We all need a little inspiration every now and again to help get those creative juices flowing. These 20 sketchbook ideas are bound to pull you out your artist block and help you to fill up your sketchbook again.
20 ideas to fill your sketchbook
Divide your sketch book
colouring pages
coloured pages
places you visit
quote pages
practice something you aren’t good at
focus on a smaller aspect of it
draw a story board
paint your friends
draw your dog
create a doodle page
try a new median
get a friend to fill out a page
take inspiration from a friend
or even…a crush!!
write tasks for you to do later
or how to draw
stick things in
washi tape
20 ideas
Divide your sketchbook
This might seem a little surprising but dividing your sketchbook up into sections can really help you overcome your anxiety and commit to filling it. You can do this by taking old coloring pages and gluing them onto a page in your book in quarter intervals. As my sketchbook contains 25 pages mine has them every 6 pages or so with an extra in the middle section.
coluring pages
I like using coloring pages not just for dividers but the artwork, I sometimes cut out and glue my favorite coloring images into my sketchbook for inspiration and a break in case I have an art block.
colured pages.
Creating colored pages to doodle on top of is also a good idea to help fill out a sketch book. Just flip to a random page in your book and paint it your favorite color leaving an inch wide border round the edge, and leave to dry. You can then come back to this page later to spiral some designs on it in black ink or draw them on before you fill in the page and paint around them.
places you visit
One of my biggest tips on filling a sketchbook is to take it with you to places you visit as this is where inspiration strikes. Your sketchbook is your way of capturing the beauty of the moment and you should take advantage of that filling it up with sketches of places you love not sitting there regretting what you could be drawing instead and trying to record it later.
quote pages
Sometimes it’s just good to create a quote page for your own emotional well being and bring a spark of joy to your life by writng a message you belive in or advice to yourself… like …. Or like me a quote you read on the internet and sympasise with it on all levels…
This truly is my life excistance.
practice something you aren’t good at
For many people, this may be hands but for me, it’s manga/anime, I’ve always loved watching it but anyone would agree I’m no good at drawing it. We need to take to practice the things we’re bad at so that we can improve and learn and the best place to do that is in your sketchbook. Go online and find a picture or someone else’s art – of the thing you struggle to draw – and copy it for your own benefit Just don’t share it on the internet pretending it’s your own.
focus on a smaller aspect of it
That brings us on to focus on one aspect of the thing your not good at like the fingernails or knuckles on your hands and filling a page with them. Practicing smaller aspects really helps us improve as artists as each little bit comes together to make the picture as a whole, when people create final pieces it’s easier to focus on each detail and build the matter up over time. So practicing things like knuckles or anime eyes is a brilliant way to fill your sketchbook.
draw a story board
Storyboards can take up a lot of pages around 1/4 – 1/3 of your sketchbook so are brilliant if you don’t particularly want to fill a sketchbook with loads of different things maybe say two or three. However, you need to have a clear and concise plan to execute it but can be a lot of fun to work on and dream about particularly if you have OCs or are a writer.
paint your friends
This is a great way to try new colour schemes and styles you have seen on the internet. I like to experiment and see what best fits their personality and express that through your work.
draw your dog
TBH everyone’s probably done this at some point wheater it’s as a five-year-old or as an artist. No matter the circumstance, it’s my personal belief that every sketchbook should contain at least one sketch of your pet or more!!! No doubt about it. It’s the number one most common way to fill a sketch book.
create a doodle page
Yeah!! We all love a doodle page this is a superb idea for the final page of the sketchbook when you’re too scared really to do anything else. As deep down you know it doesn’t really matter when it comes to a doodle page!! So you can just scrawl and let your mind be free. Why not draw some flowers or some paisley patterns or whatever you feel.
try a new media
Trying new media is a great way to take up pages in your sketchbook, you can mix and experiment with what you already know and a new twist on it. Like a pastel drawing with pencil scratchings or an ink drawing with coloring parts.
get a friend to fill out a page
This ones always good as your never too sure what your friend might do and hopefully, if they’re good friends they’ll take the effort to fill it out nicely and respect your wishes and if not oh well it’s worth a laugh you can always rip it out once you get home afterward.
take inspiration from a friend
This is something I think you should do a lot because if your friends are artistic then no doubt they probably have really good ideas for you. Or just talking to them will give you a prospectus for what you could draw!! even if like me your true friends are the trees and the birds they always have a song for you or a piece of inspiration.
or even…a crush!!
Don’t draw them, that’s creepy! But sometimes when a like a someone they say something so damn hilarious that makes me laugh for days on end that I capture it in a sketch. Never of them as that’s unhealthy, and please don’t be the person that does that but fill your sketch book with cute drawings that remind you of them or something you said to them.
Tasks
The best piece of advice as you don’t always have time to fill out a drawing even when you might want to, so leave a blank page in your sketchbook with a quick description no more than a sentence of the drawing you wish to do and come back to it later. This helps you make way through your sketchbook quicker.
Set yourself challenges
Go online find some art challenges on the internet write them down and fill them out in your sketchbook.
or how to draw
writing how to draw is good for you as it helps you to determine your drawing process and is always great to reference later. If you have an OC or a character you like, write a drawing tutorial for them across a couple of pages of your sketchbook that way when you want to draw them again a few months later you remember how to do so. There’s nothing worse than coming back to an old OC your unable to draw anymore.
stick things in
Whether it’s cards, flowers or photos scrapbooking pages is a splendid way to fill it out faster and make the process more enjoyable and fun. As it helps you to remember that it’s your sketchbook and you can fill it out no matter how you want even using other medians from other hobbies.
washi tape
washi tape is an idea that is increasingly popular on social media as more and more people are making designs in their sketchbook with washi tape some even drawing over it or using it to stick things in as previously mentioned. I think it’s really cool and personally can’t wait to see you try it. Send in your images too.
BONUS
And finally my favorite incorporate your other hobbies. If your a textile artist make applique pieces and slip them in your sketchbook or if you like collage create a collage page. Your sketchbook doesn’t just have to be for drawing I even use mine for writing and poetry on the back of my sketches.
Just be yourself and your sketchbook will be full in no time of all the things you love and the drawings that make you, you. Enjoy it. Owning a sketchbook is a journey in itself and the key to self-discovery. Use the tips above and tell me what you learn about yourself, you never know there might be something there that wasn’t there before. – Beauty and the beast.
That’s all for today folks. Sorry, I haven’t been too frequent in blogging recently but I’m back! And fingers crossed it stays that way.