Keep a sketchbook journal and explore your world, preserve your thoughts and celebrate life!

More than a diary of written words, a sketchbook journal allows you to indulge your imagination and exercise your artistic creativity. It is a personal, private place where you have unlimited freedom to express yourself, experiment, discover, dream and document your world. The possibilities are endless.

In How to Keep a Sketchbook Journal, Claudia Nice shows you samples from her own journals and provides you with advice and encouragement for keeping your own. She reviews types of journals, from theme and garden journals to travel journals and fantasy sketchbooks, as well as the basic techniques for using pencils, pens, brushes, inks and watercolors to capture your thoughts and impressions.

Exactly what goes in your journal is up to you. Sketch quickly to capture a thought or image before it vanishes. Draw or paint with care, to render an idea or vision as realistically as possible. Write about what you see. The choice is yours—and the memories you'll preserve will last a lifetime.

From the Introduction
What is a sketchbook journal? As the name suggests, it is a book, usually bound, containing both sketches and bits of personal history and observations. More than a diary of written words, it is an outlet for visual expression and artistic creativity. Where words leave off, the sketchbook journal awakens the mind with shapes, colors and textures, all seen through the eye of the recorder and preserved in his own personal style.

As a very personal work, the sketchbook journal need not be shared with everyone. It is not a minigallery open to public critique, but rather a safe haven where the creative mind is allowed to express, experiment, discover, document and dream, with no thought of pleasing others. Therefore, one should never apologize for the art or thoughts contained within. Rarely are the sketches contained in a journal the recorder's best art. The sketches are often quickly made; if they catch the essence of a memory, they have done their job. Only the illustrations in an in-depth study journal need be as detailed and precise as possible.

Within the pages of this book, I have shared many entries based on my personal memory and sketchbook journals. Some of the illustrations are detailed and elaborate, reflecting days when I had plenty of time and interest to devote to the subject; other sketches are mere scribbles. Nevertheless, each one reminds me of a specific subject or experience and is therefore adequate. The written journal entries are penned in uppercase block letters so that you can distinguish them from other text. Any idiosyncracies or unique spellings in the journal pages add to the inherent integrity of the artwork and should be enjoyed as such. They only enhance the work and make it more personal.

It is my hope that this glimpse into the pages of my life, as well as the instruction and advice contained within this book, may inspire you to begin your own sketchbook journal. Remember that there is no greater way one can celebrate life than to create a legacy of memories.

—Claudia Nice

Table of Contents
Types of Sketchbook Journals

Chapter 1: Getting Started
Chapter 2: Making Sketches
Chapter 3: Working in Pencil, Pen, & Paint
Chapter 4: The Theme Sketchbook
Chapter 5: A Creative, Colorful Garden Journal
Chapter 6: A Sketchbook of Discovery
Chapter 7: A Sketchbook of Travel Memories
Chapter 8: An Illustrated Reference Journal
Chapter 9: An In-Depth Study Journal
Chapter 10: A Sketchbook of the Imagination
Chapter 11: Keeping a Visual Diary

Index

A few tips on keeping your sketchbook journal organized: