what you’re doing to make yourself happy.
Obviously I’m saving people and the dogs.
After reading this, I have renewed my intention to develop a sketchbook habit.
Love this post so so much! I'm a huge fan of sketchbooks. I'm convinced my most recent interest in them has helped me cure my burnout from art.