Maybe I’m just picky, but I’m very particular about what kind of paper I draw/paint/write on, and lately your run of the mill store-bought sketchbook just hasn’t been doing it for me.  For the past few years whenever I’ve found myself at the end of a sketchbook I’ve gotten into the practice of buying a new one, ripping out the book block, and re-filling it with my own hand-stitched book block made of a nice, slightly heavier paper.

Is this a lot of work?  Yes.  But is it worth it?  Definitely!  I wind up with a lovely sketchbook that I know I will willingly open often, because it’s a pleasure to work with.  The paper I use is Strathmore Windpower Drawing paper (sold in large orange spiral-bound pads), and it accepts a vast array of media nicely, from graphite to charcoal to watercolor to acrylics.  An important side-effect to crafting my own sketchbook is that the hand-stitched book block lays open and flat, allowing me to work across the pages with ease.  And as an extra bonus, I can add my own little flourishes to the construction of it, like a pretty satin bookmark and decorative endpapers.

Recently I also found Louise Stanley’s rules for keeping a sketchbook:

Uni:  Never, ever tear out a page unless you sell it, in which case you can replace it with a copy.

Due:  Start on the third page to get your courage up.

Tre:  Go back to the first page and do a self portrait when you’ve got the nerve.

Quattro:  Strap your journal to your body.  Don’t leave home without it.

Cinque:  A little gold leaf and color peps up a page.

Sei:  Always carry a pencil.  Many museums won’t let you use ink.

Stanley is a sketchbook artist, and although most of her rules are ones that I have always followed, she is the first one I have seen put them in writing.  Rule number three is the only one that I haven’t ever done with regularity, but this time I’m starting my journal out right (and it’s easy to get up the nerve to tackle the first page of a sketchbook when you’ve just ripped apart and re-sewn the whole thing):

Happy sketching!