Mini Sketchbooks
Navigating the digital landscape of Instagram can be a paradoxical experience. The platform is a wellspring of inspiration and aspiration, but it can also be intimidating. I often find myself captivated by the seemingly perfect sketchbooks that fellow illustrators proudly exhibit on their feeds and reels. The perfection showcased in these posts can sometimes feel overwhelming.
In contrast, my own sketchbooks are the antithesis of this perfection. They are filled with half-formed ideas, scribbled to-do lists, and a multitude of experiments with different art supplies. It's not uncommon to find pages cluttered with unsuccessful attempts at perfecting a stroke, or others that simply commemorate a bad drawing day. They are the unfiltered representations of my journey as an illustrator - raw, authentic, and revealing.
Rather than getting disheartened, I encourage myself to continue this practice. Despite the apparent imperfections, each page is an integral part of my creative journey. They are the stepping stones that lead me to improve and refine my artistic voice, however slow or non-linear that process may be.
Moreover, I've found that utilizing small, inexpensive notebooks for my sketches alleviates a portion of the self-imposed pressure to create the "perfect" piece. These mini sketchbooks, costing less than a dollar each, encourage an atmosphere of artistic freedom. The low cost allows me to approach each page with a sense of liberation. My hand moves more freely across the paper, and my mind becomes less critical of every stroke I make. By embracing this practice, I've been able to focus more on the process of creation rather than the end result, and that in itself has been a transformative experience.
