Since the last time I wrote about sketchbooks, I became very aware of the different ways sketchbooks are being used. Sketchbooks as I used to know them, were often a private matter. Pages were filled with sketches that made no sense to anyone else except to the artist. Just usually not shared with the world.
Instagram has changed all this and we have sketchbook pages shared across all the social media platforms. And the pages that are often shown are not the old style scribbles anymore, some of them are becoming beautiful pieces of art.
Some of the most remarkable sketchbooks that I found on Instagram are those from Polina Oshurkova. You wouldn’t know until you look quite closely at her posts, but she is working in small sketchbooks – often around 15 cm in size or so.
She uses acrylic markers and has a distinctive style that she maintains throughout her pages. Her style is colourful, clearly inspired by nature with a hint of folk art style gone modern and fresh. She shows a lot of pages on Instagram, always in her own style and that is quite impressive.
image credit: Polina Oshurkova, https://polinaoshu.com/
Find Polina on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/oshupatterns/
Another incredible artist I follow on Instagram with amazing artful sketchbooks is Heegyum Kim. Since her pages are indeed little pieces of art, she gathered some of them and published an ezine from them. You can buy her ezine on Etsy! It is such an incredible way to sell your art from your sketchbook. Pretty smart too!
https://www.etsy.com/shop/HeeCookingdiary
You can find her on Instagram, using the name @hee_cookingdiary
https://www.instagram.com/hee_cookingdiary/
My sketchbooks are a far cry from these artists. I wish I could create beautiful pages in a row, just like them. Some of my pages, even if I try hard, are still somewhat ‘beginnings’ and have some visual mistakes. Often the shapes, colour combination or art technique just don’t work so well together. Usual one (or two) of the ingredients are wrong. Or even just out of place.
Those gorgeous sketchbooks on Instagram nudges me to create some pieces of art on my pages as well. But I guess I would have to seriously work harder and differently if I want to achieve that! There are so many pages in my sketchbook that are just blah.
To me, at the moment, those almost forgotten sketchbooks on my shelves are places where I try out some things, play and experiment. The sketchbooks may hold some beautiful pages that I am proud of, but definitely not all of them are pieces of art. Some pages where I try out a new idea have just gone terribly wrong. So, on Instagram I show you only the nice pages!
Seeing the gorgeous sketchbooks on Instagram made me realise that my purpose and how I use sketchbooks are so different from these talented designers. And that might be the biggest difference: my sketchbook is really not an art book. It is a book with lots of errors, smudges, experiments and play. And frustration as well when things don’t work out as I thought they would.
My conclusion: not all sketchbooks are filled equal. Sketchbooks are being used by different artists in different ways. And the purpose of these sketchbooks make them different. Quite different. And let’s not underestimate the skills that one needs to create so many pieces of art in just one book like Polina and Heegyum. That takes a lot of effort, time, talent and dedication.
I am curious about the way that you use your sketchbooks. Do you show every page and every flaw on Instagram? Do you manage to create beautiful spreads time and time again? Or do you prefer to keep your sketchbook private?
colourbookstudio 