As an artist and designer, I sometimes forget that art is supposed to be fun. I am a full-time work-at-home mom of two, and the time I have to spend on art is sadly limited. Too often, I open up my sketchbook with the specific purpose of creating a design for my business, but rarely do I sit down with the intention of simply practicing, or better yet, making art just for fun - with no intention of selling it.

Enter, The Sketchbook Project.

What is The Sketchbook Project?

The Sketchbook Project is an ongoing collection of artists’ sketchbooks in Brooklyn, NY. Their permanent library includes thousands of sketchbooks from artists all over the world, gathered since their founding in 2006. It is open to the public and visitors can browse books filled with the sketches, paintings, and other musings of artists both professional and amateur. Then there’s the mobile library, which tours all over North America.

Each year, artists who participate in the project can choose from a group of themes, then run as wild as they like with their chosen theme, filling up the sketchbook in just about any way they can imagine. Visitors at the Sketchbook Project’s storefront library can browse by topic, artist’s name, media used, and more. (Scroll down for a video of my finished sketchbook.)

I first heard about The Sketchbook Project on the Ephemeral podcast, and I immediately knew that I wanted to be a part of it!

My Theme and Inspiration

I chose the theme, “Legacy.”

I wanted my sketchbook to have a story, a point to it, and I also knew I wanted to do something related to nature, but a little outside my usual subject matter of mountains and national parks.

I chose endangered species.

But not the endangered species that tend to get the majority of the press, tigers and orangutans and such. I wanted to bring the focus closer to home, on animals which many of us hardly ever hear about.

Turns out that there are quite a lot of endangered species right here in North America, not only animals, but also insects and plants. They are gorgeous, and at risk of disappearing altogether.

These endangered species are our legacy. And I wanted my sketchbook to honor that. God gave us this world to live in and protect, and we have the responsibility to care for the amazing creatures he put here on earth with us. I hope my art can speak to that responsibility in some small way.

I narrowed down the list to what I thought I could fit into the 32-page, 5x7-inch sketchbook, and got to work. (See all of the finished illustrations in my video at the end of this post!)

Doing the Work

My typical art style is a minimalist, black-and-white, pen-and-ink style. I sketch out my designs in pencil, then ink them in with my favorite micron pens. But for this project, I wanted to do something different. I decided to outline the animals in my usual black ink, but then add in color and details with watercolors. 

I love using watercolor paints, but don’t practice with them very often, and it turned out that they probably weren’t the best choice for the paper in this sketchbook. The sketchbook they send you is made by Scout Books (the same talented folks who make my Trail Journal!), and while I absolutely looove their eco-ethics and the 100% recycled nature of their books, the paper is not truly suited for watercolor. I knew I’d have to keep the wash super light and dry, but I still had trouble with it, and had some of the paint bleed through the pages.

So, some animals turned out great, and some not so great (ahem, keep an eye out for that whale!). But in the end, I learned that I can do an okay job of illustrating a lot more kinds of animals than I thought, and I got a lot more practice with my watercolor kit.

I chose to open the book with these two quotes about endangered species:

And I ended the book with tips on how you can help to protect America’s endangered species:

Donate to the National Wildlife Federation - nwf.org

Donate to the World Wildlife Fund - worldwildlife.org

Reduce your use of plastics (and reuse and recycle what you do use)

Grow native plants to support endangered animals and plants in your area

Volunteer at your local wildlife refuges, parks, and conservation areas

Vote!

The Result?

See for yourself! I put together this little video of me flipping through the whole book, once with just the pencil and ink sketches, and again after I finished adding the watercolor details. Enjoy!

In the End

I’m really happy that I got to be a part of The Sketchbook Project and I’m confident that I will do it again. Even if no one ever picks up the sketchbook I sent in, and it doesn’t “amount to anything,” it was worth it to me. I got to sketch and paint some amazing animals (some of which I had known nothing about beforehand), it was good practice, and it showed me that I might be a little more capable than I even realized.

Interested in participating in The Sketchbook Project? Learn more here.

Have you sent in a sketchbook for The Sketchbook Project? Tell me about it in the comments!

Materials used:

Sketchbook from The Sketchbook Project

Pentel Mechanical Drafting Pencil

Micron 01 Ink Pens

Mini Watercolor Palette (The Expeditionary Art Palette)

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