Today you can hear about running a sketchbook from many creative people, and in educational institutions for specialties related to drawing, sketchbooks are accepted as a portfolio. What is this sketchbook and who can not do without it?
Sketchbook, or sketchbook
Sketchbook literally translates to sketchbook (a sketch is a sketch). In the past in Russia it was called that way, but the shorter English word quickly caught on.
Almost everyone who is fond of graphics, painting, sculpture, or who is somehow connected with creativity, has sketchbooks. Sketchbooks for sketching ideas are needed by artists, architects, designers and advertisers.
For creative individuals, even if their work is related to something else, a sketchbook often plays the role of a kind of diary: you can sketch impressions, interesting finds, and just keep it for fun. A very popular direction is keeping a travel book, or a diary from a trip, in which you can sketch impressions, paste photos, tickets and generally do whatever comes to mind.
Professionals cannot do without sketchbooks at all. Artists usually have several sketchbooks for different purposes.
Typically, a sketchbook is a small notebook that is convenient to always have with you. He is like a notebook, only for drawing. There are also large sketchbooks that are needed when artists purposefully plan projects of impressive size, for example, it is difficult to make a detailed sketch for a painting one and a half by two meters in a pocket notebook.
Keeping a sketchbook on a regular basis is rewarding, and if creativity is your profession, it’s even necessary. Sketches help you get your hands on drawing and improve your composition skills, moreover, this way you will preserve your ideas and impressions for a long time. Even if you are ashamed to show the first sketches to someone, this is not a reason for worry. Everyone starts somewhere.
Which sketchbook should you choose?
Someone buys branded sketchbooks with good paper and a nice solid design, and someone uses children's sketchbooks for drawing: it depends on you which one you prefer.
However, in order to buy exactly what you need, you should, first of all, focus on a few points:
1. Paper. It varies in color, brightness, density, texture, suitability for specific materials and in your emotional perception (this is also very important!).
2. The size of the sketchbook. Are you going to carry it with you in your bag or store it on the shelf? Draw in the open air with a sketchbook or wherever you have to?
3. Format. Square, rectangular, elongated: which one do you like best and which one suits your tasks?
4. Type of binding: it can be a spring, soft or under a book binding, stitched pages, oriental binding … The imagination of the creators is limitless, so there is plenty to choose from.
5. The presence of a tablet. A flatbed is a rigid sheet of cardboard that acts as a cover on the back of your sketchbook. It is needed so that you can draw comfortably, even if the table is not at hand.
