And the largest at that! It taught me that I prefer to work smaller, so it may continue to hold that record for a long time…
400 series, recycled paper, 11×14 inch, 60lb.
Painted the cover with the only Poscas I had at the time, not a color palette I’d typically go for!
For the longest time I could not for the life of me fill an entire sketchbook. It took me until 2019, at age 23, to completely fill a sketchbook for the first time. I still remember that chilly November morning, how I sat in our car in a gravely parking lot, doodling while I waited for my partner. I yelled from the elation when I realized I had finally done it. That was a day I checked a major milestone off my bucket list, I remember it with the same kind of clarity as the day I first held my daughter.
Now in the nearly-3-years since that time, I have somehow managed to fill another 9 sketchbooks, 5 of which I finished up this year because of my Art Supply No Buy and my newly found dedication to no longer abandoning sketchbooks partway through. I can see myself finishing up another one or two before the end of this year if I keep up this pace!
Allowing myself to see sketchbooks as a private place to practice, make a mess, and have fun has really helped me overcome the “precious sketchbook syndrome.” The gorgeous sketchbook tours filled with finished pieces on YouTube are cool and all, but not knowing that those artists probably keep a messy thumbnailing sketchbook on the side really held me back for the longest time. It’s awesome to make good art in your sketchbook, and you should always feel proud when you do, but your sketchbook should be a safe place to make bad art. I’ve said it before and I’ll say it a million times more: without bad art, there would be no good art. So make bad art, and lots of it!
This sketchbook is actually primarily filled with bad art. It was hard to pick out what to feature here because so much of it is not really spotlight worthy in my eyes. That’s actually part of why it’s become so sentimental to me though, she served me well through countless trials and errors. It’s also the first sketchbook of mine I’ve allowed my 1-year-old to flip through and scribble in wherever she pleased, and that couldn’t have happened if I cared more about the art inside! Now it is an irreplaceable treasure filled to the brim with memories.
Inktober is finally nearing it’s end. Once it’s done I will be writing a summary post and showcasing my favorite pieces. I look forward to sharing that with you all! Take care until next time, I will see you again soon!
Ari October Art 
i love the dog and bird
LikeLiked by 1 person
I do too, thank you!! 🥰
LikeLike
Seconding mom, adore the hummingbird and Kimber portrait! Also loving “precious sketchbook syndrome” — I have that! I don’t think I’ve ever finished one, and I’m, ah, QUITE A BIT older than you! This Inktober I realized it was OK to sketch out an initial draft on a piece of scrap paper, before I started a drawing. (“It’s going on social media, it has to be good!” Right?!?) Maybe I will follow your example and use one of my half-filled sketchbooks for notes, trials and drafts. Bad art has no place for perfectionism! 🙂
LikeLiked by 1 person
Yes, precisely! No place for perfectionism!
I love to use my sketchbooks as “catch-all” books. I scrapbook in them, pasting in all sorts of paper scraps and photos that I love to hoard. I journal and note take in them too. I try to fill them up by any means necessary, not just drawing! I let my loved ones draw in them too, every little bit helps!
When I get back into a sketchbook I abandoned, I always dedicate a whole page to announcing that I am “restarting” the sketchbook. I do this because the start and finish dates may make it seem like it took several years to finish the sketchbook, and I guess it did, but most of the work happened in a few months after the restart!
It’s never too late to restart a sketchbook, or to repurpose it! Paper is paper, and paper wants to be used!
LikeLike