I began keeping a sketchbook when I was in my first year at university, and it changed my life. It didn’t change my life immediately, nor did it look particularly impressive - my first sketchbook was just a jumble of notes, ideas, sketches and bad poetry.

The sketchbook was cheap and the paper was thin and buckled with even a tiny bit of watercolor, within a few months the glue that held the binding together began to disintegrate, and I began using tape to hold the individual pages together. Also, I wasn't particularly good at drawing - I just loved the way that it made me feel. This is my first sketchbook, from 1999:

The sketchbook I have now, 23 years later, looks very different than that first little book, but my reasons for keeping it, and the way I feel when I draw or write are the same. Over the years, my sketchbooks have been a space that became exactly what I needed at any given moment - a place to capture the beauty of the world around me, a place to process grief at times of loss, celebrate life at times of joy, clear my head when it needed clearing, a place to study and improve my craft.

a page from one of my more recent sketchbooks

My sketchbooks make me more present in the world around me, more alert and conscious of the magic of everyday life, more aware of my place in it. The sketchbooks have informed my studio practice and opened countless doors, both internal, as a glimpse into my psyche, and external - connections I’ve made in the outside world while drawing or writing -  people I’ve met, places I’ve connected with deeply simply by sitting down and looking during the time it took me to sit down and draw them. 

Recently I've realized that along with keeping sketchbooks, I've spent a lot of time thinking about sketchbook related things - some of them are technical (does oil really work on top of gouache? is hot press paper better than cold press?) but a lot have to do with my belief that a sketchbook is a magical object, and keeping one can change life for the better. I know the world has plenty of art blogs, and plenty of advice on picking the right sketchbook, or creating healthy habits but nevertheless - here are my thoughts, and some advice, and many reasons to do it. A sketchbook, amongst many other things, is an adventure - please come along for the ride.

If you want to begin your own sketchbook practice, here's a free guide I put together: