Beginning a sketchbook habit can be challenging but it is very rewarding. A sketchbook is a place to explore, to try new materials, to play, and to record your visual experiences. It is a place where ideas emerge and grow. If you use your sketchbook as a journal, you can also write down your thoughts and feelings about your art, and your life. The most important thing about a sketchbook is that you use it, however you’d like.
While big sketchbooks are nice, you may find you are apt to use the sketchbook more if it is small enough to take with you. As for materials, start with your favourite pens and pencils, and try some fluid media such as Chromamacryl Inks, Chromacryl Fluid Concentrate, Atelier Artists’ Pigmented Inks, or Atelier Free Flow Acrylic. A glue stick is also handy for adhering paper ephemera you find meaningful, interesting or inspirational.
You may wonder, “What on earth will I draw every day?” To help you out, we are providing weekly sketchbook prompts for the year – not daily, so there isn’t as much pressure! Use these prompts with observation and imagination. Most are very open-ended, and you can interpret them as you’d like! Follow along week by week, or just pick what you need or want.
Please join us in our 2023 Sketchbook challenge. It doesn’t matter if you start on week 1, week 26 or week 52! This year, we chose the theme “A Book Of Things.” We will be posting our sketches throughout the year, and if you choose to post any of your work, please tag us @chroma_inc and use #chromachallenge. We’d love to see what you create this year!
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