Ever find yourself holding back because your art materials cost so much? Do you ever think more about not ruining a piece of paper than exploring your artistic talents? How many times have you found that your drawings on cheap newsprint have more freedom and spontaneity than ones on pricier art paper?

I can show you how to make inexpensive sketchbooks. Sketchbooks so cheap you forget about trying to ‘save’ your paper. This has made a big difference in my work. When drawing with ink on these cheaper sketchbooks, for example, if the first few marks don’t work I just flip the page and forget it. The art is more important. That habit has transferred to drawings on expensive paper, and I draw with more confidence. With more confidence my starts are better and I really don’t waste paper. The same will happen for you.

There are so many kinds of paper available for six to twelve dollars per 150 to 300 sheets. Try any paper outlet store and explore all the textures and colors you can experiment with.

Make several different kinds of sketchbooks using standard sizes of paper: 8 1/2x 11, 11 x 14, 11 x 17. Have them cut to make an 11 x 11 square format if you want. I use slightly textured papers for general sketching and a smoother paper for marker drawings. At least that’s the intent. In practice, however, all my books are filled with many techniques:watercolor, gouache, oil, pencil, charcoal, pastel, pen and marker.

I make sketchbooks out of many different kinds of paper. Here I used a grey-green toned paper (8.5x11) and gouache to paint some Mexican colonial doorways and a young banana tree.

This is light grey paper. I have used pencil for the drawing and accented with white for the highlights--- yellow and blue conte pencil for some shadow and midtones. This was an experiment but I wasnʼt concerned with losing a piece of good paper. It is still far more archival than newsprint.

Make Your Own Sketchbooks