How to organise multiple sketchbooks, a journey.
As I sit in front of my breakfast table, piled high with 25-30 sketchbooks, I’m thinking I might have a problem. I’ll be honest, I’m overwhelmed and I don’t know where to start, but I want to share this journey as surely I can’t be the only sketchbook slut out there…. I SEE YOU!
I believe that this problem is deep rooted within not only the way I function, but the way the education system teaches us to keep notes, sketchbooks etc… it’s not tailored to individual students so more than likely, you might have come away from art school or from art education thinking…. okaaaay but how do I apply all of this for the rest of my life? The answer is, you don’t. You have to find your own way and realise that you’re no longer being graded, judged, or steered in the wrong direction. So come with me on a journey through dysfunction and rewriting everything you know about how to organise your sketchbooks. BEGIN.
[ I’m looking through my notes and I’m realising that this has actually taken me a few weeks to complete, and I’m not even finished yet… this is an ongoing way of organising my sketchbooks, and my thoughts, and I hope it will serve to help you a little bit too. So please take what I say with a pinch of salt, apply it loosely to your life/sketchbooks and see if you see any progress. ]
5 Step Sketchbook Stack Scheme…
pre steps: make sure you have a chunk of time ahead of you… your fave drink and a clear mind. I find meditating before very helpful. Try to uncover what you want from this process, what is your end goal? For me, it was to archive old books, and find good unused ideas as inspiration for moving forward.
step 1: gather ALL books that need sorting, yes even that little one on top of the microwave that hasn’t moved for months. Yes even that one with 1 page filled in too. I told you I see you.
step 2: observe* Yes, you may have 30 sketchbooks in front of you, and this MAY feel very daunting, but that doesn’t make you a bad person… you could be a bad person anyway but your sketchbooks have nothing to do with it.
*observing means to look upon without judgement or bias… see it for what it is. It could help to meditate or to take a step outside for a second if you get overwhelmed. (My problem was that because my art is very personal and cathartic for me, going through old sketchbooks inevitably brings up all this old crappage (crap baggage) from my past, and can and has debilitated me.)
step 3: organise into two piles initially… this makes the emotional work a little less severe too. I like calling these piles, ‘archive’ and ‘current’… quite self explanatory but whatever works for you! I chose to archive the really old sketchbooks, from school and uni etc because I know that for me, I have finished those projects and there is nothing in there that will serve me now. In my current pile I have sketchbooks and notebooks that I’m still intrigued by… there’s hidden gems in there somewhere!
step 3a: Take a break… why not! (It’s also super useful to gain some perspective on this project) (this step for me took about two weeks …oops… no judgement though 🤷🏼♀️)
step 4: using your super sleuth skills, organise your current pile into smaller, more distinct piles. I chose to divide mine into three separate piles…. business, theory, and art. You may have different piles and names, you’re the leader of your own special organising experience, own it baby!
step 4 a: STORAGE!!! I cannot stress this enough when I say that clearly labelled, and defined storage is a godsend. Start with finding a safe space for your archive to go. Store your archived artwork or notebooks ideally in airtight containers, or portfolios. Failing this, wrapped up in a carrier bag under the bed is fine!
A studio, and home flows so much better when things have their place so find a lovely spot that works for you and your art.step 5: as you create new work, in whichever sketchbooks your heart/art desires, feel comfortable in the knowledge that you have this framework of organisation behind you, and that if it gets out of hand again, you know that you’re able to take a step back and observe what the hell is going on.
well, I hope that was useful to someone out there! And I hope to write many more blog posts, including how to use a digital sketchbook… something I’m currently working on figuring out for myself :) please get in contact if you have any questions, or want a buddy to work through this nightmarish task with! Happy organising!