The first thing that comes to mind, thinking about sketching in general, is Leonardo da Vinci. So, they were collected and kept safe for future generations to admire and interpret.

Thankfully some wise people recognised many, many years ago that sketchbooks were not irrelevant discards but tiny pieces of art and invaluable to understanding their creators, how they thought and how they worked. You cannot write a post about sketchbooks without mentioning some of the most famous, and most beautiful examples from history. Most often, at least historically, a sketchbook was, in fact, a combination of all of these. It can be quite soothing to sit at one’s desk and play with pretty colours for no reason other than the heck of it. Not to record anything or work out an artistic masterpiece, just to doodle in to relax the mind. Painters and sculptors use it to study objects and to make drafts for more elaborate works.Īnd sometimes a sketchbook is kept simply as a diversion. Or it can be used as a workbook instead, to collect information needed to create a new piece of art. Especially before globalisation and the Internet a well-kept travel journal must have been quite the diversion back home. It can be a diary, to record daily happenings, interesting sights, one’s surroundings and thoughts. Little collections of memories that would be unwrapped while crouching on a boulder of some ancient ruin in the Amazons, sketching the daily routines of a native tribe to record their “peculiar” habits and the strange painted marks on their skin.Īnd you're all correct, of course. Many will think of leather-bound journals that artistically inclined travellers used to take with them on their journeys. I'm sure each of you have their own little picture in mind. It’s often difficult to distinguish between sketchbook, notebook and journal, but for the purpose of this article we’ll count everything that has more than a handful of drawings in it.

The only common consensus seems to be that it ought to be portable (and I’m not even too convinced of this restriction). No two people will have the same exact idea of what a sketchbook is. Through the centuries they have been used by artists, inventors and scientists alike, whether they were made from leather, cardboard or just a collection of stray papers.ĭoes it have to be a book, specifically? Or does a folder count? And if so, what about scrolls, loose paper, papyrus? Sketchbooks have been with us, in one form or another, for thousands of years.

Professional artist sketchbook