WHICH SKETCHBOOK TO BUY? (BEST SKETCHBOOK FOR ARTISTS)
There are all kinds of different sketchbooks out there with different paper weights, paper tooth, paper for wet or dry media, different sizes, number of pages, and of course, prices!
It's so hard to know which one to use.
Lucky for you, I've got a lot of thoughts on sketchbooks so check out the below blog post to get my tips.
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WHICH SKETCHBOOK SHOULD I BUY? | FIND YOUR ART STYLE
If you haven’t heard, I’m teaching a new workshop called Sketchbooking Your Style where you’ll learn a step-by-step process for finding your own original art style by filling out a sketchbook.
So first, I’m going to give advice on which sketchbook is best for an art style project.
The weird thing is, I actually recommend TWO sketchbooks for this:
Good Sketchbook
Bad Sketchbook
That might sound bizarre, but let me explain. Your Good Sketchbook should be a large size with high quality paper. I recommend at least an 8.5”X11” size sketchbook, but it can be larger if you prefer. Your Good Sketchbook is for pieces that are more finalized, more buttoned-up, and count as a “finished” artwork towards finding your art style.
If you’ve watched my YouTube channel, you’ll know that I always recommend a 90 Day Project for developing your art style. Your 90 days does not have to be back-to-back (hello, life!), but ultimately you want to end up with 90 pieces of artwork for a finished style project.
A Good Sketchbook is the perfect place to do this. You will be able to see your progress clearly as you fill out each page of your sketchbook from front to back. And, of course, it’s okay to make some bad pieces! Sketchbooks are a place to practice and it’s pretty much guaranteed that you won’t love every single page of your sketchbook once it’s finished.
Knowing this, let’s move on to the real point.
A Good Sketchbook in a large size with high quality paper and a higher price point will add on some healthy pressure. I count this as a good thing, because you don’t want to be too random in this sketchbook. This sketchbook has a HIGHER PURPOSE! To find your art style.
Filling out your sketchbook pages randomly will get you no where.
That’s why a Good Sketchbook should be a little more thoughtful. You should be filling out this sketchbook with intention. Each page should be meaningful as an exercise to developing your art style.
HERE IS MY ‘GOOD SKETCHBOOK’ (above)
I use the Strathmore Hardbound Watercolor Sketchbook* 400 series, which is available on Blick’s website. I personally love the 8.5”X11” size, because it’s as big as I can go while still fitting in my scanner. They also have a landscape orientation at 5.5”X8.5” and a much larger size at 14’X11”. Tempting. This sketchbook is perfect if you plan on using wet media such as watercolor or regular gouache.
Another option (especially if you’re using dry media or a combo of wet & dry) is the Strathmore Hardbound Mixed Media Sketchbook* 500 series that’s available in all of the same sizes listed above. Both sketchbooks are also available in a soft cover if you prefer to bend the pages all the way back. I personally enjoy the hard cover as I never have to worry about the pages getting warped; they are always well protected.
If you need a cheaper price point, I’d recommend the Canson Artist Series Watercolor Sketchbook* for wet media or the Canson Artist Series Mixed Media Sketchbook* for dry or wet/dry media. But be sure to get the larger size so that there’s something about your Good Sketchbook that feels a little precious. :)
HERE IS MY ‘BAD SKETCHBOOK’ (above)
This is my Tiny Sketchbook aka my ‘Bad Sketchbook’ which really just means it’s a place to go when I’m feeling RANDOM!
When I’m losing focus, when I want to scribble, when I’m bored with my Art Style project, when I want to test a color palette or new art supplies, when I want to glue-stick tickets or jot down notes or try something totally off-the-wall… I do it here.
The thing is, sometimes the glaring white, blank page is scary.
It stares, daring us to make a mistake and that doesn’t feel good. Sometimes, a Good Sketchbook is too intimidating and that’s why we need a Bad Sketchbook to get our wiggly creative nerves out. A Bad Sketchbook doesn’t matter so it’s no pressure at all. It’s meant for your bad art. If you are making bad art in your Bad Sketchbook, you are doing it right!
I literally made this sketchbook by hand from thin drawing paper back when I took a book binding class in college. It was sitting around empty for years and when 2020 hit I decided to put something, anything, on the page every single day. The point wasn’t to make anything good; it was just to get in the habit of drawing or painting or making marks daily. As a result, I had some cute pages as well as some ugly, weird ones.
TIPS FOR YOUR ‘BAD SKETCHBOOK’
If you are familiar with book binding, hand-making a sketchbook is a great idea, because you can use scrap paper, use tons of pages, and make it the size you want. If you already have other sketchbooks with lots of unused pages lying around the house, that’s another option. You can designate an old useless sketchbook as your Bad Sketchbook and give it a new purpose.
Here are my general rules for your Bad Sketchbook:
Small size
Lots of pages
Poor quality paper
Inexpensive
These guidelines are to ensure you don’t feel too precious about your Bad Sketchbook. It is not your Good Sketchbook. It is the place to be random, try risky things, or to just scribble furiously when you can’t do anything else that day.
If you are looking to buy a Bad Sketchbook, I recommend the Strathmore Sketchpad* (hint: it’s really a sketchbook). The 8.5”X11” size is roughly $9 for 100 pages! Prices will fluctuate a bit; I had a coupon and got mine for around $7. That’s an insane deal! Plus, it’s spiral-bound, which I don’t love… and that’s perfect for a bad sketchbook. The fact that I don’t love spiral-bound makes me even less precious about what I make in my Bad Sketchbook.
Once you get your creative nerves out on cheap paper, come back to your Good Sketchbook with purpose. You can return in a calm state and begin your next artwork with intention, moving closer to your stylistic goals.
*All hyperlinks with stars are affiliate links. All products are real products I use and recommend freely. Making a purchase through my links helps support my business and does not cost you anything extra.
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ART STYLE GROWTH IN YOUR SKETCHBOOK
By the way, if you’re wanting to get in the Surface Pattern Design / Illustration game, but you are really struggling to develop your own art style, be sure to check out my free workshop, Sketchbooking Your Style.
It includes tips for how to get unblocked and create a system for creating your own, unique Art Style.
Sign up below!
SKETCHBOOKING YOUR STYLE
Join the FREE workshop to learn how to develop your own Art Style!
