Sacred Sketchbook

[Stormslegacy]

When I use an actual sketchbook I never draw on the first page >.> I don't know why but I always find the very first page too intimidating, because it sets the tone for the rest I guess? It's pretty much a superstition, so I always leave it blank. After that one I'm pretty good, though sometimes I just prefer copypaper when I'm in one of "those" moods where it's too intimidating.

[Vay]

I have the tendency to buy new sketchbooks even though the majority of the pages in the old ones are blank. I get pretty high off getting new sketchbooks.

[Pilgrim1099]

@Crane, nice stack of sketchbooks! My current stack resembles one of them in a column.

[Pilgrim1099]

I have two spiral bound SB, one is an A5 I use for whatever and the other is an A3 I use on my desk for more "serious" studies.

I've been thinking of adding a hard cover to the small one (or the next). Sorta of stained and rusty, so it looks like a really old book. Like one of those Indiana Jones notebooks Pilgrim1099 mentioned, love that look.

That would be similar to Moleskine which would be the closest thing you can get, but there are some pocket notebooks sold in bookstores like Barnes & Noble that replicate that feel as well. The pages have to be ink resistant which is most important. That's one reason why I love Moleskine for because ink flows smoothly on it as well as graphite.

Here's another neat web page that relates to notebooks in the nostalgic past for reputable men and old school, I may add:

http://artofmanliness.com/2010/09/13...20-famous-men/

And of course THIS from Indiana Jones and The Last Crusade: http://www.indyprops.com/pp-gdiary2.htm

[QueenGwenevere]

When I use an actual sketchbook I never draw on the first page.

I tend to skip the first page, too, but for practical reasons. The first page faces the inside cover, and pages that rub against the inside cover inevitably go all smeary, I find. Especially if the cover has a nubbly texture like the Strathmore sketchbooks I usually use...

[Januz]

That would be similar to Moleskine which would be the closest thing you can get, but there are some pocket notebooks sold in bookstores like Barnes & Noble that replicate that feel as well. The pages have to be ink resistant which is most important. That's one reason why I love Moleskine for because ink flows smoothly on it as well as graphite.

Here's another neat web page that relates to notebooks in the nostalgic past for reputable men and old school, I may add:

http://artofmanliness.com/2010/09/13...20-famous-men/

And of course THIS from Indiana Jones and The Last Crusade: http://www.indyprops.com/pp-gdiary2.htm

I've read great things about Moleskine, but it's a little expensive for a notebook at ~$130 ( about US$30). There are some cheap Brügge that look pretty good tho.

Loved the article! Leonardo's book looks like it could contain all the mysteries of the universe.

[Pilgrim1099]

I've read great things about Moleskine, but it's a little expensive for a notebook at ~$130 ( about US$30). There are some cheap Brügge that look pretty good tho.

Loved the article! Leonardo's book looks like it could contain all the mysteries of the universe.

Glad you liked the article!

[Vermis]

Poundland. 24 pages. Guess how much each.

There's very little about these that makes them seem too precious or intimidating to draw in.

[Psychotime]

24 pages.

...What's the point of even buying that small?

[OmenSpirits]

Man, I'll draw on anything I can keep. A sketchbook in the past to me would be like being forced to use it once started, so I'd find myself drawing on random scrap paper while that damn book would be crisp and clean.

Now, I just forget that I have a particular type of sb, see it online and the impulse purchaser in me goes 'click'. So bad I know.

[Vermis]

...What's the point of even buying that small?

'Cos if I added another one to that pile of four, I'd have more pages than the next cheapest hardback sketchbook I found on the high street, and it'd still come out at almost half the price. What's the point of even buying that big?

Added to that, each one's not particularly well-made, unimpressive, and overall seems pretty expendable. It's great. Something for the teething troubles of this particular topic, or so I thought.

[George guy]

My cost saving drawing options look like this.

1. Check area arts & crafts stores for what they sell in their house brand. Some of them have sketchbooks, like Michael's (Artist's Loft brand) for instance. At one point in the last year or two they had a 110pg 5 1/2" x 8" hardbound sketchbook for $5. My motto for deals like that is "I'll take four."
2. Clipboard + computer paper, get some kind of file organizer for saving the pages you want to keep. This is very cost-effective if you get computer paper by the case, and still relatively cheap (compared to mainstream brand drawing pads and sketchbooks) even if you upgrade to nicer paper, like 28lb heavyweight printing paper.
3. Closeout/surplus/overstock stores like Big Lots or Ollie's. They usually have drawing paper, as well as basic office pens/pencils, Crayola and sub-Crayola (you know what I mean) crayon, marker, and colored pencil sets.
4. Newsprint. There's something pleasurable about the feel of drawing with a ballpoint pen on newsprint. I don't like using pencils on newsprint, though, unless they're dark carbon pencils or charcoal.

[Star Eater]

I have the tendency to buy new sketchbooks even though the majority of the pages in the old ones are blank. I get pretty high off getting new sketchbooks.

That's totally weird and such a waste.


I do it all the time.

[vineris]

I do it all the time.

Me too. I have a cut-off limit though. Once I have a big enough backlog the guilt takes over and makes me fill the sketchbooks so that I can buy more. Otherwise I would just be a filthy hoarder and live in a nest of empty sketchbooks and yarn.

[QueenGwenevere]

Heh. I fill mine eventually, but I admit to compulsive sketchbook impulse-buying even when I have whole heaps of empty ones I haven't started yet. Part of it's my hoarding instinct and fear of running out (I have bad dreams about running out of pages when I need them...) And of course new sketchbooks are just so irresistable...

(Especially cute sketchbooks. See cute sketchbook, buy cute sketchbook, that's me.)

[Psychotime]

Ooh, what kind, what kind? At this point I really should move on from black Canson hardcovers.

[Spirit]

I'm extremely relieved to see I'm not the only person who hoards sketchbooks! I'm not as bad as I used to be, but that's through a lot of very difficult self control. I'm getting through my sketchbooks now though, the hoarding came in handy when I started university and need tonnes of sketchbooks. Oh and supplies... I love buying new supplies just incase I might run out one day... ebay is both a blessing and a curse!

More on topic - I used to have the exact same fear. That's why my hoard of sketchbooks never were used to begin with. I just started asking myself why I was so scared to draw in them, and realised the answers would only be solved by doing what I was scared of - drawing in the damn sketchbook. I tend to approach it with a "fearless" mindset, what have you got to lose? There is always more paper to draw on, and there is always something to learn, even from the 'bad' work.

[OmenSpirits]

Funny, I never liked those hard covered sketchbooks.

Something about them never aesthetically worked for me. Ring binding I like better.

[dpaint]

I have different sketchbooks for different things. I like 11x14 sketchbooks for coming up with ideas and everyday sketching either at home or when I'm out and about. Then I also have 9x12 sketchbooks that I use to develop an idea and elements for a painting. I usually will use one of these per one or two paintings, so I go through them pretty fast. I get the cheap 9x12 ones from Barnes and Noble with the Asian prints on the cover. They're hard cover and spiral. The 11x14's are black hard cover and spiral too and I buy them in bulk from the online big box art stores.
When I was really broke I would buy a ream or box of cheap printer paper and have kinkos (now Fedex office) make them up into 100 page spiral notebooks for me.