I love the process of keeping a sketchbook. When I was 15, I took a pre-college program with artist Barron Storey and he taught me the process of Visual Journaling. From that moment on, my sketchbook became more of a journal. I had already kept a sketchbook for years at that point, but the introduction of a visual journal melted my writing and drawing practices together. To this day, I don’t know what to call my companion books, but I write in them, draw in them, draft ideas, make patterns for sewing… I do many things in this book and I try to do them regularly. Not necessarily daily, because I believe in flexibility, but regularly.
I’ve called this book many things from sketchbook to visual journal. So many different things, in fact, that the name of my latest one was inspired by that messy process.
For the purposes of this blog post, I’ll refer to this book-of-many-names as a sketchbook.
The Makings of a Cover
One of the things I try not too hard to think about is the cover. If I just go with the first things that pop into my mind when I think of the moment of life I’m in… I tend to have some really lovely clarity of mind. So typically, I sit down and start cutting, painting, or drawing on the cover. The words and art that flow out take form and I let them be random. I’ve found this process which I create with free abandon to be one that’s fruitful for me over the years.
Sketchbooks are thrown into purses, backpacks, tote bags, and onto desks, couches, and other places. I am so rough with my sketchbooks that I highly recommend sealing the cover with some sort of clear glazing medium. Think of it as a grown-up mod podge. A glazing medium comes in various viscosities and finishes. I use it not only as a glue for sticking things down, but as a cover coat to seal in all the things I just added to the cover. I personally prefer a gloss for a book cover. However, I am partial to matte finishes for other things.
You can see the brush strokes of the glazing medium on the cover. An effect I’ve come to really enjoy over the years. It feels like the final needed touch of personalization before I can dive into the inside.
Behind the Cover
Let’s take a look at a select few pages I’ve completed in this sketchbook.
I will admit to you that I’ve edited some text out of these pages. Due to the fact that I treat my sketchbook like a journal, and this one more specifically like a diary… there are a lot of pages completely full of text. Many pages have text that wraps around artwork (or vice versa). I’m going to keep some of that stuff private and therefore it needs to be edited out in its entirety.
Mediums used: Posca acrylic paint markers, Pentel Pocket Brush Pen (with India ink), pencil, highlighters, other fine line ink pens, and other fine line brush pens.
Seedlings
Seedlings is an early look at my process from shared early snippets of things I’m writing, to pages from my sketchbooks, to writing prompts and tips on how to cultivate an illustration practice.
Peek Into The Past
A look at my old sketchbooks and visual journals of yore.
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