create a project for yourself

Before we set out for our trips, I always give myself a sketching goal. This trip my goal is to sketch one or more pages of sketches every day. I use a 9" x 9" Aquabee Super Sketch book, with 90# paper, it takes ink and watercolor like a dream, with very little warping.

You can see that I have finished more than half of the pages of this sketchbook so far!

A trip is a natural organizing theme for a sketchbook, but you don't have to travel to create a great sketching project for yourself. Read this post by the inspiring Roz Stendahl on the importance of daily projects! I have been a long-time follower of her blog, "Roz Wound Up" and hope that you will check it out!

So, if not travel, what other subjects might make for a good theme for a sketchbook project?

Draw a piece of fruit every day before you eat it.

Draw faces of people you know.

Draw faces of people you don't know.

Draw your shoes.

Draw the contents of a drawer or closet.

Draw a bush or shrub in your yard.

And then, DO IT! Every day. Just a little. Day by day, you'll find  your ideas evolving and developing. You'll innovate, express, experiment. And bit by bit you'll find that you have created something wonderful!