You NEED to Keep TWO Sketchbooks!

 If you are an artist and you don't keep at least two sketchbooks, you could be doing it wrong. Of course, you can do whatever you want, but, keeping two sketchbooks is undoubtedly better than just one. In this article I hope to give you some pros of two sketchbooks and open your mind to the reasons why many artists have two sketchbooks. 

Photo by Ivan Samkov

From what I've seen, most artists have, at the very least. two sketchbook. Many of them even have upwards of five sketchbooks going at one time. And I'm not talking about art supply collectors either, I am just talking about normal artists who make art. For the most part, artists keep one messy sketchbook and one more refined cleaner sketchbook. They can both be the same size or they can be different sizes, but the overall idea is to have different sketchbooks for different purposes.

The Messy Sketchbook

The funny thing about an artists messy sketchbook is that you'll probably never get to see it. So, I can really only speak from what I keep in my messy sketchbook. The messy sketchbook is where an artist can experiment with mediums, styles, and, improve their skills. The messy sketchbook is a place where the artist can freely experiment without the fear that someone is going to see it. With social media becoming an ever growing presence in the life of visual creators, a messy sketchbook can sometimes be the only place were you can try somehing without the fear of what the algorithm will do or what others will think. Personally, my messy sketchbook has everything from figure studies and bad portraits, to comic book studies and color swatches. It is very rewarding to be able to hide away into a sketchbook, draw exactly what you want to, and never have to show anyone. 

Photo by Kampus Production

The Refined Sketchbook

The refined or presentable sketchbook is the one that you will see most often on social media. If you see a sketchbook tour on YouTube or Instagram, you can bet that this is that artists refined sketchbook. In my  presentable sketchbook, I take more time to plan out my paintings, I usually stay within a specific style and more often than not, I post the result on social media. I make a concerted effort to keep the the sketchbook looking as pretty as possible. This can sometimes lead to unnecessary stress and anxiety about trying to keep up an appearance of 'perfection' or that I only make 'good' art. But the reality is, I make plenty of bad art, it's just that most of it doesn't make it to my refined sketchbook. It stays hidden in my messy sketchbook.

A Step Further

Beyond the messy and refined sketchbooks, some artist go one step further. Some artists keep a sketchbook for just about every type of art that they make. They keep a sketchbook for pencil drawings, a sketchbook for portraits, a sketchbook for watercolor, a sketchbook for gouache and so on. Some of you might say that this is a bit overkill, but I can see why someone would want to keep their art so separated. If you know that you want to sketch a portrait, grabbing your portrait sketchbook and instantly being inspired by your other work could be a really great way to get going. Of course the clutter of keeping so many sketchbooks could be a pain, I see its merits. I personally do have a third sketchbook. I keep a third sketchbook for my self portrait charcoal drawings. I keep all of these drawings separate because I want to keep track (specifically) of my progress with portraits and document the changes in my physical appearance without other art getting in the way.

 However many sketchbooks you have, I just hope that you keep making art and enjoy it as often as you can.