As someone who has cheap sketchbooks, I find them more likely for scribbles and maybe some colouring then and there but not to drastic. I love to scribble and doodle a lot, not worrying to much of the doodles being perfect , but I do often cover them with sticky notes just to go over it again. I don't own too much of quality supplies so I mostly use what I have to draw. Though, I do have a few nice sketchbooks but I feel like I'm going to ruin them most of the time, so I put them aside for later. Often when I start a new sketchbook, I like to revisit the previous one just to get some inspiration. When I wanna do a full piece, I like to plan out stuff in them so I can later transfer that idea on canvas. Feel free to mess around in your sketchbook, try new things like a different art supply, different style ect. You don't need expensive art supplies to make art, sometimes cheap can come off better than expensive! Have fun drawing folks! Edit: In my opinion, every scribble has some meaning or something behind the process of it. Even how messy it may look. When I get to describe my sketchbook, every page has its own theme or story that represents it, I guess. Just wanted to add something on top since it crossed my mind while writing this.
I totally agree. It's awesome reading about how everyone has their own way of using a sketchbook. There is no wrong answer and that's why its really cool seeing how different everyone's sketchbooks are.
I actually work in art journals with other intentions, but I do want to support your revisiting old sketchbooks. Painters have their old paintings or photos of them. They like most want to keep growing and changing. Knowing where you've been is key to moving forward. My journals are idea factories, but I also keep digital notes with TH-cam links, new product reviews, scans from magazines, and even some art rants that need a safe home.
I think the messier sketchbooks are more interesting to look at. When I see a sketchbook filled with completed colored illustrations it's a bit boring no matter how beautiful the art is. A sketchbook is the only place where you'll see process. If I wanted to look at completed illustrations I could go to any art gallery online. The process is what's most interesting in sketchbooks!
it's an example of something that's so good it's bad. a hyper-polished sketchbook tells me nothing about the artist because all the information leading up to the product is hidden. I'm more interested in the nitty gritty of the process than what eventually becomes of it, because the most interesting parts of someone's art comes from how they approach their ideas
That's why I love Kim Jung Gi's sketchbooks. He has a lot of quick messy sketches mixed in with them, but he is so skilled even those are beautiful to look at while also giving you a look at his process.
i love seeing the sketches and doodles that made the full drawings! seeing someone's thought process is much more helpful than seeing the complete artwork!
A sketchbook is not called "sketchbook" for nothing. It should be full of sketches, but I see more and more full colored pictures in them. And that's not really it.
I avoid sketch book tours as so many of these “sketch books” aren’t sketch books they’re more like portfolios. It gives a very daunting and false impression of what a sketch book really is and should be.
right, it voids the point of the word sketch, nobody carefully constructs a "sketch" for 3 hours with heavy details and multiple layers. That's a full piece. A sketch is a lighter, quicker idea of a piece. Don't get me wrong, A LOT of "sketches" are reeeaaally goood, but they aren't full works like you'd see in a portfolio (like you said)
Mine was part sketches and a lot of notes. I was shocked at some sketchbooks that have dried leaves or flowers, burnt edges of papers that dont even have a connection to anything in theirs. Like it's just for aesthetics sake.
@@alexchip1351 This not only happens with calarts sketchbooks, you can see a lot of youtubers here who do sketchbook tours and every page is a full on painting that took more than an hour. Its all good tho, i just hope some people who dont have enough knowledge start thinking that their sketchbooks have to be a full on portfolio.
Same, my sketch book seems so bad in comparison... But I try to avoid comparing and just be proud of my art, thinking there is always better than each of us, and if we focus on it, we will do nothing.
I personally like making nice looking, aesthetic and colorful sketchbooks. It’s very important for me to make something that looks good. I understand why you’re all saying sketchbook should be only for practicing new techniques and sketches, but I think everyone has their own way to do it and if someone want to make something that looks nice, let them do it.
That's true. Also the calarts sketchbook tours kind of are making a lot of ppl to do the same "reciepe" of sketchbook I saw other day three sketchbooks that imitate the same order of drawings, and I dont believe that all those ppl think the same way... I started to look some russian yt and they are totaly okay with showing the good and bad drawings. They are precious babies 🥺
This also makes us less creative when making your own sketchbook, why? We are thinking that we are doing it the wrong way, this limits creativity for sketchbooks and ends up making us uncomfortable when drawing.
To be fair, all Calarts has a list of criteria to be met for their application, so I don't blame them for drawing the same type of stuff. It's when it bleeds into 'regular' sketchbooks that I find to be a slippery slope.
When I first started filling sketchbooks I got really self conscious about it because I thought it was too ugly. It's a shame that I kept comparing it to the Calarts submissions, since those sketchbooks weren't filled organically, they were filled as an assignment to get into an art school which had strict requirements and goals for what they wanted prospective students to have in their applications. I feel like my sketchbooks now are a mixture of the 'pretty' sketchbook tours and the scrap ones. One thing I noticed is that my 'ugly' sketchbooks got way less views than the 'pretty' ones. Idk if it is because it had no commentary or people hated the music I put in it but it made me think.
I'm so glad you've talked about this. I see so many people setting goals to create a finished illustration on each page and it's crazy. They can't give themselves chance to explore an idea, iterate and study because they think that it needs to look like a piece of artwork as a whole. I used to think that way to a degree and sometimes I still might put a box of colour behind a sketch to make it pop out if I really like it, but working freely in my sketchbook, mostly doing studies and messy stuff has helped me to improve so quickly!
@Ahsoka Tano haha why did he have only finished pieces? also for me i try to fill the entire page on all my sketchbooks, thats why i see ppls sketchbooks and im all like no finish the page... this has to do with me being poor. i filled almost 5 or 6 school notebooks when i went broke.
I felt strangely soothed after watching this. I feel insecure about my sketchbook because I'm a beginner AND it's not finished pieces only scribbles. I feel a little bit better you confirming that people with ultra cool looking sketchbook ALSO do messier things but do them elsewhere
Lots of people here saying they are to afraid to use their expensive sketchbook, or too afraid to use their nice supplies. Just use them! :D You aren't wasting anything if you are enjoying the process or learning something. I don't use expensive sketchbooks often but I will treat myself every now and then because they are just nice to work in. The more you use your supplies and the more sketchbooks you get through, the more improvement you will see in your art - so don't be afraid of wasting supplies or nice paper, you are using it for a reason :)
for those people, i would suggest using a notebook, its super cheap, although, then you have to redraw it if you want to post it anywhere on the history of this earth
I feel like that about my gouache paint. I hate making crappy paintings cause it feels like a wasted paint. But the only way for me to get better is to make crappy paintings and use up paint. It hurts but I'm still doing it
Sketchbooks are places to fail courageously. They often aren't pretty, and are full of scribbles, but are also where progress happens and where artists can ruminate in and explore different creative ideas. I'd have to agree with you- Calarts sketchbooks can be potentially bad because if those perfect little museum pieces of paper are an example of what sketchbook 'should' be, then it leaves no room for failure. I think what you said about Calarts sketchbooks actually being art journals is quite accurate because, bro, my sketches are scribbles, failures, and definitely not Calarts material. But that's because those scribbles are not a part of an art journal, they're in a sketchbook. Thanks for the video. Gave me a lot to think about. (Also, your editing, overall video pacing, and camera work is fantastic👌)
This is like everything I was thinking in the past 3 months Of quarantine lmao. All I have been doing is sittin on my bed watching sketchbook tours and feeling insecure. Thank you so much for this video for real! Ps. I love ur videos.
I absolutely love Calarts sketchbooks and find a lot of inspiration in them, but I agree that for many of us, it creates a real fear of messing up in our own. And yeah, a part of that is because you don't wanna feel like you 'wasted your money' scribbling instead of creating a work of art on each page. Thanks for the video and may I say, YOUR SKETCHES AND CONCEPT ART ARE FANTASTIC. You deserve more appreciation.
I've never agreed more! Also, I LOVE your work sketchbook, it's always super cool to me seeing people's messy scribbles and plans and honestly I'm amazed by your architecture and perspective.
Yes! There’s a lot less pressure when using cheaper sketchbooks. If it’s $1 per page, I find myself always questioning if my sketch is worth it. Use the cheaper one, draw more, get better. Use the expensive ones for portfolios, gifts, or for $ale.
I keep a "pretty sketchbook" and a messier sketchbook at the same time. I find it helps to keep a balance between my want for a more "aesthetic" sketchbook and my want for a space where I can just scribble and unload ideas for bigger pieces.
ohh jeeze i needed this. i always get so stressed about making my sketchbooks messy and if my art turns out weird i end up ripping the page out. i end up comparing myself too much to other artists that have much nicer or polished/pretty looking sketches than me. it’s been hard for me to get out of the mindset of trying to make really pretty looking spreads and having every page be well thought out and look beautiful.
I really like that your "scribbles" looks very confident and beautiful on such thin paper. all the sketchbooks that I bought in my city had pretty thin paper. I taught myself for a long time not to draw too much on one sheet, because the density did not allow and always admired those who could draw at once what they needed without damaging the paper to holes
Wow! I really needed to see this video. As an aspiring artist, this really opened my eyes. All those sketchbook tours are so nice and pretty, and I try so hard to make my sketchbook look like them. In that process, I forget the scribbly process, the technique I planned to work on, and the very learning process! Believe it or not, I found this video while watching some Calarts approved sketchbook tours! This video was something I should have seen a long long long time ago. Ever since I started watching these sketchbook tour videos, I have been so demotivated to experiment and try something new. Thank you so much for this video!!!
You're so down to earth man, it's really refreshing. I need to be less critical of myself in sketchbooks, and I want to use them more like how you do. Figuring stuff out, scribbling until you find something that works. Thanks!
I love the scratchyness of your work, the cleans and most satisfying for me.. the drafting lettering. when ever I see all caps and drafting font, I think to myself "they know"
This is the best art channel on youtube. You genuinely motivate me. If I wasn't so poor I'd support a patron for you in a heart beat. You make me want to draw, not feeling bad for where my art is. Keep up the amazing work and thanks for these super short and easily digestible videos.
The only thing I can say is: Thank you! Really, thank you for doing this short video. I have tons of messy sketchbooks with 3 finished pieces at the most on them. The only way I found I could have fun drawing is by using those legal pads with yellow pages simply because I became afraid of sketchbooks. Some other videos suggest "not writing on your sketchbook at all" which frustrated me because I want to draw and write down notes about the characters and storylines I'm creating. Eventually, I realized that most of the sketchbook content that you can find either on TH-cam or Instagram is heavily based on having finished pieces so the whole point of sketching and experimenting definitely got lost. I prefer to look at the messier sketches, that's how you can actually see how much an artist has improved.
Gosh I’m glad you voiced that! Cause I’m not a beginner by any means been drawing all my life but most of my sketch books are a mess and I always have 2 or 3 going on at the same time. Just like you I have one that’s technical, one that’s more like a scrapbook and one for the abyssmal. So when I ventured on the web looking for some new ideas I was absolutely overwhelmed and shocked by the cal art sketchbooks “model”.
Whenever I draw I like making sure my sketchbooks have some complete and beautiful paintings, while also adding the process and doodles, and just plain sketches I like it when I see sketchbooks have both nice artworks and messy doodles
Thanks a bunch for making a video about this. I'm no youtuber. But this is important for people to understand as you explain in this video. I have sketchbooks, papers, post it papers and what not. Just sketching down the idea and a note to it is enough for me to pick up and continue whenever i feel for it. I often move on to a more "pretty" sketchbook where i refine my idea. Then i either scan it or draw it one paper by using lots and lots of references. Google images or my own photos. Thanks once again for this video!
Thank you so much for making this video; I felt like I was going crazy looking at all the sketchbook tours on youtube to find out where to start. I really want to apply to CalArts for the Fall 2023 semester, but I don't have a sketchbook to submit so I'm starting from scratch. Seeing everyone's fully realized books make me feel like mine aren't good enough and I find it discourages me from picking up my pen to doodle. But in hearing what you had to say in this video, I feel a little more at ease about expressing my ideas, however messy they may be :)
It's interesting that I found this video shortly after I started drawing and painting "junk" on top of artwork in my old sketchbook where I'd attempted to make "good" art. The act of defacing my old work is probably the most freeing and creative thing I've ever done. It feels so good to let go of the need to be perfect and to simply allow things to flow. I'm actually discovering much more about my creative process by doing whatever I feel like doing than I ever learned by trying to be "perfect". Thanks for this video. You have a great way of summarizing the truth about being an artist.
okay can i just say, i don't even do anything art-related, but this video has helped me so much! i write in my free time, and this really helped me because i get super insecure about drafting and such (that might be dumb, sorry). i have what i call my chaos journal, where i just brain dump any ideas that come to mind and i write out scenes and stuff, then i have my character development and design notebook, and then i have a notebook for drafting and things to improve on, then i have two binders: one for short stories and one for full-length novel development. lastly i have my blog, where i publish all of my completed work and commissions. it's always made me super insecure to see other writers Just Write and to see their drafts be super clean and have mine be full of pen marks and things that need to be changed or edited, or to rewrite scenes 7 times and see others get it right like the first time. this video honestly helped me feel a lot better about the process and all the things we don't really see, so thank you so much!!
yes! a while ago on tiktok someone showed their actual A-LEVELS STUDIO ARTS FOLIO and called it a sketchbook. all the comments were like “puts all the other sketchbooks to shame 🤪💞” this really rubbed me the wrong way because I didn’t want people to think their sketchbooks had to look like a literal school portfolio. i also didn’t want to discourage people from perhaps pursuing art and buying a sketchbook if they thought it had to look like that. thanks for this vid :)
I am so glad I found your channel. I hope many more do, because this is quality content and it is helpful for those who are starting to sketch. I can completely agree, I was stuck in a box of 'pretty sketches' for about four years, and often ripped pages out if they weren't up to my standard, but now ive never had so much fun drawing without care (and now my art is better). It takes a while, but you can pull out of the aesthetics and into development of your core art skills. but yeah, thanks for posting content that will actually help younger artists/ beginners, and isnt just to impress/ show the final product (even though your art is amazing even in sketch form)
I kind of feel relieved to see your video because all my sketchbooks until now were a huge mix of search /messy/failed pages with nice stuffs and I felt always terrible to show it because it wasn't only good stuffs. So I started to have two sketchbooks too but it's annoying to always have to be careful to do good stuffs in the good stuffs sketchbook so I'll try to incorporate those two aspect of a sketchbook in my next sketchbook (but I don't know how to not make it messy ^^). And about the price issue about the sketchbook I personally make mine, I can choose whatever paper I want (if you buy a ream of 250 of sheet of paper it's much cheaper) and the format I want. Thanks for your video !
i have stacks upon stacks of nice, quality sketchbooks that i’ve gotten maybe 10 pages into before the fear and anxiety kicks in. worries about wasted paper and time and energy.... then i bought a cheap, floppy, sad sketchbook for two or three bucks (aud) at daiso and have been having the time of my life lmao. it’s helped me gain the confidence to experiment more, despite the thin paper. i’ve been doing more studies and life drawing, but also mindless doodling and just sticking in crap because i feel like it. it’s like a weight has been lifted off my shoulders, and this video is a reminder of how i felt looking at yt sketchbook tours as a young(er) artist, comparing and ultimately giving up with each new book.,, cheap stuff is so freeing! great video dude ^_^
For a few years I literally made finished works and compositions in my sketchbooks and wouldn't draw unless I was going to do something finished. So you can imagine I spent more time NOT drawing. It's weird because my sketchbooks from 20 years ago were work books, with gesturals, rough concepts and vent scribbles. I was also learning. I feel when I transitioned in to doing only finished art in my sketchbooks I stopped learning. This year I have returned to using a work sketchbook, and I feel that has helped restore my enjoyment of art again.
I actually really like these sorts of sketchbook tours. It’s very useful for looking at different the styles and focuses each artist has. Especially as a very sketch/ study focused artist it is a lot of help to see more finished pieces. But I definitely understand where your coming from, I have just never thought about it from the perspective of someone who is more oriented towards actual finished pieces.
wow, literal chills when you were describing your thoughts on this. it's so hard to want to make bad art when you're surrounded by so many finished pieces, and it's honestly so refreshing to see you talk about this!! thank you, I really needed it :)
God I feel this, I ended up with such a huge self hatred to the point I just didn’t draw. One day I said “fuck it” and decided to start a series called my “shitbooks” which I just would open up and draw whatever I wanted wherever I wanted in it. I’ve now gone from never filling a book to filling almost 2 a year! That is a 200% increase from my past and I appreciate the messy scribbles so much more~
VERY good point! We had the same problem at university when I did my film degree - we had our 'presentation sketchbook' that we would show at the class presentations but this was all for show! Our REAL sketchbooks were almost never shown and that's where all the real thought process was done... The 'presentation sketchbook' was really a 'best of' compilation used to impress our fellow students and our lecturers and was a lot more polished. It gave the impression that our best ideas just magically appeared from nowhere and made us look a lot more clever than we really were! LOL
You summed everything up just perfectly! I truly appreciate the honesty you bring in all your videos! I think a lot of people start sketchbooks with the pressure that they'll have to show someone their art one day which really limits their creativity. Sketchbooks are a great place to practice, brainstorm, chill, experiment, plus whatever you use it for. Use sketchbooks to journal too, and go as personal as you wish. I think adding emotions and events from your real life really helps bring your drawings to life as well as reflect on your feelings and relationships. Just remember, it's okay to refuse to show someone your sketchbook, it's like a diary in many ways, let them think whatever they think. And spend on sketchbooks and art supplies you're actually going to use and that helps you better create art. Or maybe start using that fancy sketchbook you've been storing on a shelf for a while. What gives a sketchbook its true value is not the materialistic look but the creativity, inspiration, dreams, hopes of the artist. The story that your sketchbook will tell of your art journey.
I'm really glad you made this video. I started drawing just over a year ago and in the beginning I started watching a lot of sketchbook tours to get ideas for my sketchbooks, but it took me a while to understand that I should be experimenting mediums and sources, and making scribbles and overlapping sketches and everything like that. This video perfectly lines up with a new mindset I'm trying: make bad things. Cause bad things make us better too
for real, my sketchbook it's a mess! sometimes i will color an entire pretty page but the next one it's just me trying some art supplies and scribbling or even writing. love your honesty!
That's what I first had when I saw those sketchbook tours. I feared drawing anything randomly into my sketchbook because it could look weird but over time I recognized that those are literal illustrations and in my opinion, they don't belong in a sketchbook. It took some work and time but I finally can comfortably draw into my sketchbook and don't care if the skribbles don't match on the same page
Great perspective to hear from - I am definitely guilty of feeling bad after watching the common sketchbook tour on here. I love seeing your actual working sketchbook. The scribbles are informative, and it feels like seeing a real part of your process.
Wow! Just discovered your channel today. Very informative insight on how we can more productively handle our sketching without worrying about "if its too pretty" or "ugh doesnt look social media worthy". Keeping in mind of the "sandbox" idea will help me loosen up, and draw for fun! (And exploration) Thank you!
I like that your sketchbooks looks real. every one have their own style and we should don't be sad at ourselves, but instead take inspiration to improve. pd: your draws are cool
Glad I can relate. I have one book for scribbles, and doodles. I doodle on many things including homework so at end of year, I cut them out and stick onto that sketch book and sometimes go through cause the small pictures remind me of what classes I was in, or why I doodles certain pictures. Pretty awesome and get inspiration to expand upon them. Great video, I hope to see TH-camrs post their doodle books and scraps more often.
I understand what you mean. I like 40% of the art I do. But looking at those pretty books inspires me and then I want to do better. I think it's exciting. But also intimidating. So you're not wrong
Besides work sketchbooks feels much more intimate. imo they are twice as fun to look at, because you're seeing what's going on inside the artist head. how they pick and choose colors,shadow, composition, how they make their decisions, the struggles,you know, the whole trajectory.
Grate video, man! You mentioned one thing really off-handedly that I think is more substantial, something we could dig into. you said "look at this book. I can go through pages and pages in it within days." Aspiring artists really need to be drawing - not more intensely, not to impress, - but more frequently. filling multiple pages per day I think is pretty essential, and if the pipe-dream of having the "attractive youtube sketchbook tour" is slowing one down, it could be that the presentation ideals are influencing burnout. The key is to have a routine of drawing. and gradually, that routine can increase in complexity and fidelity to the point of creating these gorgeous selling point sketchbooks.
I love your videos! I am a novice, but I still enjoy drawing. I have sketch books, but I never knew how to approach them. I always thought I had to try my best to make each drawing awesome, and so that was how I approached my sketch books. Watching these videos have helped me to understand how to use them to my advantage, to use them to learn and practice! It sounds funny to think I would not know how to approach a sketch book, but I am not an art student and I am trying to learn on my own, so Thank you!!
After I watched your video, I've started to notice too-perfect sketchbooks. Before that I felt the need to put only pretty drawings in my sketchbook and got upset if drawings turned out to be meh (which happens a lot since I've just started to draw seriously). Thank you ✨
i love your advice. I'm starting out as an artist who wants to become n oil painter and I've been immersing myself in the process. your videos in particular are very important to me! don't stop with your videos, they help more than you know!
I have always felt this way! And like a bunch of other ppl in this comment section, it made me feel like less of an artist because I don't have such pretty sketchbooks. I take out my sketchbook when i just wanna DRAW. when I have an idea that I want to try out, or when I just want to set my pencil to the page and see what comes out. I have a very hard time making traditional work polished, so the best it gets for me is just a nice cleaned up sketch. I'm learning to be okay with that, but this video helped me out. Thank you, and I'm glad that you decided to start making youtube videos because of this! :)
This video is awesome, and I completely agree. I love watching calarts sketchbook videos but my own sketchbook looks like a mess and sometimes it can make me feel really bad. I also wanted to say, in case you haven't heard it in a while: your channel is really high quality, and I sincerely hope you continue making videos. I know having a relatively low sub count might be really demotivating, but I think you'll inevitably amass the subs you deserve if you keep it up!
I hope newer artists or even experienced artists who feel compelled to have a perfect sketchbook watch this bc everything you said is really important.
What a refreshing video! I'm a beginner and was intimidated by sketchbook videos here on yt. Comparison is the thief of happiness! Thanks for sharing! 😄
I'm glad that you talked about this, I was thinking on doing a video about it, 'cause that's what happened to me, I was a beginner and saw all these beautiful sketchbooks and got frustrated, I didn't understand what sketching was really about, until now
This video was so needed! Thanks for posting. My sketchbook looks like a hot mess, always. And I like that you mentioned your favorite sketchbook is the cheap one...me too!
I’m just getting back into drawing and sketching again after more than 10 years. The trends and attitudes towards sketchbooks in art spaces seems to be totally different than I remember. I would call all these “sketchbooks” on YT art journals or art books vs a sketchbook. My sketchbooks are doodles and freeform ideas. Hardly any color. Not every page is bursting with energy. It does make me feel inadequate that I can’t fill every page with a masterpiece. Sometimes a page is just an abandoned, half assed pose before I start over again on a new page.
exactly a month late but i totally agree with what you said in this video! sometimes the process is just revisiting the same idea for pages and pages, and thats what allows you to refine ideas into big project. other times, u just wanna draw something fun and something u kind of already know how to do. "draw pretty things" as you called it. also back to the idea of the process sketchbook, (the sandbox) not everything in there is even used; sometimes you just have to drop an idea and come back to it like 5 months later when it reinterests you (or even maybe never if u find something else more interesting) i think the idea of a sandbox is really nice; its like building a mock sandcastle to make a real castle, but you can always swipe it away to make somethign new
The cal art sketchbook tours are pretty helpful to know what cal art is looking for in their applicants. In terms of trying diff mediums and practicing drawing... yeah it’s kinda discouraging and scary in a way. I mostly keep my sketchbook to myself and just draw then move on. I don’t expect my sketchbook to be pretty looking anymore bc I’m trying to think of the big picture and concept when I sketch.
I'd love to see you do a vid on how to do environment stuff that's specifically abt filling in details. I can draw the general shape of a Gothic cathedral, but the details, man!! Your mechs and arches all have it. I'm super curious about your process and how you go about practising that
I just wanted to say that I really love your art and you’re an amazing artist, also every video which you post uplift me when I have a bad day. Thank you
Thank you for saying it! I swear I have more messy concept sketches and thumbnails in most of my sketchbooks. I like to make my finished works digitally. Most times I’ll scan my pictures to my tablet and render them there ☺️ I still love to make some pretty spreads here and there in my sketchbook but it’s mostly for me to dump ideas out onto, lol 😂
Your sketchbook "scrap" is WOW, man! Mine is SO messy that only I know at what I looking... most of the time :P But I love them! I use school white page notebooks, cheapest thing around here :) There are for my eyes only, so it doesn´t matter :)
Thanks for this video. I've been having this exact issue recently and was starting to feel bad about how messy and disorganized my sketchbooks were due to the constant feed of pretty sketchbooks I kept seeing. I've had to realize that artists on social media are going to show the best of their work and it's not a true reflection of how much they've struggled to get to that point.
Dang, I love this. I totally agree that seeing all the beautiful sketchbooks on youtube just makes me and others feel like absolute garbage about their own. And while I think that obviously showing an amazing and beautiful final piece of art is important, I think the beginning stages or creation should be equally valued. It shows the thought process of a piece, and can reveal so much about it. It can also show the amount of creativity being thrown into something, having to draw things in many ways just to get it right. I think that should be valued just as much as the final piece, as it can really show dedication to ones work, rather than only complete works of art.
finally someone clears my mind! I always wondered why my sketchbooks looked so different, I like the moleskine notebooks but when people looked at my sketchbook everyone looked very disappointed looking that mine had many scribbles and repetitions of a mess. liked and sub!
As someone who didn't start studying art until college, I often feel like I missed the train when comparing my sketchbook to those of other artists. One of the major lessons I had to learn was that it was okay to be messy. Your video is another train in that same thought process of just having fun making stuff.
I rarely comment on anything but I love this so much. It made my day and it took off a bit of stress I’ve had with my sketchbook habits and fears. Thank you!
Bro i love this. I was just saying that calarts sketch book tours are kind of toxic and make, at least me, very insecure about my art and capabilities. I will now go draw in my 5 dollar sketchbook and not care what it looks like and just have fun. Because art doesn’t mean pretty, its expression. Im so glad this was recommended to me. This has enlightened me thank you.
thank you for this video it made me feel alot better cause i was comparing my ugly sketchbook to theirs and it would discourage me and make me not wanna draw or sketch for days ..! and btw everything you show in this video was MASTERPIECE GODLY DRAWINGS ✨💖
Good point of view and I find it to be so true. Nobody does ten, twenty, fifty, or whatever number of “perfect” sketches/drawings and have most every one come out near perfect. As it has been said before one has to break a lot of eggs before one gets a great omelette.
There was a CalArts sketchbook video I watched a few years back and it was mostly pencil sketches, lots of loose and unpolished works, even a few unfilled/blank pages here and there... and the person who made it still got accepted to CalArts. That reminded me that the super polished and colorful books are the ones that get the most views (because theyre just that, colorful and eyecatching) and your book doesn’t necessarily need to look like that to be successful! I wish I could find it again
As someone who has cheap sketchbooks, I find them more likely for scribbles and maybe some colouring then and there but not to drastic. I love to scribble and doodle a lot, not worrying to much of the doodles being perfect , but I do often cover them with sticky notes just to go over it again. I don't own too much of quality supplies so I mostly use what I have to draw. Though, I do have a few nice sketchbooks but I feel like I'm going to ruin them most of the time, so I put them aside for later. Often when I start a new sketchbook, I like to revisit the previous one just to get some inspiration. When I wanna do a full piece, I like to plan out stuff in them so I can later transfer that idea on canvas. Feel free to mess around in your sketchbook, try new things like a different art supply, different style ect. You don't need expensive art supplies to make art, sometimes cheap can come off better than expensive! Have fun drawing folks!
Edit: In my opinion, every scribble has some meaning or something behind the process of it. Even how messy it may look. When I get to describe my sketchbook, every page has its own theme or story that represents it, I guess. Just wanted to add something on top since it crossed my mind while writing this.
I totally agree. It's awesome reading about how everyone has their own way of using a sketchbook. There is no wrong answer and that's why its really cool seeing how different everyone's sketchbooks are.
I actually work in art journals with other intentions, but I do want to support your revisiting old sketchbooks. Painters have their old paintings or photos of them. They like most want to keep growing and changing. Knowing where you've been is key to moving forward. My journals are idea factories, but I also keep digital notes with TH-cam links, new product reviews, scans from magazines, and even some art rants that need a safe home.
NM
reminder: the only way to waste art supplies is to not use them
Saving for posterity
Lordy! I recognize the truth in that, but I still struggle with it to the point that I just don't use my supplies for fear of wasting them.
ooo That's real nice.
this is so true but i still save them for when i’m better of an artist
you’ve captured my dilemma gloriously
I think the messier sketchbooks are more interesting to look at. When I see a sketchbook filled with completed colored illustrations it's a bit boring no matter how beautiful the art is. A sketchbook is the only place where you'll see process. If I wanted to look at completed illustrations I could go to any art gallery online. The process is what's most interesting in sketchbooks!
it's an example of something that's so good it's bad. a hyper-polished sketchbook tells me nothing about the artist because all the information leading up to the product is hidden. I'm more interested in the nitty gritty of the process than what eventually becomes of it, because the most interesting parts of someone's art comes from how they approach their ideas
That's why I love Kim Jung Gi's sketchbooks. He has a lot of quick messy sketches mixed in with them, but he is so skilled even those are beautiful to look at while also giving you a look at his process.
Not to mention most of the time completed sketches are never shared with the world so the owners end up with these tomes of dead art.
i love seeing the sketches and doodles that made the full drawings! seeing someone's thought process is much more helpful than seeing the complete artwork!
A sketchbook is not called "sketchbook" for nothing. It should be full of sketches, but I see more and more full colored pictures in them. And that's not really it.
I avoid sketch book tours as so many of these “sketch books” aren’t sketch books they’re more like portfolios. It gives a very daunting and false impression of what a sketch book really is and should be.
right, it voids the point of the word sketch, nobody carefully constructs a "sketch" for 3 hours with heavy details and multiple layers. That's a full piece. A sketch is a lighter, quicker idea of a piece. Don't get me wrong, A LOT of "sketches" are reeeaaally goood, but they aren't full works like you'd see in a portfolio (like you said)
Mine was part sketches and a lot of notes. I was shocked at some sketchbooks that have dried leaves or flowers, burnt edges of papers that dont even have a connection to anything in theirs. Like it's just for aesthetics sake.
@@alexchip1351 This not only happens with calarts sketchbooks, you can see a lot of youtubers here who do sketchbook tours and every page is a full on painting that took more than an hour. Its all good tho, i just hope some people who dont have enough knowledge start thinking that their sketchbooks have to be a full on portfolio.
Same, my sketch book seems so bad in comparison... But I try to avoid comparing and just be proud of my art, thinking there is always better than each of us, and if we focus on it, we will do nothing.
I personally like making nice looking, aesthetic and colorful sketchbooks. It’s very important for me to make something that looks good. I understand why you’re all saying sketchbook should be only for practicing new techniques and sketches, but I think everyone has their own way to do it and if someone want to make something that looks nice, let them do it.
"who wants to look at scribbly messes?"
Me!
Me too!
That's true. Also the calarts sketchbook tours kind of are making a lot of ppl to do the same "reciepe" of sketchbook
I saw other day three sketchbooks that imitate the same order of drawings, and I dont believe that all those ppl think the same way...
I started to look some russian yt and they are totaly okay with showing the good and bad drawings. They are precious babies 🥺
This also makes us less creative when making your own sketchbook, why? We are thinking that we are doing it the wrong way, this limits creativity for sketchbooks and ends up making us uncomfortable when drawing.
To be fair, all Calarts has a list of criteria to be met for their application, so I don't blame them for drawing the same type of stuff. It's when it bleeds into 'regular' sketchbooks that I find to be a slippery slope.
Can you kindly name the Russian yt? I want to find motivation and inspiration from various sources and I feel like I’m running out of sources 😂
I need the link of their yt please
Lavanya me tooo
When I first started filling sketchbooks I got really self conscious about it because I thought it was too ugly. It's a shame that I kept comparing it to the Calarts submissions, since those sketchbooks weren't filled organically, they were filled as an assignment to get into an art school which had strict requirements and goals for what they wanted prospective students to have in their applications.
I feel like my sketchbooks now are a mixture of the 'pretty' sketchbook tours and the scrap ones. One thing I noticed is that my 'ugly' sketchbooks got way less views than the 'pretty' ones. Idk if it is because it had no commentary or people hated the music I put in it but it made me think.
I'm so glad you've talked about this. I see so many people setting goals to create a finished illustration on each page and it's crazy. They can't give themselves chance to explore an idea, iterate and study because they think that it needs to look like a piece of artwork as a whole. I used to think that way to a degree and sometimes I still might put a box of colour behind a sketch to make it pop out if I really like it, but working freely in my sketchbook, mostly doing studies and messy stuff has helped me to improve so quickly!
@Ahsoka Tano haha why did he have only finished pieces? also for me i try to fill the entire page on all my sketchbooks, thats why i see ppls sketchbooks and im all like no finish the page... this has to do with me being poor. i filled almost 5 or 6 school notebooks when i went broke.
I felt strangely soothed after watching this. I feel insecure about my sketchbook because I'm a beginner AND it's not finished pieces only scribbles. I feel a little bit better you confirming that people with ultra cool looking sketchbook ALSO do messier things but do them elsewhere
Lots of people here saying they are to afraid to use their expensive sketchbook, or too afraid to use their nice supplies. Just use them! :D You aren't wasting anything if you are enjoying the process or learning something. I don't use expensive sketchbooks often but I will treat myself every now and then because they are just nice to work in. The more you use your supplies and the more sketchbooks you get through, the more improvement you will see in your art - so don't be afraid of wasting supplies or nice paper, you are using it for a reason :)
*laughs in cheap art supplies*
But honestly tho cheap doesnt always mean bad.
@@sy-zu4uz of course not! My favourite art supply is a ballpoint pen! :)
for those people, i would suggest using a notebook, its super cheap, although, then you have to redraw it if you want to post it anywhere on the history of this earth
I feel like that about my gouache paint. I hate making crappy paintings cause it feels like a wasted paint. But the only way for me to get better is to make crappy paintings and use up paint. It hurts but I'm still doing it
Sketchbooks are places to fail courageously. They often aren't pretty, and are full of scribbles, but are also where progress happens and where artists can ruminate in and explore different creative ideas. I'd have to agree with you- Calarts sketchbooks can be potentially bad because if those perfect little museum pieces of paper are an example of what sketchbook 'should' be, then it leaves no room for failure. I think what you said about Calarts sketchbooks actually being art journals is quite accurate because, bro, my sketches are scribbles, failures, and definitely not Calarts material. But that's because those scribbles are not a part of an art journal, they're in a sketchbook.
Thanks for the video. Gave me a lot to think about. (Also, your editing, overall video pacing, and camera work is fantastic👌)
This is like everything I was thinking in the past 3 months Of quarantine lmao. All I have been doing is sittin on my bed watching sketchbook tours and feeling insecure. Thank you so much for this video for real! Ps. I love ur videos.
That song of storms remix is so calming man
I just noticed that this got posted right when I needed it-
I absolutely love Calarts sketchbooks and find a lot of inspiration in them, but I agree that for many of us, it creates a real fear of messing up in our own. And yeah, a part of that is because you don't wanna feel like you 'wasted your money' scribbling instead of creating a work of art on each page.
Thanks for the video and may I say, YOUR SKETCHES AND CONCEPT ART ARE FANTASTIC. You deserve more appreciation.
I've never agreed more! Also, I LOVE your work sketchbook, it's always super cool to me seeing people's messy scribbles and plans and honestly I'm amazed by your architecture and perspective.
Yes! There’s a lot less pressure when using cheaper sketchbooks. If it’s $1 per page, I find myself always questioning if my sketch is worth it. Use the cheaper one, draw more, get better. Use the expensive ones for portfolios, gifts, or for $ale.
you are totally right. when the cost goes up the creativity goes down as the guilt takes hold.
Me: *Sees Title*
My last three brain cells: Well, I don’t think your supposed to eat sketchbooks....
KFJAJVJSJ OHMYGOD THATS HILARIOUS 😭😭
🤣🤣🤣
When his 'uninteresting' work sketchbook is way more solid than your never-finished portfolio.T.T
I keep a "pretty sketchbook" and a messier sketchbook at the same time. I find it helps to keep a balance between my want for a more "aesthetic" sketchbook and my want for a space where I can just scribble and unload ideas for bigger pieces.
ohh jeeze i needed this. i always get so stressed about making my sketchbooks messy and if my art turns out weird i end up ripping the page out. i end up comparing myself too much to other artists that have much nicer or polished/pretty looking sketches than me. it’s been hard for me to get out of the mindset of trying to make really pretty looking spreads and having every page be well thought out and look beautiful.
I really like that your "scribbles" looks very confident and beautiful on such thin paper. all the sketchbooks that I bought in my city had pretty thin paper. I taught myself for a long time not to draw too much on one sheet, because the density did not allow and always admired those who could draw at once what they needed without damaging the paper to holes
Wow! I really needed to see this video. As an aspiring artist, this really opened my eyes. All those sketchbook tours are so nice and pretty, and I try so hard to make my sketchbook look like them. In that process, I forget the scribbly process, the technique I planned to work on, and the very learning process! Believe it or not, I found this video while watching some Calarts approved sketchbook tours!
This video was something I should have seen a long long long time ago. Ever since I started watching these sketchbook tour videos, I have been so demotivated to experiment and try something new. Thank you so much for this video!!!
You're so down to earth man, it's really refreshing. I need to be less critical of myself in sketchbooks, and I want to use them more like how you do. Figuring stuff out, scribbling until you find something that works. Thanks!
I’m so glad you posted this. Seeing such polished “sketch books” really stunts my excitement about learning to draw
I love the scratchyness of your work, the cleans and most satisfying for me.. the drafting lettering.
when ever I see all caps and drafting font, I think to myself "they know"
This is the best art channel on youtube. You genuinely motivate me. If I wasn't so poor I'd support a patron for you in a heart beat. You make me want to draw, not feeling bad for where my art is. Keep up the amazing work and thanks for these super short and easily digestible videos.
The only thing I can say is: Thank you!
Really, thank you for doing this short video. I have tons of messy sketchbooks with 3 finished pieces at the most on them.
The only way I found I could have fun drawing is by using those legal pads with yellow pages simply because I became afraid of sketchbooks.
Some other videos suggest "not writing on your sketchbook at all" which frustrated me because I want to draw and write down notes about the characters and storylines I'm creating.
Eventually, I realized that most of the sketchbook content that you can find either on TH-cam or Instagram is heavily based on having finished pieces so the whole point of sketching and experimenting definitely got lost.
I prefer to look at the messier sketches, that's how you can actually see how much an artist has improved.
Gosh I’m glad you voiced that! Cause I’m not a beginner by any means been drawing all my life but most of my sketch books are a mess and I always have 2 or 3 going on at the same time. Just like you I have one that’s technical, one that’s more like a scrapbook and one for the abyssmal. So when I ventured on the web looking for some new ideas I was absolutely overwhelmed and shocked by the cal art sketchbooks “model”.
Whenever I draw I like making sure my sketchbooks have some complete and beautiful paintings, while also adding the process and doodles, and just plain sketches
I like it when I see sketchbooks have both nice artworks and messy doodles
Thanks a bunch for making a video about this. I'm no youtuber. But this is important for people to understand as you explain in this video. I have sketchbooks, papers, post it papers and what not. Just sketching down the idea and a note to it is enough for me to pick up and continue whenever i feel for it. I often move on to a more "pretty" sketchbook where i refine my idea. Then i either scan it or draw it one paper by using lots and lots of references. Google images or my own photos.
Thanks once again for this video!
Thank you so much for making this video; I felt like I was going crazy looking at all the sketchbook tours on youtube to find out where to start. I really want to apply to CalArts for the Fall 2023 semester, but I don't have a sketchbook to submit so I'm starting from scratch. Seeing everyone's fully realized books make me feel like mine aren't good enough and I find it discourages me from picking up my pen to doodle. But in hearing what you had to say in this video, I feel a little more at ease about expressing my ideas, however messy they may be :)
It's interesting that I found this video shortly after I started drawing and painting "junk" on top of artwork in my old sketchbook where I'd attempted to make "good" art. The act of defacing my old work is probably the most freeing and creative thing I've ever done. It feels so good to let go of the need to be perfect and to simply allow things to flow. I'm actually discovering much more about my creative process by doing whatever I feel like doing than I ever learned by trying to be "perfect". Thanks for this video. You have a great way of summarizing the truth about being an artist.
okay can i just say, i don't even do anything art-related, but this video has helped me so much! i write in my free time, and this really helped me because i get super insecure about drafting and such (that might be dumb, sorry). i have what i call my chaos journal, where i just brain dump any ideas that come to mind and i write out scenes and stuff, then i have my character development and design notebook, and then i have a notebook for drafting and things to improve on, then i have two binders: one for short stories and one for full-length novel development. lastly i have my blog, where i publish all of my completed work and commissions. it's always made me super insecure to see other writers Just Write and to see their drafts be super clean and have mine be full of pen marks and things that need to be changed or edited, or to rewrite scenes 7 times and see others get it right like the first time. this video honestly helped me feel a lot better about the process and all the things we don't really see, so thank you so much!!
yes! a while ago on tiktok someone showed their actual A-LEVELS STUDIO ARTS FOLIO and called it a sketchbook. all the comments were like “puts all the other sketchbooks to shame 🤪💞” this really rubbed me the wrong way because I didn’t want people to think their sketchbooks had to look like a literal school portfolio. i also didn’t want to discourage people from perhaps pursuing art and buying a sketchbook if they thought it had to look like that. thanks for this vid :)
I am so glad I found your channel. I hope many more do, because this is quality content and it is helpful for those who are starting to sketch. I can completely agree, I was stuck in a box of 'pretty sketches' for about four years, and often ripped pages out if they weren't up to my standard, but now ive never had so much fun drawing without care (and now my art is better). It takes a while, but you can pull out of the aesthetics and into development of your core art skills. but yeah, thanks for posting content that will actually help younger artists/ beginners, and isnt just to impress/ show the final product (even though your art is amazing even in sketch form)
Man, your videos are incredibly rich and relaxing. The soundtrack is also owesome. Thanks!
I kind of feel relieved to see your video because all my sketchbooks until now were a huge mix of search /messy/failed pages with nice stuffs and I felt always terrible to show it because it wasn't only good stuffs. So I started to have two sketchbooks too but it's annoying to always have to be careful to do good stuffs in the good stuffs sketchbook so I'll try to incorporate those two aspect of a sketchbook in my next sketchbook (but I don't know how to not make it messy ^^). And about the price issue about the sketchbook I personally make mine, I can choose whatever paper I want (if you buy a ream of 250 of sheet of paper it's much cheaper) and the format I want. Thanks for your video !
i have stacks upon stacks of nice, quality sketchbooks that i’ve gotten maybe 10 pages into before the fear and anxiety kicks in. worries about wasted paper and time and energy.... then i bought a cheap, floppy, sad sketchbook for two or three bucks (aud) at daiso and have been having the time of my life lmao.
it’s helped me gain the confidence to experiment more, despite the thin paper. i’ve been doing more studies and life drawing, but also mindless doodling and just sticking in crap because i feel like it. it’s like a weight has been lifted off my shoulders, and this video is a reminder of how i felt looking at yt sketchbook tours as a young(er) artist, comparing and ultimately giving up with each new book.,, cheap stuff is so freeing! great video dude ^_^
bro your videos are getting better every time you post a new one! keep it up man!
For a few years I literally made finished works and compositions in my sketchbooks and wouldn't draw unless I was going to do something finished. So you can imagine I spent more time NOT drawing. It's weird because my sketchbooks from 20 years ago were work books, with gesturals, rough concepts and vent scribbles. I was also learning. I feel when I transitioned in to doing only finished art in my sketchbooks I stopped learning. This year I have returned to using a work sketchbook, and I feel that has helped restore my enjoyment of art again.
I actually really like these sorts of sketchbook tours. It’s very useful for looking at different the styles and focuses each artist has. Especially as a very sketch/ study focused artist it is a lot of help to see more finished pieces. But I definitely understand where your coming from, I have just never thought about it from the perspective of someone who is more oriented towards actual finished pieces.
wow, literal chills when you were describing your thoughts on this. it's so hard to want to make bad art when you're surrounded by so many finished pieces, and it's honestly so refreshing to see you talk about this!! thank you, I really needed it :)
God I feel this, I ended up with such a huge self hatred to the point I just didn’t draw. One day I said “fuck it” and decided to start a series called my “shitbooks” which I just would open up and draw whatever I wanted wherever I wanted in it. I’ve now gone from never filling a book to filling almost 2 a year! That is a 200% increase from my past and I appreciate the messy scribbles so much more~
VERY good point! We had the same problem at university when I did my film degree - we had our 'presentation sketchbook' that we would show at the class presentations but this was all for show! Our REAL sketchbooks were almost never shown and that's where all the real thought process was done... The 'presentation sketchbook' was really a 'best of' compilation used to impress our fellow students and our lecturers and was a lot more polished. It gave the impression that our best ideas just magically appeared from nowhere and made us look a lot more clever than we really were! LOL
THANK YOU. I never liked looking at sketchbook tours. I’m like, this is literally an art book of finished pieces
You summed everything up just perfectly! I truly appreciate the honesty you bring in all your videos! I think a lot of people start sketchbooks with the pressure that they'll have to show someone their art one day which really limits their creativity. Sketchbooks are a great place to practice, brainstorm, chill, experiment, plus whatever you use it for. Use sketchbooks to journal too, and go as personal as you wish. I think adding emotions and events from your real life really helps bring your drawings to life as well as reflect on your feelings and relationships. Just remember, it's okay to refuse to show someone your sketchbook, it's like a diary in many ways, let them think whatever they think. And spend on sketchbooks and art supplies you're actually going to use and that helps you better create art. Or maybe start using that fancy sketchbook you've been storing on a shelf for a while. What gives a sketchbook its true value is not the materialistic look but the creativity, inspiration, dreams, hopes of the artist. The story that your sketchbook will tell of your art journey.
I'm really glad you made this video. I started drawing just over a year ago and in the beginning I started watching a lot of sketchbook tours to get ideas for my sketchbooks, but it took me a while to understand that I should be experimenting mediums and sources, and making scribbles and overlapping sketches and everything like that. This video perfectly lines up with a new mindset I'm trying: make bad things. Cause bad things make us better too
for real, my sketchbook it's a mess! sometimes i will color an entire pretty page but the next one it's just me trying some art supplies and scribbling or even writing. love your honesty!
That's what I first had when I saw those sketchbook tours. I feared drawing anything randomly into my sketchbook because it could look weird but over time I recognized that those are literal illustrations and in my opinion, they don't belong in a sketchbook. It took some work and time but I finally can comfortably draw into my sketchbook and don't care if the skribbles don't match on the same page
Great perspective to hear from - I am definitely guilty of feeling bad after watching the common sketchbook tour on here. I love seeing your actual working sketchbook. The scribbles are informative, and it feels like seeing a real part of your process.
Wow! Just discovered your channel today. Very informative insight on how we can more productively handle our sketching without worrying about "if its too pretty" or "ugh doesnt look social media worthy". Keeping in mind of the "sandbox" idea will help me loosen up, and draw for fun! (And exploration)
Thank you!
That cut till the end music sounds flipping phenomenal
I like that your sketchbooks looks real. every one have their own style and we should don't be sad at ourselves, but instead take inspiration to improve.
pd: your draws are cool
The explanation and personal experience that you portrait is good enough, no need for a clickbait name!
Glad I can relate. I have one book for scribbles, and doodles. I doodle on many things including homework so at end of year, I cut them out and stick onto that sketch book and sometimes go through cause the small pictures remind me of what classes I was in, or why I doodles certain pictures. Pretty awesome and get inspiration to expand upon them. Great video, I hope to see TH-camrs post their doodle books and scraps more often.
Ive waited for this video on YT for so long haha you’re awesome man, you keep your sketchbook real and messy
I understand what you mean. I like 40% of the art I do. But looking at those pretty books inspires me and then I want to do better. I think it's exciting. But also intimidating. So you're not wrong
Besides work sketchbooks feels much more intimate. imo they are twice as fun to look at, because you're seeing what's going on inside the artist head. how they pick and choose colors,shadow, composition, how they make their decisions, the struggles,you know, the whole trajectory.
Grate video, man!
You mentioned one thing really off-handedly that I think is more substantial, something we could dig into. you said "look at this book. I can go through pages and pages in it within days." Aspiring artists really need to be drawing - not more intensely, not to impress, - but more frequently. filling multiple pages per day I think is pretty essential, and if the pipe-dream of having the "attractive youtube sketchbook tour" is slowing one down, it could be that the presentation ideals are influencing burnout. The key is to have a routine of drawing. and gradually, that routine can increase in complexity and fidelity to the point of creating these gorgeous selling point sketchbooks.
I love your videos! I am a novice, but I still enjoy drawing. I have sketch books, but I never knew how to approach them. I always thought I had to try my best to make each drawing awesome, and so that was how I approached my sketch books. Watching these videos have helped me to understand how to use them to my advantage, to use them to learn and practice! It sounds funny to think I would not know how to approach a sketch book, but I am not an art student and I am trying to learn on my own, so Thank you!!
After I watched your video, I've started to notice too-perfect sketchbooks. Before that I felt the need to put only pretty drawings in my sketchbook and got upset if drawings turned out to be meh (which happens a lot since I've just started to draw seriously). Thank you ✨
Thanks for sharing!
i love your advice. I'm starting out as an artist who wants to become n oil painter and I've been immersing myself in the process. your videos in particular are very important to me! don't stop with your videos, they help more than you know!
this is the first video I've saw of you and maaaan, you have QUALITY, i need to subscribe now
I have always felt this way! And like a bunch of other ppl in this comment section, it made me feel like less of an artist because I don't have such pretty sketchbooks. I take out my sketchbook when i just wanna DRAW. when I have an idea that I want to try out, or when I just want to set my pencil to the page and see what comes out. I have a very hard time making traditional work polished, so the best it gets for me is just a nice cleaned up sketch. I'm learning to be okay with that, but this video helped me out. Thank you, and I'm glad that you decided to start making youtube videos because of this! :)
This video is awesome, and I completely agree. I love watching calarts sketchbook videos but my own sketchbook looks like a mess and sometimes it can make me feel really bad.
I also wanted to say, in case you haven't heard it in a while: your channel is really high quality, and I sincerely hope you continue making videos. I know having a relatively low sub count might be really demotivating, but I think you'll inevitably amass the subs you deserve if you keep it up!
I really love this video, its really nice to see sketchbooks that are messy and more ideas than polished work
I hope newer artists or even experienced artists who feel compelled to have a perfect sketchbook watch this bc everything you said is really important.
What a refreshing video! I'm a beginner and was intimidated by sketchbook videos here on yt. Comparison is the thief of happiness! Thanks for sharing! 😄
Even w ur ‘sandbox’ sketchbook its still rly hood and fun too look at !
I'm glad that you talked about this, I was thinking on doing a video about it, 'cause that's what happened to me, I was a beginner and saw all these beautiful sketchbooks and got frustrated, I didn't understand what sketching was really about, until now
This video was so needed! Thanks for posting. My sketchbook looks like a hot mess, always. And I like that you mentioned your favorite sketchbook is the cheap one...me too!
I’m just getting back into drawing and sketching again after more than 10 years. The trends and attitudes towards sketchbooks in art spaces seems to be totally different than I remember. I would call all these “sketchbooks” on YT art journals or art books vs a sketchbook. My sketchbooks are doodles and freeform ideas. Hardly any color. Not every page is bursting with energy. It does make me feel inadequate that I can’t fill every page with a masterpiece. Sometimes a page is just an abandoned, half assed pose before I start over again on a new page.
exactly a month late but i totally agree with what you said in this video! sometimes the process is just revisiting the same idea for pages and pages, and thats what allows you to refine ideas into big project. other times, u just wanna draw something fun and something u kind of already know how to do. "draw pretty things" as you called it. also back to the idea of the process sketchbook, (the sandbox) not everything in there is even used; sometimes you just have to drop an idea and come back to it like 5 months later when it reinterests you (or even maybe never if u find something else more interesting) i think the idea of a sandbox is really nice; its like building a mock sandcastle to make a real castle, but you can always swipe it away to make somethign new
The cal art sketchbook tours are pretty helpful to know what cal art is looking for in their applicants. In terms of trying diff mediums and practicing drawing... yeah it’s kinda discouraging and scary in a way. I mostly keep my sketchbook to myself and just draw then move on. I don’t expect my sketchbook to be pretty looking anymore bc I’m trying to think of the big picture and concept when I sketch.
I'd love to see you do a vid on how to do environment stuff that's specifically abt filling in details. I can draw the general shape of a Gothic cathedral, but the details, man!! Your mechs and arches all have it. I'm super curious about your process and how you go about practising that
This is a great video. I really like all of your. So happy I found your channel
I’m so glad to hear an art channel bringing this up!
I just wanted to say that I really love your art and you’re an amazing artist, also every video which you post uplift me when I have a bad day. Thank you
That yellow i fall in love in this colour i should buy similar sketchbook waaa
Wow, your channel is growing! keep it up!!
I love this! Thank you for being so real!
Thank you for saying it! I swear I have more messy concept sketches and thumbnails in most of my sketchbooks. I like to make my finished works digitally. Most times I’ll scan my pictures to my tablet and render them there ☺️
I still love to make some pretty spreads here and there in my sketchbook but it’s mostly for me to dump ideas out onto, lol 😂
I didn't even know calart sketchbook tours were a thing until I saw your 12 hr sketchbook video being recommended a while ago
Your sketchbook "scrap" is WOW, man! Mine is SO messy that only I know at what I looking... most of the time :P But I love them! I use school white page notebooks, cheapest thing around here :) There are for my eyes only, so it doesn´t matter :)
Thanks for this video. I've been having this exact issue recently and was starting to feel bad about how messy and disorganized my sketchbooks were due to the constant feed of pretty sketchbooks I kept seeing. I've had to realize that artists on social media are going to show the best of their work and it's not a true reflection of how much they've struggled to get to that point.
Dang, I love this. I totally agree that seeing all the beautiful sketchbooks on youtube just makes me and others feel like absolute garbage about their own. And while I think that obviously showing an amazing and beautiful final piece of art is important, I think the beginning stages or creation should be equally valued. It shows the thought process of a piece, and can reveal so much about it. It can also show the amount of creativity being thrown into something, having to draw things in many ways just to get it right. I think that should be valued just as much as the final piece, as it can really show dedication to ones work, rather than only complete works of art.
finally someone clears my mind! I always wondered why my sketchbooks looked so different, I like the moleskine notebooks but when people looked at my sketchbook everyone looked very disappointed looking that mine had many scribbles and repetitions of a mess. liked and sub!
Your work sketchbook looks incredibly clean and beautiful and aggh
My first thought when I saw a calarts sketchbook video was "where are the boxes?"
As someone who didn't start studying art until college, I often feel like I missed the train when comparing my sketchbook to those of other artists. One of the major lessons I had to learn was that it was okay to be messy. Your video is another train in that same thought process of just having fun making stuff.
I rarely comment on anything but I love this so much. It made my day and it took off a bit of stress I’ve had with my sketchbook habits and fears. Thank you!
I'm so glad that when your channel blows up i can say I was here before that
I love how you end your videos .. leaves a very sentimental feeling.
Bro i love this. I was just saying that calarts sketch book tours are kind of toxic and make, at least me, very insecure about my art and capabilities. I will now go draw in my 5 dollar sketchbook and not care what it looks like and just have fun. Because art doesn’t mean pretty, its expression. Im so glad this was recommended to me. This has enlightened me thank you.
thank you for this video it made me feel alot better cause i was comparing my ugly sketchbook to theirs and it would discourage me and make me not wanna draw or sketch for days ..!
and btw everything you show in this video was MASTERPIECE GODLY DRAWINGS ✨💖
Thank you for addressing this! I felt like sketchbook tours discourage a lot of new artists because they think everything has to be neat and perfect.
Good point of view and I find it to be so true. Nobody does ten, twenty, fifty, or whatever number of “perfect” sketches/drawings and have most every one come out near perfect. As it has been said before one has to break a lot of eggs before one gets a great omelette.
I fell upon this video and now I’m in love with your channel!
There was a CalArts sketchbook video I watched a few years back and it was mostly pencil sketches, lots of loose and unpolished works, even a few unfilled/blank pages here and there... and the person who made it still got accepted to CalArts. That reminded me that the super polished and colorful books are the ones that get the most views (because theyre just that, colorful and eyecatching) and your book doesn’t necessarily need to look like that to be successful! I wish I could find it again