This is the single most important point of advice that I’ve needed about art. Took plenty of courses, looked up books and everything but I would get anxiety touching pencil to paper because I wanted it to be “perfect”. Thanks proko!
Remind yourself that it’s better to have a sketchbook filled with crummy drawings than to have an empty one. If you still have difficulty buy a pack of cheep printer paper and practice on that.
@@user-wc1sq3op7u what you can do is get a hard folder and put those papers into that one and have a soft folder for those drawing that you really hate at the time so you still keep them. Meanwhile you have the better drawings in the hard folder that becomes like a sort of sketchbook that you can add or remove pages from easily.
THIS THIS THIS!! This comment resonated with me so much right now with my art block because of my fair of ruining it. I always draw better on loose paper, I don't know why I haven't thought of just buying a pack specifically for my art!! Thank you so much 🤗❤️
That's literally the phase I'm at right now. I almost got intense anxiety over it until I just told myself, "Dude. You can literally erase any mistakes. Just draw, doesn't matter if it's ugly, no one's grading you." I've been drawing freely ever since.
Same. As much as I like aesthetic, I don't have the skillset and techniques yet to make good layouts and all that. So I like to make what I like on a page pop out and move on. Also using my book as a wip for other projects is great. Like if I'm making a card for someone and they like waffles, I just went to my sketchbook to figure out the colors ajd technique, thenbdid the actual thing. It's great cuz now my book is filled a little more, and when I look back, I can see my thought process and journey. Looking at it as a snapshot of my mind and process is more fun that being all pretty. Even writing notes and stuff. It helped me overcome that hurdle
@@ggundercover3681 I feel this so much. Wanting to rush into the aesthetician I crave to create but not having the necessary skills for it. Just as you said, slowly and with practice, we'll get there. The journey and process of developing our skills is just as important as achieving our goals.
Same but I don’t think “drawing alot” really works without understanding. I’ve been going through more than 8 sketchbooks in the last couple months (beginning this year) and although there’s some improvement, I really have to take the time to actually learn rather than draw blindly.
Pro tip: If you got yourself new sketchbook, and it feels too nice to ‘ruin’ (which for me it can, even though I buy the cheapest one that is fit for purpose that I can find), just go right ahead and scribble all over the very first page. Just absolutely destroy it. Bingo bango, it already looks like utter shit. Then when it’s got plenty of sketches in, terrible, decent, or otherwise, you can cover it up by sticking a title page in, if you want. Not necessary though. Especially when you’re just learning. Most of it really isn’t going to be good at all, and that’s totally fine!
Usually after I'm done with my drawing, sketches, character design I always wrote the date and year! So it'll help me realize how much did I improve each year?
@@mygod2529 Yeah, that’s usually what I stick over the scribble, which is why I do it on the first page. My last one was October - December 2022, so I decorated it with like pumpkins wearing Santa hats etc. I try to keep it on theme, and like you say, it helps keep track of my progress.
I knew I'll get super anxious to draw on my new sketchbook so I went wild and crazy and drew all randoms which came in my mind and most of those were ducks ✨🦆
I only started drawing last year and it was digitally. Then I got some watercolors and a sketchbook to try traditional art and when I tell you I’m low-key scared of doing anything on my sketchbook bc I fear it’ll look horrible…ugh. I have to get over it at some point lol
Good luck! I don't know if this will help you or not, but this is not the only sketchbook in your life. Just imagine how good your drawings will be in the fifth sketchbook, the sixth, the seventh... You can track your progress later. I hope you succeed :)
It literally doesn’t matter if you make bad art. *No one will die.* Ironically this realization made me a better artist because I stopped putting pressure on myself
I used to draw in a cheapo sketchbook for pencil drawings and I also had this watercolor sketchbook that I was afraid to touch. One thing that helped me was using the watercolors on the cheapo super thin paper (I doubled up as well) so I got used to the idea of using the watercolors freely. And then I used the watercolor paper for swatches (or sometimes, I'd use them to freehand/sketch stuff) and then eventually I got used to water-coloring freely (but still using the swatches) Comparing the colors to a digital thumbnail also helped me feel a bit better with feeling confident about a color.
Just go for it! Something I do that makes it easier to start a sketchbook is to just skip the first page and start on the second. I don’t know if it would help anyone else, but it certainly does for me!
you remind me of an old friend of mine. she was the sweetest soul ): she was the first person to ever encourage me, instead of shunning my artwork, for simply trying. had I ever drawn or painted before? no. did she praise me to high heavens? she sure did, and bless her for it. I’ve met far too many people that shame me over sketches I get so excited to share with them, as if it was some art piece I had spent 20hrs on and called a “masterpiece”. it hurt a lot - to the point I completely gave up. looking back, these were sketches I created within a minute, and just from shapes I could makeout from my scribbles. words like these are much needed, and I wish every child growing up could hear this )): I know I wish I had
that’s why for my less serious pieces, i draw on grid line paper like notebook paper, it comforts me and tells me to not take it so seriously, it doesn’t have to be perfect.
even better: my first sketchbooks weren't even sketchbooks, they were those freebie journals you get at events which definitely encouraged me to plough through and use as much paper as I wanted
I’ve found in personal experience that using cheap materials of a lower but still usable quality takes a lot of stress and pressure out of trying to make beautiful art. Since you don’t feel like you have to justify buying or using your supplies it just becomes about making art. Of course, you can also mix and match, like maybe using a slightly more pricey pen that you know you like on inexpensive paper. Ultimately it’s about following the fun.
I lost connection from this channel for about 3 years and suddenly he appeared in my fyp, it's so good seeing him, he's shining more than ever before, i really appreciate you.
During high school, life was kinda hectic, like every teen, countless quarrels with parents, confused in life in general. Keeping a sketchbook helped me easy my mind, I used to hang around at rooftops of different buildings in Brooklyn and draw whatever I was feeling, pages filled with stories from past, present and potential future. Good times.
Personally I cherish every sketchbook I get knowing I just filled my old one with drawings I can look back at one day and think "Look how much I've improved" just a happy feeling I get
2 Sketchbook art tips: 1) Keep a sketchbook that you WILL NOT SHOW ANYONE! It keeps you from worrying about having to make everything look perfect if you know nobody will ever see it anyway. 2) Before you start a piece, scribble on the page. You won't have the burden of needing every line to be perfect if the page is already imperfect.
Questions to each; 1) How does that work? Even if no one else sees it; you see it. And why wouldn't you be wanting to show everybody everything you do; what's the point of drawing if you aren't? 2) You mean like the entire thing? Or just like... a corner? Cause the only way I can see tha advice working is if you literally just ruin the entire page, but then I don't know how you're supposed to know if your doing it right.
@@MikeMozzaro, answer to each: 1) Most people try to do everything perfectly (even their practice/studies) because they're worried about what other people will say when they see it. But it's better to do many passable drawings as opposed to doing only one perfectly. Also, most of my drawings I don't show to anyone else... I draw because I like it, not to please others. The need to share everything you do is a pretty modern concept. People can't even cook a meal without seeking validation, but even the greatest painters of all time have unpublished art that was only discovered after their deaths. 2) Why would you think you have to "ruin the entire page"? When you draw guide lines, they're hardly ever visible by the time you finish the piece. Just draw some light scribbles on the page. 🤷♂
@@RtAtelier Can't really comment on 2) since I don't actually know what you mean by guidelines so I'll just focus on 1)... what do you mean by "you draw because you like it"? I keep seeing people say this, but I genuinely don't understand how you can enjoy doing, well: *anything* if you aren't doing it to show other people and having them respect what you've done.
@@MikeMozzaro, that... sad. I draw, I play instruments and I have many other hobbies that I enjoy doing; most people don't even know I do them. You're basically saying that you can't enjoy doing anything unless you're able to show it off and get approval from others. If you were alone on Earth, there would be nothing that would bring you joy. Your happiness is solely dependent on other people. That means if you wanted to do something (draw, for example) and others didn't respect it, you'd stop...
@@241Cookies__ Good shit. Myself, around 2-3 120 page books, at least this year. I usually draw the human body, and just looking back at my sketchbook 5 months ago, I can see the improvement. It's Insane. I just started drawing tbh so the improvement Is visible and clear, but it's still so relieving to actually see I AM getting better. And to think of the future where I am accomplished and can draw what I like and what I see, It makes my heart warm. If that makes sense.
@@god.usopp2yearsago115 Damn. Tbh, nowadays I've been filling in books fast as well, because my drawings have been getting bigger and filling the entire page, while they only take on usual around 10 minutes... By the way, in that week or so, how many hours did you usually draw in a session?... Of course, if you even time it.
Also, don’t be afraid to reuse pages. I have so many pages in sketchbooks that are empty or almost empty because I treated it as precious and didn’t wanna “ruin it” with a drawing from a different day than I started with.
I really needed this. I hardly touch my sketchbooks because I literally don't know what to draw. If I just draw whatever small thing randomly pops in my head I'll be doing a lot better.
I think that's a good idea. I have also started allowing myself to 'copy' various art styles and subject ideas and do them in my sketchbook using different mediums (think abstract pattern and mandala art, flowers in certain styles, etc) just to make my own version. Then at least I've made something and had fun, and it can help me develop my own ideas/skills/style. Even if it's 'easy' doodle-style art or something
If you dont know what to draw try sercing for those month challenges (ink-tober,mer-may itd). It gives you something to draw everyday. Doesn't have to be big like those influences make it l, just something to motive you to draw and use your creativity each day. Once you creativity starts it'll gradually get you motivation you need
I never really had this type of anxiety when I started out. but seeing other ppls sketch books how clean and organized they were it would be filled with good/passable drawings compared to mine which is pure chaos, unrecognizable sketches, and only one good drawing for every 5 pages. I started to develop that anxiety and it even lead to me almost giving up on drawing. but now I'm glad that, that shouldn't be the case looking back at all my sketches and how much fun it was to draw, that's really all that mattered just enjoying myself despite that mess that is my sketchbook.
Honest question: how was it fun for you? *why* was it fun for you? You say you look back and realise you find it fun even though you weren't that good; how did you do that?
I think sketchbooks are a grade tool to learn drawing for there ability to put them away and ignore them for ages, they are good to see progress and to get motivated. Also if you dont like it, the putting it away thing still works. Nice video btw
Needed to hear this, getting back into it for animation purposes and it’s really easy to be hard on yourself, especially if you compare. I learned to treat drawing like a plant you need to take care of rather than a competition with myself.
Honestly, post it notes are a lifesaver for me in my sketchbooks. You can use them to cover up mistakes, cover spots where markers bleed through, and they come in a bunch of fun colors and shapes. Sometimes if I don’t want to carry my sketchbook out of the house with me, I’ll just keep some post it notes and a pencil in my pocket and doodle in that. Then if I have any drawings that I really like, I can stick the post it in my sketchbook. They’re such a nice tool to fill up empty space too.
i needed this two years ago. i remember tearing out pages of my sketchbook just because it didn't look "perfect" and as aesthetic as other artists online.
I fill out half my sketchbook, then I go back and fix the messed up pages. Carry on with my sketchbook once done and then go over the entire book. It helps me be less stressed about my sketchbook’s appearance knowing I will later fix it :3
off topic but i see that flag in the background of your pfppp ok i was just gonna say “i like it” but that felt weird but what i just said may have been weirder.. IDK HOW TO CONVEY THIS BUT YEA I SEE IT AND ITS COOL🧍
Thanks for saying I can't draw something beautiful yet, I'm still fighting myself over letting go of my anxiety and worries of not being able to draw good. But I think after not drawing for about 6 years old due to my worries, it's time to finally let myself enjoy the process of learning how to draw
I draw nonsense and dumb stuff in some of my sketchbooks and practice drawing anatomy and other stuff in it especially drawing thumbnails for an art project or character design, exploring tons of possibilities in the sketchbook is one way to have a fresh mind and improve faster, thanks for the very helpful advice many people really needed it.
Exactly! Most artist i know have this fear of someone seeing their beginning works. Even though this one is saying one thing but he can't commit to it, thus expecting us to believe he's born this way. I've seen his sketchbook tours. He talks about same thing all the while showing only later works! Even though if one has always drawn perfect human from the very start, we all know we'd struggled with drawing an apple at one point in our life. Show us that and I believe it would make for a better advice
@@rishabhmayank thats true, a lot of people will have sketchbook tours but only show their later or more recent work, or ones that are only a couple years old when they are already at a really good level skill-wise. Nothing wrong with that, but, I want to see a "10+ year old sketchbook" tour dammit! make me feel good about having crummy sketches too!! lol.
This is exactly what I needed most in this moment, been struggling with art because I am always so ashamed when it comes out not as good as I’d like, but the only way to get better is to keep drawing and not be afraid to have lots of ugly drawings 💪
@@MikeMozzaro kind of a leap of faith, you’ve got to let yourself appreciate your failures. Know that every drawing you do will boost you towards being a better artist, even the ugly ones. I’m sorry if I can’t be of much help, but remember that everyone improves at their own pace and ugly drawings are part of the process
@@mojonel And no advie on how to get into that mindset? Cause honest I just look at my ugly drawings as proof that I'm moving at the wrong pace when other people are doing it right.
@@MikeMozzaro honestly I don’t have much advice for that, it’s kind of something you have to come into yourself. I can assure you that your ugly art doesn’t mean you’re not improving or moving in the wrong way. Every artist improves differently and at different paces, so don’t sweat if it takes years to become comfortable with your art. Best way to improve is to watch videos to learn anatomy, color theory, rendering styles, and find art styles you like and attempt to mimic them until you eventually start to fall into your own art style.
@@mojonel Annoyingly easier said than done... tbh: I actually don't know what I'm more jealous of sometimes; the fact that people like you are good at art; or the fact that you have this mindset that I don't know if I can ever truly have.
i watched this video awhile back, and it got onto my fyp again. this has made me make my art so much better and it doesnt feel scary to draw anymore! i couldnt recommend this more!!!
This is why i love proko educational content with humor and dynamic it dosen't get long and boring even the demos or 1 or 2 hours podcast videos,etc it's always fun to watch and entretaining
I love this, I got the advice in art school to not be precious with it, but for years since I have still struggled with being precious, wanting to make the most beautiful and original artworks. It made me procrastinate all the time and for years I stopped drawing. I recently started it up again a month or so ago, and finally have managed to take the pressure off myself enough to keep doing it and actually enjoy it!
Just wanna say this and your hundreds of other videos have really helped me instruct my grade level students a lot more. The middle grade students especially struggle with crippling perfectionism so I’m gonna use this tack with them today. ❤
The ONLY art advice u need from UA-cam. When I was a kid I used to dump sketchbooks with only a few drawn pages but came to realize that a good piece comes after a few bad ones.
I used to do this and what helped me was to get a blank large sketchbook or a display folder to put my favourite drawings in so I still had a book to present my favourite drawings
Couldn't agree more with this 🙏 I have like so many sketchbooks now from all the way back from highschool and there's some really ugly stuff in there from different points in time. Sketching away is so relaxing tho.
I really appreciate this video, I am right now learning to draw with Proko as one of my many sources and feeling exhausted and wanting my lines to come out clean. This is exasperated by the fact that I have drawn for years but only from my wrist. Just a little emotional boost is exactly what I needed. Great vid and advice.
good advice, i have a “just for fun” sketchbook that i use to practice with different parts of the bod and the occasional funny looking doodle that i draw in to draw good takes time, and while I know im not quite there yet, i know that i will be there at some point in the future
This is amazing advice, and I think it is applicable to most styles of art not just sketchbooks! Im getting into miniature painting and looking at it this way gives me much more confidence
Something else that can help with gaining confidence to draw in a sketchbook is to start cheap and work your way up. Even just doodling something from the Dollar Store (or a cheap sketchbook that's easy to get on sale at your local art store) can help prevent viewing your sketchbook as too-fancy-to-draw-in. Even with some of the fancy sketchbooks I have, I've often come back to using a ballpoint pen or pencil with cheap printer paper quality materials sometimes. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
Nobody could have explained it better, so you know, the best thing to do is to forget about the result and feel free, in your skecthbook there are no good results or bad results, only steps towards improvement, happy new year to all! I hope your art reaches the stars
My art teacher poured his coffee onto my new sketch book and said that if I fill every single page with doodles before the end of class that I'd get an instant A.
sigh... I got into this video far too late.. I'm on my third sketch book. And yes, I did treat my first one ✨preciously ✨ That I even hide it somewhere that I don't even remember. 💀 My second one is still with me and I treated it completely opposite from the 1st one 💀 from thick to thin, and got many scribbles cause of my younger siblings. Now I'm on my 3rd sketch book, I'm treating it in a neutral way. A journey of learning, It was a fun experience.
This is so true!!! Nobody has to see them and even if they do, it'll be really inspiring to see how hard you're working to get better. I honestly find it more inspiring seeing an artist struggle with drawings than to see it almost perfect. Idc, I would love to see wonky hand drawings and trashy proportions. Keep practicing no matter what for yourself.
Took me awhile to finally throw out some of my old sketchbooks. It was amazing though when I finally did it! I never enjoyed looking back on some of those old drawings, and it was just a hoarding thing because well, i thought you should keep any and all art, then I learned that no, i dont have to keep them if i dont want them Literally so liberating !!
At 68 I really am starting my first sketch book along with a UA-cam playlist. Your video will be the first video that I have saved and will stay at the top of the list. Have a beautiful day.
I’m on my technical 2nd sketchbook (my first had a lot of writing in as well and was only really a notebook, 2nd is a proper one) and I think I’ve got about 1 or 2 actually decent drawings in them. But, either way, my bad drawings are less bad than they were before and it’s fun, so it doesn’t really matter!
Thank you… I’m 62 and started drawing g four years ago… I draw a lot, but lately I’ve been getting depressed at being unable to capture the face I’m trying to portray. I get close, but I just can’t ‘stick it’, unless I use a picture, measure carefully, etc. That makes it easy. But I want to see something or someone and draw it. Like it is.
I took to drawing on napkins, paper towels and on a white board to avoid getting too attached to my drawings. It pushes me doing this to draw for fun. And to think, really think about what I'm doing when putting the idea down. Then, when I draw on loose paper or in a sketchbook, I'm more relaxed and comfortable with drawing whatever ends up in my sketchbook.
I made a drawing that at my skill level I would consider beautiful and to reduce the stress I took the absolute goofiest photo known to man of it and it helped a lot
For me just having some garbage pages helped, draw with your non dominant hand, fill it with warm up perspective cubes, exaggerate as far as you can. Then just fill all available space, turn it whatever direction you need to, draw on the backs of pages. This won’t be for everyone but it really helped me be less precious, having my impressive drawing right next to something that looks like it was made by a drunk toddler gave me permission to just let each drawing be whatever it turned out to be and overtime it became more consistently good and less drunk toddler drawings.
I fell into this hole and I never recovered xD I used to draw a whole lot in highschool, had a tidy sketchbook and the ugly one, and it's obvious what that meant. In the tidy one I would recreate manga panels with the twist that I would make them small in the page and then look at references and try to expand it to look like a compete image that spans outside the panels, while in the ugly one I would speed draw things to get into the flow of the object with minimal lines. Sometime in my last year of highschool I'd start to work with A0 paper (because I was in architecture school) and that coincided with my ugly sketchbook running out. I've already bought another one but I had such a bad streak on that one that I didn't wanted to use it anymore, meanwhile the pressure of getting everything right on the big paper (because it was more expensive) made me slowly fall off with the ugly sketches and later I would not draw unless I had a full idea in my head, which barely happens. I failed art university entrance exams and I had a nice streak that ended badly in architecture uni, now I am studying engineerig and keeping drawing as a hobby. What I am trying to say is that the single worst decision I consider to have done to myself was getting rid of the ugly sketchbook. It wasn't even that bad, I was just stuck in my own head about it, people around me continued to progress while I felt I was falling off, even tho looking back at it I was more impressed by the mediums they used than the art itself. Keep that ugly sketchbook, use it. Every tidy sketchbook should have at the very least 4 ugly ones behind it.
As someone who has completed a few sketch books, when I was first starting, it I couldn’t figure something out. I would dedicate a page on one side to tutorials, then, I would free-the drawings on the next. Then just keep doing it. But if you don’t wanna do that, don’t! I also looked at pictures ( references ) to help! ( I still do that, because I can’t draw without a reference)
It took me until my mid 20s to realize this, to never buy expensive fancy paper, buy the thing I can afford to buy and treat like garbage. You'll spend plenty of time early on filling paper with random shaky shapes.
I've never heard this advice before, but was always given similar advice that "practice makes perfect" and "better to draw something terrible than nothing." It's a sketchbook for a reason, because you're sketching out ideas and not everything will be perfect since some are likely only going to be preliminary designs
Omg thank you so much for this! literally one of my biggest struggles in Art, I felt everytime I make a drawing It has to be perfect and to this day I stress myself out with each piece I create and try to fix each little thing lol, It doesn't have to be that way!
As a kid i love to draw so much over the years ever since i was little i kept drawing until eventually we had no space to put the notebooks that has my drawings.lol
Things I learned about keeping a sketchbook: 1) Size matters. My go-to now is a pocket sketchbook. Before, I had these huge sketchbooks that I never filled, and I hated them for all the empty space. Even now, my pocket sketchbook is crowded. That's the way I like it. Go with the size that feels right to you. 2) If you don't like a messy sketchbook, but also want it to look orderly, pre-plan the layout. I use a comic book style in mine. I draw the boxes and then fit anything I decide to draw within them. It keeps everything nice and tidy. (I'm like the kid that doesn't like their food touching, but with art. Lol) 3) Learn while you draw. We can all tell what we need to work on. A sketchbook is the place to try new things. I've been using pen only in my pocket sketchbook. It's been teaching me to think about what I'm drawing before I draw it. I'm also learning more about Values and Shading. Learn while you play. 4) If you're OCD (like I am) about bad drawings, you can redo pages. A page is never completely ruined unless you tear it out. There are methods to fixing bad pages. The post-it note method, gluing a piece of paper over it and drawing again, using the previous drawings' lines as part of the new drawing. I've redone many pages in my sketchbook. There's no permanent mistakes in art. Get creative with it. Keep drawing everybody! It's not just for show if you don't want it to be. Just draw for yourself and draw what makes you happy. 😊
I've heard this advice before but didn't follow it. The following is something that changed completely how a percieve art, both my own and other peoples', and got me to follow this advice (which is very good and helpful). Buddhist monks create zen gardens, write poetry, make paintings, sometimes spending hours, days or even weeks on a single project. Then, they destroy them. They do this intentionally to remind themselves that nothing is permanent, a core belief in buddhism, but also that it is the journey that matters, not the destination. The process of a piece will be more interesting than the product, which is why people like to learn about the history and lives of famous artists and is also why nooone will ever truly enjoy ai art even if it ends up looking better than human art. Even if you dont believe any of that, this is a sketchbook, not something that will end up in a museum. And even if it does, like the sketchbooks of Basquiat or Da Vinci, it would still be an interesting look into your progress. But really the reason you sketch in a sketchbook is to get better and practice. So practice with it as optimally as possible. And once you're done, you've already gaines the experience of the drawing, so you could destroy the book if youd like. Some people like going back to see how much theyve grown but I find the experience cathartic.
This is the single most important point of advice that I’ve needed about art. Took plenty of courses, looked up books and everything but I would get anxiety touching pencil to paper because I wanted it to be “perfect”. Thanks proko!
break up the empty white nothingness of the paper and see the infinite possibilities and power that you wield in your hands.
Oh yeah!! I know that pressure.
Same!! I still struggle with it a lot to the point I don’t draw as much as I used to anymore, but I’m slowly learning
And that's pencil to paper....FORGETTABOUT using ink.
Yeah, I need to untrain myself that every time I draw it needs to be perfect.
Remind yourself that it’s better to have a sketchbook filled with crummy drawings than to have an empty one. If you still have difficulty buy a pack of cheep printer paper and practice on that.
Naww man drawing on printing paper is wack
Better is a cheap sketchbook
itd be hard to keep those papers around for the coming years though, and your early art is precious.
@@user-wc1sq3op7u what you can do is get a hard folder and put those papers into that one and have a soft folder for those drawing that you really hate at the time so you still keep them. Meanwhile you have the better drawings in the hard folder that becomes like a sort of sketchbook that you can add or remove pages from easily.
THIS THIS THIS!! This comment resonated with me so much right now with my art block because of my fair of ruining it. I always draw better on loose paper, I don't know why I haven't thought of just buying a pack specifically for my art!! Thank you so much 🤗❤️
Wish someone told me this as a kid
Same
Same 🙃
same
Same
Me too
That's literally the phase I'm at right now. I almost got intense anxiety over it until I just told myself, "Dude. You can literally erase any mistakes. Just draw, doesn't matter if it's ugly, no one's grading you." I've been drawing freely ever since.
Sharing this mindset with you
@@violetafk8091 you've got this!
Same. As much as I like aesthetic, I don't have the skillset and techniques yet to make good layouts and all that. So I like to make what I like on a page pop out and move on. Also using my book as a wip for other projects is great. Like if I'm making a card for someone and they like waffles, I just went to my sketchbook to figure out the colors ajd technique, thenbdid the actual thing. It's great cuz now my book is filled a little more, and when I look back, I can see my thought process and journey. Looking at it as a snapshot of my mind and process is more fun that being all pretty. Even writing notes and stuff. It helped me overcome that hurdle
@@ggundercover3681 I feel this so much. Wanting to rush into the aesthetician I crave to create but not having the necessary skills for it. Just as you said, slowly and with practice, we'll get there. The journey and process of developing our skills is just as important as achieving our goals.
Same but I don’t think “drawing alot” really works without understanding. I’ve been going through more than 8 sketchbooks in the last couple months (beginning this year) and although there’s some improvement, I really have to take the time to actually learn rather than draw blindly.
This was the sole reason why I’d give up on my sketchbooks almost immediately. Thank you. I wish I’d heard this sooner.
This motivates me to start drawing again.
DO IT!
Now I am motivated
Do it! Start drawing again. I did a couple years back and now I am painting both in acrylic and digitally.
Man I wish, perfectionism ruined it for me, I don't think I'll ever like drawing again
do it!! perfectionism is nothing in your sketchbook, go buckwild if it makes you happy
Pro tip: If you got yourself new sketchbook, and it feels too nice to ‘ruin’ (which for me it can, even though I buy the cheapest one that is fit for purpose that I can find), just go right ahead and scribble all over the very first page. Just absolutely destroy it. Bingo bango, it already looks like utter shit. Then when it’s got plenty of sketches in, terrible, decent, or otherwise, you can cover it up by sticking a title page in, if you want. Not necessary though. Especially when you’re just learning. Most of it really isn’t going to be good at all, and that’s totally fine!
Usually after I'm done with my drawing, sketches, character design I always wrote the date and year! So it'll help me realize how much did I improve each year?
@@mygod2529 Yeah, that’s usually what I stick over the scribble, which is why I do it on the first page. My last one was October - December 2022, so I decorated it with like pumpkins wearing Santa hats etc. I try to keep it on theme, and like you say, it helps keep track of my progress.
😂
I knew I'll get super anxious to draw on my new sketchbook so I went wild and crazy and drew all randoms which came in my mind and most of those were ducks ✨🦆
bingo bango?? bro u goofy
I only started drawing last year and it was digitally. Then I got some watercolors and a sketchbook to try traditional art and when I tell you I’m low-key scared of doing anything on my sketchbook bc I fear it’ll look horrible…ugh. I have to get over it at some point lol
JUST DO IT!!
Good luck! I don't know if this will help you or not, but this is not the only sketchbook in your life. Just imagine how good your drawings will be in the fifth sketchbook, the sixth, the seventh... You can track your progress later. I hope you succeed :)
It literally doesn’t matter if you make bad art. *No one will die.* Ironically this realization made me a better artist because I stopped putting pressure on myself
I used to draw in a cheapo sketchbook for pencil drawings and I also had this watercolor sketchbook that I was afraid to touch. One thing that helped me was using the watercolors on the cheapo super thin paper (I doubled up as well) so I got used to the idea of using the watercolors freely. And then I used the watercolor paper for swatches (or sometimes, I'd use them to freehand/sketch stuff) and then eventually I got used to water-coloring freely (but still using the swatches)
Comparing the colors to a digital thumbnail also helped me feel a bit better with feeling confident about a color.
Just go for it! Something I do that makes it easier to start a sketchbook is to just skip the first page and start on the second. I don’t know if it would help anyone else, but it certainly does for me!
you remind me of an old friend of mine. she was the sweetest soul ): she was the first person to ever encourage me, instead of shunning my artwork, for simply trying. had I ever drawn or painted before? no. did she praise me to high heavens? she sure did, and bless her for it. I’ve met far too many people that shame me over sketches I get so excited to share with them, as if it was some art piece I had spent 20hrs on and called a “masterpiece”. it hurt a lot - to the point I completely gave up. looking back, these were sketches I created within a minute, and just from shapes I could makeout from my scribbles. words like these are much needed, and I wish every child growing up could hear this )): I know I wish I had
that’s why for my less serious pieces, i draw on grid line paper like notebook paper, it comforts me and tells me to not take it so seriously, it doesn’t have to be perfect.
Yeah lined paper is really good, especially since you arent just staring at a blank page then either, even if you only doodle in the margins
even better: my first sketchbooks weren't even sketchbooks, they were those freebie journals you get at events which definitely encouraged me to plough through and use as much paper as I wanted
Lol me too! I'm pretty young so that actually what I'm doing rn
True.
same lol
same, except my first sketchbook was a composition notebook, so i didnt think too much about making the pages look perfect
I’ve found in personal experience that using cheap materials of a lower but still usable quality takes a lot of stress and pressure out of trying to make beautiful art. Since you don’t feel like you have to justify buying or using your supplies it just becomes about making art. Of course, you can also mix and match, like maybe using a slightly more pricey pen that you know you like on inexpensive paper. Ultimately it’s about following the fun.
I lost connection from this channel for about 3 years and suddenly he appeared in my fyp, it's so good seeing him, he's shining more than ever before, i really appreciate you.
Glad to have you back!
the advice I needed when I held onto my first sketchbook for a year and a half while barely filling the first 50 pages
Omg saammeee
SAME SAME
During high school, life was kinda hectic, like every teen, countless quarrels with parents, confused in life in general. Keeping a sketchbook helped me easy my mind, I used to hang around at rooftops of different buildings in Brooklyn and draw whatever I was feeling, pages filled with stories from past, present and potential future. Good times.
I hope you still have at least some pictures of the drawings you made in that time.
That would be a cool sketchbook to see.
Personally I cherish every sketchbook I get knowing I just filled my old one with drawings I can look back at one day and think "Look how much I've improved" just a happy feeling I get
Can you explain why that makes you happy? Cause to me; it just makes me angry and disheartened whenever I see my old stuff.
@@MikeMozzaroI get happy seeing how much I improved since those times, seriously though… sometimes looking at them does make me cringe somewhat 😅😅
2 Sketchbook art tips:
1) Keep a sketchbook that you WILL NOT SHOW ANYONE! It keeps you from worrying about having to make everything look perfect if you know nobody will ever see it anyway.
2) Before you start a piece, scribble on the page. You won't have the burden of needing every line to be perfect if the page is already imperfect.
Thanks for these 2 tips.I appreciate it.
Questions to each;
1) How does that work? Even if no one else sees it; you see it. And why wouldn't you be wanting to show everybody everything you do; what's the point of drawing if you aren't?
2) You mean like the entire thing? Or just like... a corner? Cause the only way I can see tha advice working is if you literally just ruin the entire page, but then I don't know how you're supposed to know if your doing it right.
@@MikeMozzaro, answer to each:
1) Most people try to do everything perfectly (even their practice/studies) because they're worried about what other people will say when they see it. But it's better to do many passable drawings as opposed to doing only one perfectly.
Also, most of my drawings I don't show to anyone else... I draw because I like it, not to please others.
The need to share everything you do is a pretty modern concept. People can't even cook a meal without seeking validation, but even the greatest painters of all time have unpublished art that was only discovered after their deaths.
2) Why would you think you have to "ruin the entire page"?
When you draw guide lines, they're hardly ever visible by the time you finish the piece. Just draw some light scribbles on the page. 🤷♂
@@RtAtelier Can't really comment on 2) since I don't actually know what you mean by guidelines so I'll just focus on 1)...
what do you mean by "you draw because you like it"?
I keep seeing people say this, but I genuinely don't understand how you can enjoy doing, well: *anything* if you aren't doing it to show other people and having them respect what you've done.
@@MikeMozzaro, that... sad.
I draw, I play instruments and I have many other hobbies that I enjoy doing; most people don't even know I do them.
You're basically saying that you can't enjoy doing anything unless you're able to show it off and get approval from others. If you were alone on Earth, there would be nothing that would bring you joy.
Your happiness is solely dependent on other people. That means if you wanted to do something (draw, for example) and others didn't respect it, you'd stop...
I burn through my sketchbooks pretty quickly, and the looking back on them is absolutely wild. You really get to see how far you've come
How many sketchbooks do you think you go through a year?
@@HeavenAboveRtas around 3-4 ish a year. I can usually get through a 120 page A4 sketchbook in 3 months
@@241Cookies__ Good shit. Myself, around 2-3 120 page books, at least this year.
I usually draw the human body, and just looking back at my sketchbook 5 months ago, I can see the improvement. It's Insane.
I just started drawing tbh so the improvement Is visible and clear, but it's still so relieving to actually see I AM getting better. And to think of the future where I am accomplished and can draw what I like and what I see, It makes my heart warm. If that makes sense.
Bruh I got one with 100 pages, last week and I already filled it 💀
@@god.usopp2yearsago115 Damn. Tbh, nowadays I've been filling in books fast as well, because my drawings have been getting bigger and filling the entire page, while they only take on usual around 10 minutes...
By the way, in that week or so, how many hours did you usually draw in a session?... Of course, if you even time it.
Also, don’t be afraid to reuse pages. I have so many pages in sketchbooks that are empty or almost empty because I treated it as precious and didn’t wanna “ruin it” with a drawing from a different day than I started with.
I gotta admit, you made me feel a lot more confident with it! Why did such a short video change me so much-
you read my mind. I was so anxious to keep every page beautiful. It’s time to accept the truth. Thank you Proko
I really needed this. I hardly touch my sketchbooks because I literally don't know what to draw. If I just draw whatever small thing randomly pops in my head I'll be doing a lot better.
I think that's a good idea. I have also started allowing myself to 'copy' various art styles and subject ideas and do them in my sketchbook using different mediums (think abstract pattern and mandala art, flowers in certain styles, etc) just to make my own version. Then at least I've made something and had fun, and it can help me develop my own ideas/skills/style. Even if it's 'easy' doodle-style art or something
If you dont know what to draw try sercing for those month challenges (ink-tober,mer-may itd). It gives you something to draw everyday. Doesn't have to be big like those influences make it l, just something to motive you to draw and use your creativity each day. Once you creativity starts it'll gradually get you motivation you need
I never really had this type of anxiety when I started out.
but seeing other ppls sketch books how clean and organized they were it would be filled with good/passable drawings compared to mine which is pure chaos, unrecognizable sketches, and only one good drawing for every 5 pages.
I started to develop that anxiety and it even lead to me almost giving up on drawing.
but now I'm glad that,
that shouldn't be the case looking back at all my sketches and how much fun it was to draw, that's really all that mattered just enjoying myself despite that mess that is my sketchbook.
Honest question: how was it fun for you? *why* was it fun for you?
You say you look back and realise you find it fun even though you weren't that good; how did you do that?
I think sketchbooks are a grade tool to learn drawing for there ability to put them away and ignore them for ages, they are good to see progress and to get motivated. Also if you dont like it, the putting it away thing still works.
Nice video btw
This is probably the best art advice anyone could ever get
Needed to hear this, getting back into it for animation purposes and it’s really easy to be hard on yourself, especially if you compare. I learned to treat drawing like a plant you need to take care of rather than a competition with myself.
Honestly, post it notes are a lifesaver for me in my sketchbooks. You can use them to cover up mistakes, cover spots where markers bleed through, and they come in a bunch of fun colors and shapes. Sometimes if I don’t want to carry my sketchbook out of the house with me, I’ll just keep some post it notes and a pencil in my pocket and doodle in that. Then if I have any drawings that I really like, I can stick the post it in my sketchbook. They’re such a nice tool to fill up empty space too.
i needed this two years ago. i remember tearing out pages of my sketchbook just because it didn't look "perfect" and as aesthetic as other artists online.
I fill out half my sketchbook, then I go back and fix the messed up pages. Carry on with my sketchbook once done and then go over the entire book.
It helps me be less stressed about my sketchbook’s appearance knowing I will later fix it :3
I recommend to write the date your drawer a piece!
off topic but i see that flag in the background of your pfppp ok i was just gonna say “i like it” but that felt weird but what i just said may have been weirder.. IDK HOW TO CONVEY THIS BUT YEA I SEE IT AND ITS COOL🧍
omg, I just bought my first sketchbook yesterday, thank youu!!
Thanks for saying I can't draw something beautiful yet, I'm still fighting myself over letting go of my anxiety and worries of not being able to draw good. But I think after not drawing for about 6 years old due to my worries, it's time to finally let myself enjoy the process of learning how to draw
I draw nonsense and dumb stuff in some of my sketchbooks and practice drawing anatomy and other stuff in it especially drawing thumbnails for an art project or character design,
exploring tons of possibilities in the sketchbook is one way to have a fresh mind and improve faster,
thanks for the very helpful advice many people really needed it.
"Even your silly doodles" ((Shows up amazing page))
Btw thank you. I'll make sure I fill those blank pages even if it feels silly
Exactly! Most artist i know have this fear of someone seeing their beginning works. Even though this one is saying one thing but he can't commit to it, thus expecting us to believe he's born this way. I've seen his sketchbook tours. He talks about same thing all the while showing only later works! Even though if one has always drawn perfect human from the very start, we all know we'd struggled with drawing an apple at one point in our life. Show us that and I believe it would make for a better advice
@@rishabhmayank thats true, a lot of people will have sketchbook tours but only show their later or more recent work, or ones that are only a couple years old when they are already at a really good level skill-wise. Nothing wrong with that, but, I want to see a "10+ year old sketchbook" tour dammit! make me feel good about having crummy sketches too!! lol.
@@pokaay3163 Same bud! I can give ya my sketch book tour.🤣🤣 and trust me it's horrid. Specifically in the beginning.. OF EVERY SKETCH BOOK!! i
He did say even those would be “good enough to show people.” So he’s clearly still proud of them.
This is exactly what I needed most in this moment, been struggling with art because I am always so ashamed when it comes out not as good as I’d like, but the only way to get better is to keep drawing and not be afraid to have lots of ugly drawings 💪
How do you stop being afraid?
@@MikeMozzaro kind of a leap of faith, you’ve got to let yourself appreciate your failures. Know that every drawing you do will boost you towards being a better artist, even the ugly ones. I’m sorry if I can’t be of much help, but remember that everyone improves at their own pace and ugly drawings are part of the process
@@mojonel And no advie on how to get into that mindset? Cause honest I just look at my ugly drawings as proof that I'm moving at the wrong pace when other people are doing it right.
@@MikeMozzaro honestly I don’t have much advice for that, it’s kind of something you have to come into yourself. I can assure you that your ugly art doesn’t mean you’re not improving or moving in the wrong way. Every artist improves differently and at different paces, so don’t sweat if it takes years to become comfortable with your art. Best way to improve is to watch videos to learn anatomy, color theory, rendering styles, and find art styles you like and attempt to mimic them until you eventually start to fall into your own art style.
@@mojonel Annoyingly easier said than done...
tbh: I actually don't know what I'm more jealous of sometimes; the fact that people like you are good at art; or the fact that you have this mindset that I don't know if I can ever truly have.
i watched this video awhile back, and it got onto my fyp again. this has made me make my art so much better and it doesnt feel scary to draw anymore! i couldnt recommend this more!!!
Glad to hear it!
That's What I have been searching for THANK YOU A LOT
This is why i love proko educational content with humor and dynamic it dosen't get long and boring even the demos or 1 or 2 hours podcast videos,etc it's always fun to watch and entretaining
I love this, I got the advice in art school to not be precious with it, but for years since I have still struggled with being precious, wanting to make the most beautiful and original artworks. It made me procrastinate all the time and for years I stopped drawing. I recently started it up again a month or so ago, and finally have managed to take the pressure off myself enough to keep doing it and actually enjoy it!
where has this advice been all my life? Thank you, Proko.
Just wanna say this and your hundreds of other videos have really helped me instruct my grade level students a lot more. The middle grade students especially struggle with crippling perfectionism so I’m gonna use this tack with them today. ❤
I'm happy it can help! Good luck with the teaching!
Did it work? And if it did; can' you try and explain it to me how to overcome pefectionalism?
The ONLY art advice u need from UA-cam. When I was a kid I used to dump sketchbooks with only a few drawn pages but came to realize that a good piece comes after a few bad ones.
I used to do this and what helped me was to get a blank large sketchbook or a display folder to put my favourite drawings in so I still had a book to present my favourite drawings
Couldn't agree more with this 🙏
I have like so many sketchbooks now from all the way back from highschool and there's some really ugly stuff in there from different points in time. Sketching away is so relaxing tho.
That’s why I always keep the first page blank I always go back once it’s filled and do the best I can on that page it truly shows how far I’ve come
I really appreciate this video, I am right now learning to draw with Proko as one of my many sources and feeling exhausted and wanting my lines to come out clean. This is exasperated by the fact that I have drawn for years but only from my wrist.
Just a little emotional boost is exactly what I needed. Great vid and advice.
This was the best advice I’ve ever gotten, thank you so much!
good advice, i have a “just for fun” sketchbook that i use to practice with different parts of the bod
and the occasional funny looking doodle that i draw in
to draw good takes time, and while I know im not quite there yet, i know that i will be there at some point in the future
This is something I really needed to hear lately. Thank you.
ive thrown away some of my oldest sketchbooks, but im thinking of keeping mine now, it's almost finished
This is amazing advice, and I think it is applicable to most styles of art not just sketchbooks! Im getting into miniature painting and looking at it this way gives me much more confidence
Best advice ever. I even buy just standard notebooks to draw in because I know I can always buy more
I’ve been trying not to put too much pressure on myself, I’ve come a LONG way as a self taught artist and I’m ready to start a site
Something else that can help with gaining confidence to draw in a sketchbook is to start cheap and work your way up. Even just doodling something from the Dollar Store (or a cheap sketchbook that's easy to get on sale at your local art store) can help prevent viewing your sketchbook as too-fancy-to-draw-in.
Even with some of the fancy sketchbooks I have, I've often come back to using a ballpoint pen or pencil with cheap printer paper quality materials sometimes. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
Exactly!
Nobody could have explained it better, so you know, the best thing to do is to forget about the result and feel free, in your skecthbook there are no good results or bad results, only steps towards improvement, happy new year to all! I hope your art reaches the stars
I like your comment
i'll really take this into account, i'm a starter and many times i get overwhelmed with messing my sketchbook, thanks
Mann…That’s really needs to hear every artists…so quality content PROKO🖤✨
me sitting here like 11 yr old me didn’t just go head on with (frankly childish) fanart after getting my first sketchbook like there was no tomorrow 💀
My art teacher poured his coffee onto my new sketch book and said that if I fill every single page with doodles before the end of class that I'd get an instant A.
Me when the sketchbook cost $20: 😀
sigh... I got into this video far too late..
I'm on my third sketch book.
And yes, I did treat my first one ✨preciously ✨ That I even hide it somewhere that I don't even remember. 💀
My second one is still with me and I treated it completely opposite from the 1st one 💀 from thick to thin, and got many scribbles cause of my younger siblings.
Now I'm on my 3rd sketch book, I'm treating it in a neutral way.
A journey of learning, It was a fun experience.
This is so true!!! Nobody has to see them and even if they do, it'll be really inspiring to see how hard you're working to get better. I honestly find it more inspiring seeing an artist struggle with drawings than to see it almost perfect. Idc, I would love to see wonky hand drawings and trashy proportions. Keep practicing no matter what for yourself.
Took me awhile to finally throw out some of my old sketchbooks. It was amazing though when I finally did it! I never enjoyed looking back on some of those old drawings, and it was just a hoarding thing because well, i thought you should keep any and all art, then I learned that no, i dont have to keep them if i dont want them
Literally so liberating !!
The Waffle house has found it's new host.
The Waffle House has found it’s new host
I'm on book 11 and this still helps to hear. Thanks a ton!
Draw like water is a saying that’s helped me when I overthink or start rushing a doodle
I wish I had this video when I started my first sketchbook 😭
At 68 I really am starting my first sketch book along with a UA-cam playlist. Your video will be the first video that I have saved and will stay at the top of the list. Have a beautiful day.
Good luck on your art journey!
@@ProkoTV Thank you so much.🦄
I’m on my technical 2nd sketchbook (my first had a lot of writing in as well and was only really a notebook, 2nd is a proper one) and I think I’ve got about 1 or 2 actually decent drawings in them. But, either way, my bad drawings are less bad than they were before and it’s fun, so it doesn’t really matter!
Thank you… I’m 62 and started drawing g four years ago… I draw a lot, but lately I’ve been getting depressed at being unable to capture the face I’m trying to portray. I get close, but I just can’t ‘stick it’, unless I use a picture, measure carefully, etc. That makes it easy. But I want to see something or someone and draw it. Like it is.
It took time for me to accept this. But the more I DON'T worry about it, the more I am loving it!
Thank you!
I just bought my first new sketchbook and this came out in my recommendation
Something ain't right but this short helps out alot!
That's sooo truee😭 im literally pressuring myself too much to draw beautiful Drawing😭
Omg ty I just started
A tip I saw. If ur having anxiety because of the blank page. Scribble on it then draw on it
Love to see your first and latest sketchbook
I took to drawing on napkins, paper towels and on a white board to avoid getting too attached to my drawings. It pushes me doing this to draw for fun. And to think, really think about what I'm doing when putting the idea down.
Then, when I draw on loose paper or in a sketchbook, I'm more relaxed and comfortable with drawing whatever ends up in my sketchbook.
this is such a great idea! i'll be using this thank you :)
This advice is far more valuable than people realise
I made a drawing that at my skill level I would consider beautiful and to reduce the stress I took the absolute goofiest photo known to man of it and it helped a lot
For me just having some garbage pages helped, draw with your non dominant hand, fill it with warm up perspective cubes, exaggerate as far as you can. Then just fill all available space, turn it whatever direction you need to, draw on the backs of pages. This won’t be for everyone but it really helped me be less precious, having my impressive drawing right next to something that looks like it was made by a drunk toddler gave me permission to just let each drawing be whatever it turned out to be and overtime it became more consistently good and less drunk toddler drawings.
thank you so much for advice now i know what i have to do😃
This is seriously some great advice for aspiring artists like myself. Props to you. 🤘
I fell into this hole and I never recovered xD I used to draw a whole lot in highschool, had a tidy sketchbook and the ugly one, and it's obvious what that meant. In the tidy one I would recreate manga panels with the twist that I would make them small in the page and then look at references and try to expand it to look like a compete image that spans outside the panels, while in the ugly one I would speed draw things to get into the flow of the object with minimal lines. Sometime in my last year of highschool I'd start to work with A0 paper (because I was in architecture school) and that coincided with my ugly sketchbook running out. I've already bought another one but I had such a bad streak on that one that I didn't wanted to use it anymore, meanwhile the pressure of getting everything right on the big paper (because it was more expensive) made me slowly fall off with the ugly sketches and later I would not draw unless I had a full idea in my head, which barely happens. I failed art university entrance exams and I had a nice streak that ended badly in architecture uni, now I am studying engineerig and keeping drawing as a hobby.
What I am trying to say is that the single worst decision I consider to have done to myself was getting rid of the ugly sketchbook. It wasn't even that bad, I was just stuck in my own head about it, people around me continued to progress while I felt I was falling off, even tho looking back at it I was more impressed by the mediums they used than the art itself. Keep that ugly sketchbook, use it. Every tidy sketchbook should have at the very least 4 ugly ones behind it.
i was surfing through internet how to make my sketch book beautiful... but dude, u opened the portal of reality 💀
As someone who has completed a few sketch books, when I was first starting, it I couldn’t figure something out. I would dedicate a page on one side to tutorials, then, I would free-the drawings on the next. Then just keep doing it. But if you don’t wanna do that, don’t! I also looked at pictures ( references ) to help! ( I still do that, because I can’t draw without a reference)
It took me until my mid 20s to realize this, to never buy expensive fancy paper, buy the thing I can afford to buy and treat like garbage. You'll spend plenty of time early on filling paper with random shaky shapes.
Thanks Proko! Now I can draw on my sketchbook with ease and comfort!
I've never heard this advice before, but was always given similar advice that "practice makes perfect" and "better to draw something terrible than nothing." It's a sketchbook for a reason, because you're sketching out ideas and not everything will be perfect since some are likely only going to be preliminary designs
Omg thank you so much for this! literally one of my biggest struggles in Art, I felt everytime I make a drawing It has to be perfect and to this day I stress myself out with each piece I create and try to fix each little thing lol, It doesn't have to be that way!
As a kid i love to draw so much over the years ever since i was little i kept drawing until eventually we had no space to put the notebooks that has my drawings.lol
And if it’s terrible remember later on you’ll laugh at it and looking at it will be enjoyable to see how much you improved
Things I learned about keeping a sketchbook:
1) Size matters. My go-to now is a pocket sketchbook. Before, I had these huge sketchbooks that I never filled, and I hated them for all the empty space. Even now, my pocket sketchbook is crowded. That's the way I like it. Go with the size that feels right to you.
2) If you don't like a messy sketchbook, but also want it to look orderly, pre-plan the layout. I use a comic book style in mine. I draw the boxes and then fit anything I decide to draw within them. It keeps everything nice and tidy. (I'm like the kid that doesn't like their food touching, but with art. Lol)
3) Learn while you draw. We can all tell what we need to work on. A sketchbook is the place to try new things. I've been using pen only in my pocket sketchbook. It's been teaching me to think about what I'm drawing before I draw it. I'm also learning more about Values and Shading. Learn while you play.
4) If you're OCD (like I am) about bad drawings, you can redo pages. A page is never completely ruined unless you tear it out. There are methods to fixing bad pages. The post-it note method, gluing a piece of paper over it and drawing again, using the previous drawings' lines as part of the new drawing. I've redone many pages in my sketchbook. There's no permanent mistakes in art. Get creative with it.
Keep drawing everybody! It's not just for show if you don't want it to be. Just draw for yourself and draw what makes you happy. 😊
This is actually so helpful. I needed to hear this
THANKS FOR THE ADVICE
I'LL DO IT
Thank you for the adviceee ❤
This is so improtant advice cause i got anxiety after treating my sketchbook so pure and like a baby i got a new one and im drawing freely ever since
Glad to hear you conquered that! It's really common and so freeing once you move past it.
Enjoy The Process Not Only The Victory ❤
Thanks i was just starting a mini sketchbook!♡
I've heard this advice before but didn't follow it. The following is something that changed completely how a percieve art, both my own and other peoples', and got me to follow this advice (which is very good and helpful). Buddhist monks create zen gardens, write poetry, make paintings, sometimes spending hours, days or even weeks on a single project. Then, they destroy them. They do this intentionally to remind themselves that nothing is permanent, a core belief in buddhism, but also that it is the journey that matters, not the destination. The process of a piece will be more interesting than the product, which is why people like to learn about the history and lives of famous artists and is also why nooone will ever truly enjoy ai art even if it ends up looking better than human art. Even if you dont believe any of that, this is a sketchbook, not something that will end up in a museum. And even if it does, like the sketchbooks of Basquiat or Da Vinci, it would still be an interesting look into your progress. But really the reason you sketch in a sketchbook is to get better and practice. So practice with it as optimally as possible. And once you're done, you've already gaines the experience of the drawing, so you could destroy the book if youd like. Some people like going back to see how much theyve grown but I find the experience cathartic.
I stumbled upon this video at the perfect time. I bought my first sketchbook today, and I was worried about this. Thank you for this advice!
Ngl this is what i needed to hear :)
I wish I knew this sooner. Itmade my day