Fill a Sketchbook

An image of part of first entry in my new sketchbook. This entry's prompt was a horseshoe crab.

My first task is deceptively simple. I started a new sketchbook and I would like to fill it.

It’s been a while since I made a sketchbook that was purely for art. For the past few years, I only kept a nature journal. Nature journaling is a little different from keeping an artist’s sketchbook. My nature journals only included observational drawings, writings, diagrams and bits of research. There was very little experimentation with different media. Its subject matter was limited to illustrating the natural world and biological concepts.

I love to nature-journal, but I haven’t felt the urge to practice since I quit my public parks job over a year ago. Because of this, I’ve gone back to keeping a plain, old sketchbook.

An image of one of my nature journaling pages. This page illustrates and describes an alder.

That being said, I like what I like and I really only have interest in drawing animals, plants and maybe a landscape or two. So, this sketchbook looks very nature-inspired.

My approach to this sketchbook is also very different from others I’ve done in the past. Instead of waiting around for inspiration, I decided to give myself prompts. On scraps of paper, I scribbled out a few concepts I wanted to do some visual investigation on. Then, I put them in a box and I pull  at random when needing some help getting motivated to draw.

My tole box of surprises and  my Campus sketchbook

Okay, most of these “concepts” are cool animals I want to learn more about. I threw in  a few adjectives and maybe a few environments. But… yeah, it's mostly animals.

I still plan on having random doodle pages and scribbles as I need them. Also, I would like to challenge myself to use a large range of supplies and materials I don’t often think about using when nature journaling.

A loose doodle of a pair of strange rats

My original plan was that I was going to finish  by the end of July. It's only a 30-page campus notebook. I was so sure I was going to finish by August. But, here it is, almost November. Oh well that's how it goes most of the time. One day, I promise I will be good at not just making goals — but completing them.