#ShowYourSketchbook - 01
Let's talk sketchbooks
A few years ago, I set up a hashtag on Instagram - #ShowYourSketchbook. The idea behind creating it was because, at the time, there weren't any specific hashtags that enabled creatives to share what we were all using sketchbooks for and what we were doing in them. There wasn’t a space for sharing our knowledge about sketchbooks, materials, or how everyone enjoyed using them.
Initially, it took a while to gain traction - at the time I had less than 2000 followers, so the reach wasn’t going to be huge. So, to kick-start it, I created a few easy prompts to help people make a start on something, and a few gave it a go and shared it. I was so happy that even a few people really connected with what I was trying to initiate and the knowledge I wanted to share.
Some of the ideas and challenges centred around different ways of drawing and using different techniques to draw, including continuous line, only using complimentary colours, and only using ‘wet’ mediums without any pre-pencil outlines etc. Nothing groundbreaking, necessarily. But often it can be easier to start or give something a go if you have a structure to work to. I then shared a few each week on my Instagram stories, and it went from there! The power of those shares, eh?
Of course, it was not something I kept up routinely, unfortunately. Client projects and general life got in the way, and I hate being surgically attached to my phone. That’s probably why I am not hugely consistent on any socials… Maybe I should be? But I want to be in the moment, please and thank you! Plus, it’s just not great for my brain with all that scrolling.
Then, the pandemic arrived and everyone was suddenly at home; drawing more and sharing more. The hashtag just grew organically without any intervention from me, and now it’s grown to over 17,000+ posts using that hashtag. Blimey! Whenever I do share anything about it, hardly anyone knows I started it and why. It's probably because I don’t chat about it consistently or explicitly take credit for it. But I was - and am - more than happy for it to grow naturally and organically. In no way am I any kind of authority on sketchbooks; I just wanted to create a space to share some tips and ideas amongst our creative community.
There is an incredible variety of work attached to the hashtag and a whole range of uses for a sketchbook. Of course, there’s its ‘original’ use: drawing and painting. But people use them to create lists, to journal, to write, to colour swatch, to practise techniques, to make compositions, to collage, and so much more. It is a brilliant source of visual delights! If you are thinking of starting to use a sketchbook; or if you already use one but find yourself not picking it up because you don’t know how to use it; or if you’ve got bored with the repetitive nature of them - then taking the time to have a browse on the #ShowYourSketchbook hashtag over on Instagram could be a great source of inspiration for you!
Since I created the hashtag, there have been a few great illustrators and artists who have set up Patreons or Skillshares and of course there is the brilliant Good ship Illustration. They started their live ‘Art Clubs’ during the pandemic and have gone on to create wonderful courses - you can find out more here, and two of the founding members have great Substacks, Helen Stephens and Katie Chappell.
Suddenly the ‘sketchbook space’ became full of amazing advice, tips, and a great many more people are sharing their sketchbooks and what they love about them. Which I love! I don’t think my hashtag is redundant at all, but there is so many truly brilliant resources out there now, I don’t need to push for its own popularity as much.
However, if you do enjoy seeing the content that creatives add to it, and/or want to get back into sketchbooks but feel a bit stuck or overwhelmed at where to start, then I am happy to create more prompts and save them under a ‘#ShowYourSketchbook Guide’ - if that would help some of you to try something new?
Please feel free to reply to this and comment on this post if you have any specific ideas or elements of drawing that you’re not so confident with, or subjects where you might like some help. Maybe you struggle with a certain type of material and would really benefit from a prompt or two to help you make a start with it?
I will be showing lots more of my sketchbook in due course as well - and I’ve found often there is nothing more nourishing for the creative soul than getting some visual inspiration and ideas.
Ultimately, I would love to help others in growing their knowledge and drawing skills. Sketchbooks should be fun and a place to explore ideas, concepts, and ways to express your creativity in whatever form that takes for you (it really doesn’t have to be through drawing!). They are somewhere normally private where you can be yourself without judgement, and they are exclusively for you. Remember - you don’t have to share what you put in your sketchbooks if you don’t want to! Especially if that adds lots of pressure or puts you off wanting to do anything in them. Sketchbooks shouldn’t be something that creates that ‘drawing fear’. Instead they should enable your creative freedom.
Until next week,
