Time to settle the big question: Which is THE best sketchbook?
Well, it's a bit like asking, what's the best Sunscreen?
It’s the one you ACTUALLY use.
The one that presents the least resistance to open
Probably, the one that you care least about
It’s size helps - easy to carry around without being too bulky
Chances are, it probably isn’t a sketchbook at all
Something that you tend to only use one medium on - perhaps that forgotten pen in the bottom of your daily bag, with the half dry ink in it.
I’m guessing that’s the book you’ve made your favourite scribbles in.
I went to back to basics recently. I picked up my Field Notes and one pen. I took it out with me everywhere I went.
It was inconspicuous enough to whip out in the cafe and on the train platform.
It was easy to quickly draw a thought on the morning train, and capture other passengers absorbed in their phones.
At Prague Zoo, while my son and husband went off to find the Komodo Dragon, I studied the people instead. Zoos are a great place to draw captive humans.
Observing people in doctor waiting rooms is another fascination. I notice that we no longer see people zoning out, gazing into the distance, lost in thought. It’s a rare human that can resist staring at a screen whilst in ‘waiting places’. Only our Seniors are skilled at this, and they are amazing to draw.
Somehow, this sketch of my husband suffering from a cold and summer allergies, seems to capture his mood perfectly.
Yes, I know, I’m always banging on about how much I love a fancy sketchbook
…and I will ALWAYS swoon and celebrate the gorgeous Pith sketchbooks that I am devoted to. However, my ‘out and about snooping on people’ sketches that I enjoy so much require some of that carefree, low effort energy. So I choose the beautiful, but unpretentious Field Notes (or similar) and a cheap old rubbish chisel tip pen that I got from I-don’t-know-where, and suddenly everything feels easy.
So people, my challenge to you is this:
Grab a cheap book, and ONE drawing tool. Take it with you everywhere. Then DRAW!
You are absolutely right on all points! I often use simple laser-printer paper. It's so cheap and insignificant that I can draw,draw and draw without worrying about making mistakes because I can throw them away easily. And very often my best sketches appear there rather than in a Fabriano sketchbook!
And if I'm out, my best drawings apear on a piece of opened envelope that I found in my bag, forgotten.
'out and about snooping on people' - LMAO 🤣. Love it