These days a lot of sketchbooks are content. They are created less with the intention of artistic growth and exploration and more with social media content in mind. They make perfect videos, these perfect sketchbooks. They’ll go viral! They’ll help the artist amass tons of followers! The artist will be famous and rich! Maybe.

Or they spend a lot of time creating perfect art content for social media and wind up feeling burned out and uninspired.

Their perfect content also sends out waves of inadequacy that engulf any artist with a less-than-perfect art practice.

But let me tell you, my sketchbooks aren’t perfect! And it’s ok if yours aren’t either! Here’s a tour of a recently finished sketchbook that’s about 75% messy exploration and 25% solid ideas:

If video’s not your jam, here’s a quick glance at a few of the sketchbook pages!

This sketchbook began with the intention to explore abstract art in a deeper way, something I’ve been dabbling at for a few months, so the first few pages are mark making and composition experiments.

I’m a long time lover of Caran d’Ache Luminance colored pencils but I’ve noticed that when sketching it’s easier for me to stay loose when using Neocolor IIs instead! Bonus: I don’t have any pain in my hand when I do this. Yes, it turns out that years of working long hours to illustrate books will make your hand unhappy.

Sometimes I staple or tape bits of art into my sketchbook because they feel like a memorable moment for one reason or another. In this case, it was the memory of a bad art day. It’s a fond memory now because I recognize it as a catalyst.

After a few months away from drawing birds, I started dabbling with fresh ways to paint them, including a few abstract experiments like these. Maybe I’ll circle back to this idea at some point!

Following the bad day, I bought myself a bouquet of flowers and spent a couple weeks drawing and painting from them. It’s been three weeks since I bought them and I’m still drawing and painting their withered remains! There’s so much beauty in every stage of a flower’s life.

This was an ah-ha moment and it didn’t happen until almost 75% of the way through this sketchbook.

It’s not a concern that my sketchbooks are perfectly curated collections of perfect art. I’d be more concerned for myself if they were 😂

My concern is creative exploration and artistic growth. That’s what my sketchbooks are about and I hope yours are too, no matter where you’re at on your art path.