Fear of the sketchbook. Fear of the blank page or the empty canvas. Writer’s block. It’s the same for artists and writers alike. As someone who keeps a nature journal, I sometimes suffer from both!

‘Don’t wait for you life story to be perfect before allowing yourself to be happy.’

sketches in stillness

An ‘Ugly’ Sketch is Simply a Problem to be Solved

Many of us believe that you are born with the ‘gift’ or talent of being able to draw. On the rare occasion when we do try to draw something, and are disappointed with the results, we fall back on, ‘I just don’t have that gift.’ We crumple up the paper, toss it in the trash, and decide never to try again.

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‘The reality of the creative process is that it often requires persistence, the ability to stare at a problem until it makes sense.’

Jonah Lehter

Let’s try something different next time. Don’t throw your next sketch away. Leave it. Walk away from it for as long as it takes you to get your emotions about it under control. Now come back to your page.

Sit with this sketch you don’t like. Analyze the sketch — not your talent! Is there anything you do like about it? What — specifically do you not like? You must take the time to do this analysis in order to get better at sketching and drawing. It’s an exercise in problem-solving (not in evaluating your worth as a human). If you can identify the problem areas, you can work on them and improve.

It’s Practice, Not Talent That Makes an Artist

I get it. We all have that fear of facing a blank page. We want everything we create to be of ‘professional artist’ caliber every. single. time. Here’s a revelation — you only get to see the best of the best pages of most professionals! All artists have ugly pages in their sketchbooks; pages they aren’t proud of and don’t want to share with others.

Pro-Tip: If every sketch, every drawing, every painting is successful and perfect, you’re not stretching yourself enough! Stepping out of your comfort zone is the only way to grow and learn new things!

Whether you’re keeping an art journal, a nature journal, or some other type of artistic journal, it’s the practice that makes ‘perfect’. Sketch something every day, even if it’s a tiny, 5-minute doodle. Overcome your fear of the sketchbook 5 minutes and 1 doodle at a time! Make ugly art — lots of it.

The Art of Getting Started

Ways to Push Through Your Fear of the Sketchbook

There are tons of ideas out there to jump-start creativity. Here are just a few of the ways that work for me when I get stuck in ‘fear of the sketchbook’ mode.

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• Purchase or make a sketchbook that begs to be picked up! Yes, that seems a bit superficial, but I am a ‘paper junkie’! I love looking at beautifully crafted journals. I love the way a pencil glides across certain papers.
• Build a relationship with your sketchbook — like any human relationship the more time you invest, the more in love you become!
• Choose a limited color palette to work with for a given period of time. Or use just a pencil.

• Remember why you want to keep a sketchbook
  • This is a place where only fun and experimentation exist
  • Leave your inner critic behind
  • Leave expectations of the outcome behind
• Your sketchbook is not for creating finished works of art — it’s where you play with ideas, take notes, and plan for a finished piece later on
• Your sketchbook pages do not need to be shared with anyone!
• Start your session with a couple of quick ‘no pressure’ doodles — my first attempts for the day are often wonky and ‘ugly’. I need to give my brain time to make the connection that ‘we are drawing’ so that the correct muscle memory pathways kick in.
• If you’re on Pinterest, there are tons of ‘30 day drawing challenges’. Pick one and use it for your doodle practice
• This is my go-to trick. Start small – commit to just 5 minutes at first. Pick up your journal, set a timer for 5 minutes. Most of the time, after that 5 minutes is up, you’ll want to continue. There’s something in our brain (fear of failure/fear of success??) that makes getting started the hardest part. Then once we get into ‘flow’ mode, it’s hard to stop!
• Daily Doodle — choose random words to doodle. Choose random adjective and noun combos — like MadLib. (Remember how fun those were when you were a kid?) Random Generators to jumpstart ideas:
  • Adjectives
  • Nouns
  • Verbs

I firmly believe that anyone can learn to draw. It’s a matter of wanting it badly enough to put the time in. It’s a matter of pushing past emotions that get in your way as you’re learning. It’s a matter of relaxing and allowing yourself to enjoy the journey, rather that looking only at the destination.