Do you keep your old sketch books?

By sketch books, I mean the place where you doodle and practise new techniques. I don’t necessarily mean the works that you’re supremely proud of and show to your friends, or post on social media.

Each sketch I do and share usually has a backstory of many failed and imperfect iterations. These sketches are where I experiment and learn. They’re where I play around with composition to see what works and dabble with different textures and techniques. Without them, the final version simply would not exist.

It’s tempting to throw away your old sketchbooks where you practice because you see them as nothing more than a gallery of failures. Who wants to see these?

Don’t! It would be like throwing away the engine to a flash sports car. These sketches are the mechanics of what makes the final drawing work.

But who cares?

In short – you, because they’re markers of your progress. They serve as a date-stamped record of how far you have come. There’s nothing more rewarding than looking back on sketches you did a year ago or so and seeing how far you have improved and what you have learned along the way.

Keep those old sketch books. Look back on them every now and then, and smile.

I finished this sketch recently, in the usual dark fantasy style that I love. I’d like to think I’ll look back on this in a year and smile at all the imperfections.