Four Reasons to Carry a Sketchbook
A quick look at just four good reasons to tote your sketchbook, notebook, or journal with you.
1. CAPTURE
A sketchbook gives you a place to capture the fleeting experiences and ideas that come your way and make them tangible before they evaporate.
See a gorgeous landscape, sketch it.
Hear a joke, write it down.
Notice a distinctive face, draw it.
Spot an amazing letterform, capture it.
Dream a plot for an award-winning movie, storyboard it.
Think how much faster civilization would have advanced if our Neanderthal ancestors had worthy sketchbooks in which to record their ideas.
2. RECALL
Why waste vital mental capacity trying to remember things. Putting things down on the pages of your sketchbook removes the cognitive burden of remembering everything. Trust me, anything that lightens the load on overtaxed cognition is good.
3. REFINE
A sketchbook is a marvelous place to polish concepts, identify winners, and push half-baked notions toward perfection by tweaking, combining, and refining.
4. ELEVATE
Carrying and using a sketchbook makes you look smarter. Even a dunce looks intelligent with a notebook. Why? Because carrying a sketchbook suggests you are someone with valuable insights that are worth writing down.
You may have other reasons. Feel free to share them. I’d love to hear from you.
If you’re looking for a better sketchbook, notebook, or journal, check out my latest Kickstarter project—Landing Zone Sketchbooks.
Don—Pittsburgh, September 12, 2019
Comments on this post (7)
WOW! I love these!
Please bring them back!
I carry one with me but the big rings are annoying.
— Woody Reed
This is what my teachers at Architecture school always told me. Always carry a sketchbook so that you can draw everything thats in your mind instantly. Awesome article. Thanks to author
— Anne
Is the paper heavy enough for multimedia artwork like pen and ink sketching and light watercolor?
— Amy
Hi Don!
I have the same issue as the first person; I wanted to support your project at the 10 book level, but those had already been taken. (I settled for the 4 book level.) Do you think you’ll make more and have them in the Calamity store?
Thank you for considering!
Laurie
— Laurie
I want to support your Kickstarter project with an order for four sketchbooks, but the site seems to indicate that level of support is no longer available. It’s only September 13. Am I reading that incorrectly?
— Linda Hawks Oistad
My youngest daughter has gone everywhere (including Australia recently) with at least one sketchbook. My son preferred plain paper, but sometimes now takes a sketchbook. I used to “art” a lot, but watching them create so diligently has encouraged me to resume random sketching. Great idea, sketchbooks; love your Calamityware line, keep inspiring!
— Kari
My youngest daughter has gone everywhere (including Australia recently) with at least one sketchbook. My son preferred plain paper, but sometimes now takes a sketchbook. I used to “art” a lot, but watching them create so diligently has encouraged me to resume random sketching. Great idea, sketchbooks; love your Calamityware line, keep inspiring!
— Kari