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[…] Kleon shares photos of his sketchbook. I applaud Austin’s efforts to ensure that his sketchbooks are not precious things, but […]
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[…] Sketchbook: July 2009 – May 2010 Aleluia, porque de cadernos limpos, artísticos e esforçados, está o mundo cheio e farto. [+] […]
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[…] vous invite à aller voir le site de Austin Kleon et ses petits carnet comme je les aiment. Remplis de petits dessins pas […]
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[…] ?????????? ???????? ?? Austin Kleon +++ […]
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[…] blog I found a post I quite liked. It was one of him showing his sketchbook (which is here), which isn’t uncommon for designs/artists. But I really liked one of the things he said […]
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[…] Moleskine-geneuzel. Of in zijn eigen woorden: “sketchbooks should be sketchy”. Op zijn blog vind je een leuke selectie aan […]
Hi. I suppose the type you used is your own handwriting. How do you scan it in so nicely that it gets such a clean look? Do you use a tablet? Illustrator? Photoshop? Maybe a bit off topic but I really like it. And of course… very cool sketchbook! Love your research into colors by scrappign up candy paper :)
It’s sad that they don’t sell that notebook yet in my country. But great work, as always!
JR – the “type” is just me drawing over the photos in Photoshop with a Wacom tablet :)
Lance – that sucks, but thanks!
Your mind works in fantastic ways it seems! Great work!
Loved your sketchbook, Austin. Inspired by you, Dave Gray, Sunni Brown and Mike Rhode, I have finally convinced myself that the only way of improving is drawing a lot — and my pages have been filled daily ever since. Big, heartfelt thanks to you.
Looking at your pages, I was wondering: what pens do you use? Most stores here in Rio offer a meager selection, and I long for tips on what to buy online. If you would be so kind to enlighten me, I would be glad.
Keep up the good work!
Chris – thanks!
Vitor – Happy to hear it! As far as tools go, here’s a list of pens I carry around in my bag:
http://www.austinkleon.com/2009/09/25/tools/
Love the discipline and honesty you are always willing to share. To the da Vinci in you!
I suffer from creativity/journal/skecthbook envy sometimes,but I am getting better. Because of this,I am greatly inspired by the pictures on this post. I love the honesty and the “sketchiness”!. I’m tired of being afraid to let the first drop of ink blot the first page of a new pristine journal because I’m afraid of the mistakes. Creativity isn’t perfect but it’s beautiful and that’s perfectly ok with me.Thanks for the inpsiration.
Laura – Thanks!
Terrence – that was exactly my intention with this post, so thanks!
That’s great! I try to be the same way about my everyday sketchbooks – after all, at the end of the day, they’re just for me to develop my ideas in, not for me to show off. It’s nice to see someone else who’s the same way! It also got me over the “first page” thing. It always used to be so daunting to start a completely blank sketchbook, but now I just leave that page blank and slowly fill it up with notes I need to jot through out the life of the sketchbook – addresses, phone numbers, etc.
What I loved most were the date stamps, I think I’ll use that in my diary.
I thought sketchbooks were meant for sketching and improving your drawing abilities. This looks like a diary in which you drew a lot :)
AUSTIN. I was all scrolling through your images and then, “I love making lists” jabbed me in the eyes.
I love making lists too (you can see the blog post about it here: http://rebekahjoyplett.blogspot.com/2009/10/i-am-list-maker.html).
I know it is nearly nothing, but it is something we have in common and I like it.
i respect anyone who has the drive to follow through with a sketchbook
especially 300 pages, congrats. :D
Oh man, so cool.
I’ve never understood how or why everyone else in the world seemed to save their sketchbooks for perfectly laid-out, fully polished work… It’s so nice to see someone else treating theirs like a conversation with the page. <3 That fluid, visible thought process is my favorite stuff to look through, even more endearing than the finished work put out by the same artist, and this… -giddy sigh- Thank you so much for sharing. >
where do you buy the sketch book
This is the REAL thing!
Once a wise old artist told me: the best way to start with a new sketchbook is to spill a cup of coffee over it.
Awsome sketchbook! I love how you just write/drawn anything that come out of your mind.
Were did you find this giant sketchbook, I have been looking for a good one like this for some time!
Thanks, y’all.
@Patrick: love that quote.
The notebook is a Miquelrius. They aren’t cheap and they aren’t real easy to find, but I like the size and how thick they are. I found mine at Bookpeople here in Austin.
Interesting. Nice to see what you do with yer’ book.
I too have no time for ‘posing’ with a moleskins or similar. But I also obsess about my A5 hardback drawing books.
I don’t use them for sketching (I keep copier paper for that) – but for getting down an “idea a day” – I started this practice several years ago as a discipline and I now have boxes filled these books. I freak when my current book is not to hand
Each page must be a finished idea (not necessarily a masterpiece). The books have to be good quality – as in my experience the cheap crappy ones don’t handle paint or markers too well.
Page subject matter can vary from an illustration of an incident that day (my kids starting school) to a hurried interpretation of last night’s dream to a spontaneous strip story – I occasionally go back over old books a re-discover forgotten ideas and things from my life.
Books last me approx 2 months (62 pages) sometimes slightly more depending on which brand of book I buy. Daler Rowney are my favourite.
I have been carrying around sketchbooks since 2002. I just use a 5.5×8.5 spiral bound book–no lines, even though I am a writer and many of the pages are filled with words, I do like to sketch sights or ideas to keep my imagination and hand working.
I am just about to finish my 10th one. Once you get used to carrying it around all the time, it gets to the point where it is impossible to leave the house without it.
Cool sketches, Have fun and keep scribbling!
Austin,
My name is also Austin. I have a black sketchbook which I decorated with the same “fragile” sticker as an undergrad. Kind of freaked me out a little coming across your page.
Nothing more to contibute,
Austin
I’m glad someone is finally exposing the moleskin fonies for what they are! There is only one way to do a sketchbook, like your showing, the honest way. Fancy moleskin people just show off how great they are, when really they are not so much. There should be somekind of law that doesn’t let people use their sketchbooks how they want to. There must to be rules for art, otherwise internet becomes full of posers and garbage.
Thanx man!
Shaun
Nulsh — that sounds like a great project. the simple act of making something every day regular, like clockwork, is so important.
Matthew – yes! it must be with you at all time!
Austin – life is weird and the world is small!! howdy.
Shaun – thanks dude, but my intentions aren’t to expose anyone as phonies or posers. I just wanted to show the way I work, and to give folks an alternative, to help them see sketchbooks as places to make discoveries, not to have to be perfect.
and I fundamentally disagree with “There must to be rules for art, otherwise internet becomes full of posers and garbage.” yikes! there are no rules. just honesty. i just want people to be honest, to show their warts and all.
Cheers!
There’s something fun about working against that grid. The page feels less lonely than a blank one.
I feel like the reason there are so many pristine sketchbooks out there is because those are the only pages the artists share with us. I want to see EVERY page of a sketchbook, and I bet its full of mostly (in the most endearing sense,) rubbish. :)
I should be clear: this post is not about Moleskine hatred. In fact, here’s a perfect example of what I’m talking about, achieved in a Moleskine.
It ain’t about the tools, it’s how you use them.
Getting a little too many trolls shitting in my living room here, folks, so I’m shutting down comments. Thanks to everybody who kept it civil.
Bottom line: I meant this post, like all of my posts, to be encouraging to others.
You can hit me up on Twitter if you want to reply: @austinkleon