SneakyProject 2025: Let's make a Sketchbook!
Insider #161 to begin making our own sketchbooks + my travel sketch-kit
Dear reader,
Everyone should have a sketchbook. It has nothing to do with skill level or whether you are a Serious Artist™. A sketchbook, like a journal, is a chance to have a conversation with yourself. And after several years of using sketchbooks from different brands, I am ready for the next step - to make my own sketchbook!
In today’s post, I invite all SneakyArt Insiders to join me in this year’s first Sneaky Project. Also, find below my travel sketch-kit for the long weekend.
The SneakyArt (Insider) Post is written for paying subscribers and patrons of my work, to share progress on special projects and deeper thoughts from my journey as an artist and writer.
🧰 Travel Sketch-Kit
We are on the Sunshine Coast of British Columbia for the Easter long weekend, and I definitely overpacked the art supplies. As a parent to a toddler, there is simply not enough time to do all the sketching you want (sigh). But a sketch-kit is not just about pragmatism, it also represents the impractical optimism of the human spirit.
Paper
Legion Sketchpad (5x7”) - takes gouache well
Legion Mini-Pad (2.5x3.5”) - for quick captures
Alibabette sketchbook (5.5x8.5”) - my current sketchbook
Hahnemuele (4x6”) - the current sketchbook of Rohan
I should have brought only two.
Tools
Lamy Safari (m) fountain pen
Fineliners (0.7 and 0.3)
7 colour pencils (Caran d’ache and Derwent)
Blackwing 71-series Pencil
Water-brush
Daniel Smith Gouache Dot-Card
Again, overkill? It should have been either the gouache card or the colour pencils.
Everything just about fits in the Uniqlo bag I carry, but the sketchbook is fraying at the edges from the strain.
Reader, what is your travel sketch-kit like? Do you end up over-packing too?
📚 Special Project - Making my own Sketchbook!
Reader, you are invited on my journey to learn how to make a sketchbook.
The Why
Reason #1 is the freedom to have different paper types within the same book, so that every turn of the page is a fresh challenge.
Reason #2 is that I want to build something with my hands this year, and a sketchbook seems … not-so-difficult?
The How
I will do all the work live on Zoom.
You are invited to the call to make your own book alongside me, to watch and ask questions, or distract me when I try to work the needles.
(Instead of a sketchbook, you could even make a journal?)
The What you Need
One reason this project got delayed is that I could not find the right tools in stores near me. After looking everywhere, I finally gave up and ordered this kit off Amazon.
Not pictured, different types of paper that will need to be cut into spreads. I may buy some more.
The Plan
There will be at least two Zoom sessions where I work on this. I hope it will not take longer than that. We will also do a third session to review our works after we have had the chance to use them.
On the subject -
[Read] Three Rules for your Next Sketchbook
[Read] How a Sketchbook works as Frame & Filter
[Read] Lessons from a Sketchbook Habit
[Watch] How a Sketchbook Helps me Pay Attention to Rohan
Join me!
Free readers, this is the first Special Project of many. This year, for example, I am teaching myself to work with acrylic media and inks, paint on larger paper, and learn block-printing. To be part of this project and others, grab this special offer to become a SneakyArt Insider.