Skottie Young is one of my fav artists and he put together a solid Twitter rant on sketchbooks and sketching last night. Skottie hits it right on the button – so I am reposting it here for your enjoyment.
– A few art tips for the night (not career tips)
– Sit with a sketchbook at all times. Doodle, scribble, sketch. Play with shapes and lines while watching tv. nothing intense, just sketch
– Don’t be fooled by the “sketchbooks” you buy from artists at cons. Those are pieces, not sketches. Sketchbooks can be a mess.
– Finding new places to take your art actually requires you to mess up…a lot. Every piece cannot be a masterpiece, nor should it be.
– Sketching without the pressure of taking it to a finish allows for accidents which can lead to unexpected discoveries.
– many people say they don’t have time to sketch or draw for themselves. Everyone has a spare 15 minutes. I can fill 3 pages of gestures in 15
– A good way to let go and just sketch, Sketch with an ink pen. This takes away the possibility of a clean drawing and lets you just play
– I used to hate sketching in a book because it felt permanent so I started just drawing on copy paper and binding them later.
– I treat my sketchbook like people treat doodling while on the phone. Any spare moments are spent scribbling.
– Your sketchbook is the place that no one can judge, critique, hate or love you. Sales don’t effect it, reviews can’t hurt it.
– A basketball player can’t get better by only playing games. He has to condition, lift, practice to grow. Art is the exact same.
– You can only grow so much by drawing for work and work alone. It’s not a place that allows for spreading your wings and streching out.
– Bottom line, pull out your book and doodle when you have a few free moments. You work will be the better for it and most of all, it’s fun.
– Now, put down your iPhone and close twitter and go draw.
Check out more from Skottie Young at his:
Blog
Twitter
Deviant Art