Hi guys, I'm Lillian Gray, South African fine artist and owner of the Lillian Gray Fine Art
School. Welcome to our drawing course. This is lesson two: The importance of a sketchbook. First,
I need to tell you that a sketchbook is quite a commitment. Do not abandon it,
do not lose track of it, and keep that consistent flow of drawing and creating. I've had various sketchbooks
throughout my life, I've tried different sizes, different papers, different shapes. Currently,
I have this one which is an old book that I've reappropriated, and this one's full
now. I've just bought myself this wonderful one from Reese and I want to tell you why I chose
this sketchbook. For me, most importantly, it fits into my handbag. Because this baby is always
with me. The second most important thing for me is that it's ring-bound. Ring-bound is really,
really important so that I can open it completely flat. Then the next thing we need to know is the
quality of the paper. I really like good paper because I like experimenting with different
materials, so I might be painting with acrylic or fineliners or ink or whatever I can find,
watercolors, and I want my paper to hold. I don't want my paper to deteriorate or start wobbling.
Sketchbooks help your ideas grow. Helps you develop new ones. It allows us to make
random connections and juxtapose ideas. To your images for magazines, draw over them,
rip out half an image extend it into something else. I've come up with amazing design concepts
due to this randomness of my sketchbook. Your safe space. My sketchbook is really, really private.
I will never hand it over to somebody to just page through it. It's my development, my ideas,
my emotional state so, if they really want to page to it I'll only show them certain sections.
And trust me all these amazing sketchbooks you guys seen on Pinterest, those people are only
showing you what they really want you to see. The perfect pages! Not the losers! Continuous practice,
keep your skills sharp. When I was young I had this idea that I wanted to be the world's greatest
designer, and I met a graphic designer at the time, which was quite, you know, successful in
South Africa. He said to me, draw every day and draw from life. And I'm so happy that he did and
I started my art career. I was hired immediately out of all the candidates because I could draw,
and I could draw anything! Four: emotional download. For me a sketchbook is basically
my whole memoir, in pages, it's living, it's visual, it's what I feel at the moment. One day
a sketch could be really negative, the next day it could be with joy and exuberant-like colours. It
really is an emotional journey. So download your brain, download your emotions, so that your energy
can be free to move on to other stuff. Art breeds more art. Once you start creating the sketchbook,
it flows to a new idea, next idea, and before you know it, you're brimming over with new ideas and
concepts. So, the more you're going to draw, the more you're going to create, the more creative
you will become. Create your own inspiration. I think we can get so bogged down, and I call
it the funnel effect, when we so cluttered with ideas, we can't actually get our own original idea
onto the page. And we get Pinterest addicted, we just scroll through pages and pages of stuff.
But what's us? What is truly Lillian? What are Lillian's ideas? And my sketchbook is that for me.
It's my inspiration, it's anything I love. I have curated. I never approach a canvas wondering what
am I going to paint next? I just flip through my sketchbook, and I've come running over with ideas,
of stuff that I've collected over the few months, that I'm really inspired by.
Overcome the fear of the great white. Did you know that there is a legit phobia for a white page or a white canvas?
And writers, they call it writer's block! But how do we get over it? How do we take this
sketchbook that's so new and not ruin it? My thing is take your first page and deliberately
screw it up, ruin it, throw it with ink. Do whatever! Skip the first batch, just get over your fear and
just start drawing. Another thing I've realized is that I would abandon sketchbooks. And I thought
about why am I doing this? I mean I've my OCD, it's my perfection. So if there's something
in that sketchbook that's really ugly to me, or like I feel I failed, I'm would abandon in the entire
book. Don't do that, staple the pages together that irritates you, rip them out, stick them together, get
rid of them. Move on. Keep what's beautiful for you. Keep what nurtures your soul. But don't ruin
the relationship with your sketchbook. Thank you for watching. This concludes our seven reasons
why sketchbooks are so important. I hope you guys have a lot of fun filling your pages. Below I've
sent a link to a sketchbook I really like, that you guys can buy online at artsavingsclub.co.za