Fear no more the blank page

Sketchbook Surgery 001

Dear Reader,

Welcome to my first Sketchbook Surgery post.

What is Sketchbook Surgery? It’s a place where I discuss the struggles of keeping a sketchbook habit. In each post, I will look at a different area that has come up in my practice or one that I’ve noticed others are struggling with. Tips are shared and guidance is given and you’re welcome to write your thoughts, struggles and feedback in the comments.

Here’s something I hear a lot-

I’m finding blank white sketchbook pages quite daunting

Can you relate? This is something I hear frequently, particularly from those just starting to use their sketchbooks and participate in some outdoor sketching. And they’re right, it can be. Sometimes we have such high expectations of what we are going to achieve in our sketchbooks that it cripples us and everything we do falls short. It’s so easy to get demotivated when what we see on the page does not match what we see in our heads.

So how can we move past those feelings of fear?

The answer is to make a mess. Really? Yes, really. Instead of working from a place of timidity and fear work in the opposite spirit- replace that spirit with one of boldness and curiosity. Grab some colours and start drawing straight on the page. Hide your pencils and get going with your brush markers.

But it’s a waste of paper…I don’t know where to start…it looks like a toddler drew it…Arrrrgh!!!

I’ve heard it all before, but these are delaying tactics. Your brain trying to reason with you, and give you a way out, but don’t get sucked in. Instead set yourself a timer and get your pen on the paper and draw- whether it be a continuous line drawing, a blind, no looking at the paper sketch, or a wonky, less dominant hand drawing, do it for 30 seconds, 10 seconds, 60 seconds, and draw, draw, draw.

You’ll be scribbling so much that you’ll forget why you’re afraid and may just start to enjoy it. And because you have lowered your expectations ( e.g. drawing a tree without looking at your page in under 10 seconds really isn’t going to be your best work) you’ll begin to let go of the idea that everything you sketch is going to be A+++++ and that isn’t a bad thing as it transitions you from a mindset of perfection to one of play. And once you’re there, there won’t be any more blank pages to fear.

Here’s a video I made recently listing 5 ways to start sketching outside, that may also be helpful:

And below are a couple more ways I’ve found that have helped me to get over the blank page AND get some sketching done if time is short.

• Paint your pages before you go out. Grab your inks and a big brush and set to work. Mix up some muted greys and peaches or pastel greens and browns and swish them on the page. Whilst one double page is drying tackle another. Don’t overthink, just do, set yourself 5-10 seconds to get some marks on the page. Then when you’re out and about you’ll have some ready-prepared pages to work on top of, play and experiment. You’ll not want to go back to white pages ever again!

• Incorporate the nature around you into your sketches. What am I talking about? Mud, water, charcoal, sand, grass, you name it if you’re fearful of something from your environment making a mess in your book, do it intentionally and rub/sprinkle/pour it on your pages. Have I gone completely mad? Maybe. But really this forces you to think ‘Why do I worry about the tiny pencil marks I’ve made when I’ve just smeared bark resin across my page?’ Precisely. Let’s get it into perspective. Those little marks you see will not even be noticed in the bigger picture and in fact, will add layers/character/interest to your page. Just look at those scribbles below- are they all in the places I want them? Probably not. But the sum of them gives you a truer impression of the place than if I laboured ever so carefully to keep my page neat and mark free.

So don’t be afraid to get some dirt in your sketches, thumbprints, coffee or grass stains, see what happens when you do this and if it makes a difference to your sketching time and attitude to your blank pages.

And that’s it for now! I hope you enjoyed my first surgery. If you have any sketchbook struggles you’d like me to tackle in another post let me know. Also, how do you get over the fear of the blank page? Share your best ideas below.

P.S I’m offering a limited amount of one-to-ones for anyone needing a chat/boost about sketching on location. If you’d like to find out more just hop over here.