Why Being Less Precious Helps Your Sketchbook

This Draw Tip Tuesday: a flipthrough of my most recent sketchbook and the stories behind the pages! The good ones, the bad ones, the experiments, and the moments that surprised me.

This Letterwish sketchbook has smooth but not that heavy paper, which gave me a bit of a love/hate relationship with it. Some pages buckle, some bleed through, and some really hold up better than expected. Because I wasn’t too precious about the paper, I felt freer to experiment. I tried more layers, pushed materials further, and let things go wrong.

You’ll see watercolor washes combined with water soluble crayons, lots of layering, ink, coffee stains, café drawings, portraits, gesture drawings... Some drawings I love, others I really don’t. All of them taught me something.

There were moments where I was calm, distracted, rushed, or fully present. That mood always finds its way onto the page. The sketchbook practice is really about collecting moments rather than finished drawings.

While working in this book I was reminded yet again: drawing becomes so playful when you let go of control. Drawing with my non dominant hand was especially fun and something I want to do more often. It instantly loosens everything up.

Sketchbook shown: Letterwish, a German brand.

Extra Resources:

1. There’s a mention of the Street View World Tour hosted by Eleanor Doughty and Jenny Adam. You can watch the recordings here.
2. I've been drawing using videos from Ges Draw Party.
3. I also mentioned my monthly MIni-Workshops, which you can find here.

Remember that it doesn’t matter so much what you draw. It matters that you show up, try things, and let the page soak up the moment.