The Working Sketchbook

I decided to write about the working sketchbook because a lot of people think of a sketchbook as this pristine, beautiful, well laid out art journal. The fact is keeping a sketchbook, a working sketchbook, is about keeping a mostly visual notebook. A place to keep rough sketches, notes, plans, color chips, dyed swatches, photos, collages, inspirational quotes, and even the occasional grocery or to do list (after all you will want to keep your sketchbook with you at all times to catch those fleeting thoughts and inspirations...and, well, paper is paper when you need to make a list...lol). A working sketchbook is supposed to be messy. It is supposed to be rough. By all means, feel free to keep an art journal too. You can further develop your ideas in the art journal. But, the working sketchbook is your place to jot things down as they come up so you don't forget. If you are interested in checking out a book that talks about textile artist's keeping sketchbooks take a look at "Creating Sketchbooks for Embroiderers and Textile Artists" by Kay Greenlees here. It took me a long time to realize that it was okay for me to keep a sketchbook even though I don't draw all that well. Now I can't do without it. The important thing is to not be intimidated by the word sketchbook. They are not only for those who draw well. Below is a picture of a sketch from one of my past working sketchbooks and one of the textile I created from it (notice that the sketches are really rough...and that was all I needed to work). Above is a picture of a digital collage made of photos I kept in one of my sketchbooks.