E2: How to Find Your Creativity with Sketchbooks!

Today I'm going to talk about the three things that I love about sketchbooks:

1. You can play and experiment in them without feeling judged. You can create freely. 2. You can document life and your thoughts and your artistic progress over the years, and 
3. You can gain insight into other artists’ minds by looking at other artists’ sketchbooks. Some are even published that you can purchase.     

If you want to start keeping a sketchbook, or you have a child or student who is interested in art, I have four prompts for you to try: 

1. Old is new again. - Find an old drawing in your sketchbook. 
2. Research - Choose a topic to research. Fill your page with notes in words and pictures about your topic. Overall, the look should have the feeling of whatever you are researching. Create flaps to lift revealing some pictures or text underneath, cut out magazine articles and photos, make a book inside the page.  
3. Add + Subtract - Add something to one part of the page, and take someone away from the other part! The subtracting part could be cutting or ripping part of the page, cutting out a window to reveal a page behind it, adding would be attaching something to the page. 
4. Words + Images - Find a quote or lyrics to a song, words to a poem you like. Write it over and over until it fills the page. Then cover 30% of the words to hide it. Last, draw a self portrait on top. When you are done, think about how the words now seem to interact with the picture. 

Frida Kahlo Sketchbook: https://www.amazon.com/Diary-Frida-Kahlo-Intimate-Self-Portrait/dp/0810959542/ref=asc_df_0810959542/?tag=hyprod-20&linkCode=df0&hvadid=312021428070&hvpos=&hvnetw=g&hvrand=1662245998252165347&hvpone=&hvptwo=&hvqmt=&hvdev=c&hvdvcmdl=&hvlocint=&hvlocphy=9012053&hvtargid=pla-450499071264&psc=1&tag=&ref=&adgrpid=60223809017&hvpone=&hvptwo=&hvadid=312021428070&hvpos=&hvnetw=g&hvrand=1662245998252165347&hvqmt=&hvdev=c&hvdvcmdl=&hvlocint=&hvlocphy=9012053&hvtargid=pla-450499071264

Henry Moore's Sheep Sketchbook: https://www.amazon.com/Henry-Moores-Sheep-Sketchbook-Moore/dp/050028072X/ref=sr_1_1?crid=3MSWYCY4T61W9&keywords=henry+moore+sketchbook&qid=1693410800&s=books&sprefix=henry+moore+sketchbook%2Cstripbooks%2C127&sr=1-1

Art Spiegelman's three sketchbooks Be a Nose: https://www.amazon.com/Be-Nose-Art-Spiegelman/dp/1934781142/ref=sr_1_1?crid=EN8N9TA4C7E7&keywords=art+spiegelman+be+a+nose&qid=1693410846&s=books&sprefix=art+speigelman+be+a+nos%2Cstripbooks%2C108&sr=1-1

A Beautiful Place to Start:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Zg-dSoNmcZs
Lyrics by John Kavanaugh and Michelle Sherman
Music by John Kavanaugh
Vocal by Jenna Lea Rosen

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