Welcome to Draw Tip Tuesday. Here's your weekly dose of inspiration to build a
creative habit one drawing at a time brought to you by sketchbook school. Hi
Welcome to Draw Tip Tuesday. Sketchbooks come in all sizes and in all shapes and
in all brands and because I get a lot of questions about what sketchbook I use I
thought I could dedicate today's draw tip Tuesday video to the subject. I hate
to disappoint you but I don't use one particular brand or format. I use
sketchbooks for my daily drawings kind of like art
journals and I really like to change format and change brand every time that
I start a new sketchbook. I really love that point when you get to the last few
pages of a sketchbook and it's not just the feeling of satisfaction that you
have filled the whole sketchbook but it is also the anticipation of picking a
new sketchbook and starting that one as well. it's a little bit scary but it's also
very exciting and choosing the format the size and the paper, that's really
part of the excitement. By the time that I get to the end of a sketchbook and
filled it completely almost, I will just be getting used to say the portrait
format and then I want to challenge myself and choose a landscape format or
a square sized sketchbook and depending on the amount of the pages and also on
my drawing frequency of course. I generally take one or two months to fill
a sketchbook so then when I know that I will be traveling a lot that month I
will choose a smaller sketchbook and when I think I should practice big
gestures and challenge myself to make larger drawings I'll choose the larger
sketchbook I often don't go larger than a four just for the practical reason
that I want to you know take it with me outside of my home or my studio so it
has to fit in my bag and if I don't have a large bag with me and just a small
purse I always have my tiny sketchbook that I can throw in just along with one
pen pencil and I am happy. You know you just
never really know when a sketch opportunity strikes and then you really
don't want to be without pen and paper so you it's not only the format that I
like changing up each time I start a new sketchbook it's also the surface of the
paper that makes a huge difference in the way you work. Watercolor paper of
course is great for water coloring and painting but I also use watercolors in
sketchbooks that don't necessarily have watercolor paper in them as long as the
paper is heavy enough I'm pretty fine with it it will hold the paint and maybe
you know it will buckle a little bit the pages will buckle but I don't really
mind personally I kind of like it when it happens because the sketchbook leaves
a little choosing a different type of sketchbook and getting used to its paper
forces me to experiment with my tools and as suddenly the pen that was a favorite
to work with in the previous sketchbook might not be ideal for this next one so
when the paper is very smooth the ink and the paint will sort of lay
on top of it rather than being soaked up by the paper so every time I think I
know a medium I am surprised by it just because it can behave completely
different because of the paper it's quite fantastic because this way you're
never done exploring and I really like that. As I said I am not hooked to a
certain brand or whatever but I sure do have a few favorites so here they are
and they are in random order: Hahnemuhle, Nostalgie.
It comes in many sizes and has
a very smooth paper which is great for pin lines but also for color pencils in
even watercolor although the paint behaves completely different than on
watercolor paper. Hahnemuhle also has watercolor paper sketch books. The paper
has a bit of a texture I like it when the paper doesn't have too much tooth
like this one. They come in portrait and in landscape
format and in all sizes. They remind me a little bit of the moleskine in watercolor
sketchbook. The paper has a really nice texture and many people use this smaller
sized landscape format for traveling. It's compact but because of the
landscape format you still have a great amount of space to work on these
watercolor sketch books from Moleskine come in all sizes. I also like the
sketchbooks from Moleskine that are just sketchbook paper. Paper is quite smooth
great for pens in color pencils it holds watercolor well and the pages
are a little bit off white maybe yellowish. Some people like it some
people don't. I just finished this one it's a Hand-book
travelogue I never really understand this brand name but I think it's
Hand-book. They make beautiful books with a linen cover and with really great
watercolor paper and I like the square format of course it's perfect for
Instagram but when you open it up and you work on a double page it's a nice
landscape format to work on. Stillman & Bern has a range of sketchbook types
most of them suitable for all kinds of mixed-media. They have a really nice soft
cover. The feel to it it's really nice but I actually prefer the hard covers
and last but definitely not least Seawhite of Brighton. Very affordable
sketchbooks hardcover heavy weight paper that takes mixed-media and paint. They
come in all sizes and all formats and even have a watercolor sketchbook line
right now. I haven't tried it yet but I have one right here so I might dive into
it very soon. As you can see I never use ring bound sketchbooks so I can't really
give you any advice on those but for the paper you know it's the same. I prefer
using sturdy hardcover sketchbooks that will survive weeks of getting in and out
of my bag. They need to open up flat so I can draw double pages easily and I want
to be able to hold the sketchbook on my lap or even stand up drawing in.
so it's really about your personal use of the sketchbook that helps you choose
a sketchbook. So here's a tip. Don't go crazy over choosing a sketchbook
Just pick one. Next time, pick another one. Draw a lot because only then you can
learn what your preferences are what fits your style how your favorite tools
work best for you and if you're a few pages into a sketchbook and you don't
really like it switch tools try different pens paint mix your media and
you might discover a whole new way of working. Actually sometimes it can happen
And after trying this and a sketchbook still doesn't really make you happy the
conclusion might be that you and the sketchbook just aren't a good match
Sometimes it happens. Don't worry about it. Put it aside start a sketchbook
that does spark inspiration but only do it if you really really tried. Otherwise
you'll end up with many starts and a lot of unfinished business and that could
leave you frustrated. Well that's enough babbling. Open your sketchbook and start
drawing. I will see you next week when I'll have another draw tip for you and
subscribe to this channel so you won't miss next week's tip. See you then. Bye