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How to Use a Sketchbook to Promote Creativity
Some useful advice for visual artists on keeping a daily sketchbook
It took me a long time to understand this, but the day-to-day job of the artist is not ‘making art’, it is filling sketchbooks.
As Austin Kleon says, “filling my sketchbook” is a perfectly legitimate answer to the question “what are you working on right now?”
The sketchbook is a sort of creative engine: with every page, I fill the pistons make another revolution; like any engine, it works best when used often; it is hungry for fuel, meaning I have to be better at seeing and recording the world around me; the art, whatever that is, will be the by-product, the exhaust fumes of this creative combustion.
After 15 months of solid daily sketchbook-filling, here are some things I have learned.
Do not draw anything without warming-up first!
Like a pianist or an athlete, an artist’s muscles and joints need stretching — especially if you draw first thing in the morning.
As I open my sketchbook in the morning, I always fill the first page up with something to warm-up my hands.
