How I Use My Sketchbook

As I leafed through my sketchbook the other day, I began reflecting on the wide range of things inside.

My sketchbook rarely contains finished artwork. Instead, it serves as my personal workshop—a space to experiment, brainstorm, and play.

Here’s a peek into my sketchbook, and how I use it in my art-making process.

I use my sketchbook for experimenting.

A significant portion of my sketchbook is dedicated to trying out supplies, and there are likely more pages like this than anything else.

So, what exactly am I doing?

1) Prepping for Plein-Air Sessions

I often use my sketchbook to prepare for plein-air painting.

Since I can’t take all my supplies with me, I select a color palette in advance. I’ve discovered that this approach leads to a much more successful session compared to randomly grabbing a bunch of supplies before heading out.

sketcbhook page with different media marks (and a rough sketch of a chicken). — *Here's an example of the colors I planned to take for a* *plein-air outing to a farm. I must have been really excited for the event, as I even sketched a chicken in advance!*

A sketchbook page with marks from different colored types of art media. — *On this page, you can see I’m trying to pare down my palette from the previous one.*

2) Trying Out New Brushes

When I buy new brushes and want to get a feel for them, I test them out in my sketchbook.

For instance:

How does my new brush behave when I apply paint while it’s dry?
How does that change when I start adding water to the brush?
What interesting shapes and lines can I create by varying the pressure of each stroke?

I love these pages because they serve as a memory bank. When I'm working on a more polished piece, I can refer back to these notes and recall the many ways I can use a single brush, along with the unique shapes and textures it can create.

A sketchbook page showing circles of black paint and how they look when more water is added to them. The right page displays brushstrokes made with varying amounts of pressure. — Testing out four new brushes I recently bought. The left page shows the marks I get using a dry brush compared to the same brush with added water. The right page demonstrates the range of marks I can achieve by varying the pressure on the brush.

3) Selecting Color Palettes

The process of choosing a color palette is unique to each artist.

Personally, I prefer to limit the number of colors I use and then mix additional shades as needed from my selected paints. This approach helps make my work feel more cohesive.

Whenever I buy new tubes of paint, I add them to my color palette page in my sketchbook.

*The current palette I'm using for traditional work.*

Though it may look simple, this is one of the most frequently used pages in my sketchbook. I refer to it whenever I start a new illustration and need to choose a color palette.

Having all the colors displayed together and interacting with each other is incredibly helpful.

I use my sketchbook for brainstorming.

A significant portion of my sketchbook is dedicated to children's book art.

Since I'm working toward finding an agent in the publishing world and ultimately publishing a children's book, I spend a lot of time ensuring my final work is good enough for the industry.

Here’s what brainstorming for this specific purpose looks like.

1) Creating New Portfolio Pieces

When I’m creating a new piece for my portfolio, which centers around children’s book illustration, I dedicate even more time to the brainstorming phase.

I often develop characters more in-depthly, experimenting with different poses and clothing choices.

My sketchbook is also an ideal space for creating loose, scribbly compositions, allowing me to explore how to arrange the characters within a scene. I can see if my character and composition are relating well to each other.

3 line art drawings of a girl wearing a rain coat and playing in the sand. — *Some character sketches and compositions I created for a rainy beach day illustration.*

2) Developing Characters for My Manuscripts

My sketchbook is also where I develop characters for my picture book manuscripts.

I recently attended an incredible character development workshop led by Aram Kim at the regional SCBWI Letters and Lines conference, and I’ve increased the time I spend on character development, thanks to her workshop.

For example, I created a detailed page illustrating the items that would be found in my character’s bedroom.

This exercise helps me visually convey my character’s personality, which in turn helps me write their voice, decide on their wardrobe, and determine the poses that best express their emotions.

It’s a lot of behind-the-scenes work to create a vibrant and relatable character!

Four different images of a girl with black hair in a yellow raincoat and red sweater. — *Character studies for a manuscript I’m working on.*

An open sketchbook displaying pencil sketches of items in a little girl's room. There are backpacks, pillows, blankets, piles of laundry and things she's collected from nature. — *These are some of the items my character would keep in her room. My favorite one is the frog squishmallow!*

A sketchbook page with numerous pencil drawings of squirrels. — *Animals are also characters! Here are some sketches for a future character (of the rodent variety).*

Three brown squirrels painted with gouache. — *My squirrel sketches taken to the next stage using gouache and colored pencil.*

3) Generating Reference Images

I also use my sketchbook as a repository for collecting references and creating studies of specific elements, such as trees, to inform my style choices for my illustrations.

I usually do this for manuscripts I’m working on and the illustrations that go with them. That’s because my background elements need to be cohesive across the entire work.

This process helps me explore the mood and shapes I want these background elements to have.

A sketchbook page of different types of trees painted in gouache. — *An example of a plant study I did in plein air so I could catalog ideas for a current* *picture book dummy* *I’m working on.*

I use my sketchbook for fun!

What would creating art be without play?

My sketchbook carries no expectations regarding the quality of the work or the finished appearance of my pieces.

This freedom allows me to experiment and try new things, knowing some will work, and some will not.

But there’s no pressure since it’s all contained within my sketchbook!

1) Social Sketching

Sketching with other artists is an absolute delight!

It’s a joy to nerd out with fellow creatives about their favorite supplies, techniques, and unique perspectives on the world.

Even when we’re sitting in the same spot, we can end up sketching completely different scenes based on our individual interests. Plus, I love the social aspect of creating art together.

I don’t do this as often as I’d like, but I hope to make it a bigger part of my artistic practice because I gain so much inspiration and energy from sketching alongside other artists.

A rough drawing of three women standing under a tree. A person lying on a picnic blanket is in the foreground, with their small white terrier. — *This sketch is from one of my outings in August when my good friend* *Becky* *and I went sketching along Boulder Creek. I enjoyed watching her focus on a tree and some brick buildings and then render them in her style.*

2) Trying Out New Subject Matter and Styles

I recently took a class by Maru Godas because I greatly admire her work!

This also helped me step outside my usual themes and try my hand at urban sketching.

I played with slightly warping my perspective and embracing looser lines and imperfect shapes. Rather than focusing on accurately portraying the architecture or perspective, I aimed to capture the essence of the place.

A sketchbook is the perfect place to experiment and incorporate new ideas into my work. Sometimes the results will miss the mark, but other times, I’ll find something I truly love.

In this instance, I was thrilled with what I created—and I want to incorporate elements like warped perspective and imperfect lines into my future work.

An urban landscape of a coastal city. The buildings are white and have orange roofs and green trees are interspersed between the buildings. Green grass blows in the foreground, like someone is looking at the city from a hill. — *The urban landscape I created. I love it!*

Let’s turn the page.

I hope you enjoyed a quick tour of my sketchbook and how I use it to develop my art!

I have some exciting things happening behind the scenes, but I can’t talk about them just yet. If you’d like to stay in the loop on all things news, make sure to sign up for my quarterly newsletter.

Lastly, I’m feeling inspired to create more traditional art these days, so you can expect to see more sketchbook work from me.

I hope this inspires you to pull out your sketchbook—or get one if you don’t have one yet—and unleash your creativity!

I’d love to see what you create. If you feel like sharing, the easiest way would be on Instagram (and tag @natanneillustrates so I can see your work).

I can’t wait to be inspired by your creations!

‘Til next time!