After returning home from Borders, having purchased another Moleskine cahiers 3-pack of small “plain journals” (meaning un-lined), and also another journal-type book lined pages one side, blank the other– I realized that I have a lot of idea books.  Take a look:

But, they each serve their purpose. Clockwise from top left:

1. Black Spiral 9×12 - this is where I keep  sketches for my design business - baby announcement, wedding invites, ideas for art to go on them… all in there.
2. Another black spiral - for my Morning Pages - 3 pages of ‘brain drain’ each morning.  Sometimes, usually just a bunch of disjointed thoughts, and sometimes it’s a few good ideas, or a to-do list, but mostly, it just helps me identify and manage issues/stress + solutions.
3. Silver journal (hard to see, sorry) - I just picked this up at Borders - I’m going to use it for jotting down notes when I’m speaking with clients.
4. Celtic design sketch book, black - this is THE sketchbook - my art/musings/notes/interesting findings sketchbook.  I love this one. It is a removable 4×6 sketchbook inside a leather cover.  I have replaced the sketchbook several times.  The cover protects the book from getting too beat-up.  It also has a closure (piece of leather wraps around the button) so I don’t lose all the little papers I have stuck in there. This is the one I’ve had the longest and would have the hardest time parting with, I think.
5. Moleskines, old one and new set - 31/2 x 51/2, thinner than the small leather Moleskine sketch book - the paper isn’t great, but I love how I can fit it in my purse without having to carry a gargantuan bag or my leather sketchbook everywhere.  I get it out when I’m waiting for food at a restaurant, or for Brian Regan’s show to start (yay- Sept 6!), or whenever.  I’ll take my leather sketchbook if I think I’m going to use it, but if I forget, or I see/hear/think of something interesting, it’s great to have one on hand.
6. Celtic tree - This was a gift from Rich (he knows me well) - same style as the other one with the removable book.  I have used this book to draw sketches for design classes, ideas for illustrations, logos, bedroom color schemes - whatever I don’t feel like putting in my “regular” sketchbook.

Of course, after I took the photo, I realized that I have notebooks, too… one that’s a daily to-do list, one for the house that lists each room with what needs to be fixed/done,  the shopping list, of course, and then various older notebooks around the house containing bits of who-knows-what… And I have piles of old sketch books, etc. etc… I guess I make a lot of lists too - this is a list in itself.

I thought I’d include a collage of some of the sketches from the sketch books:

Some of those are pretty old - the baby in the sketch is now 9 years old.  I am beginning to sketch a little more often now, which is good.  It’s not good for me to bottle it all up all the time.

 Creativity Question:  Do you write down or sketch your ideas, no matter how silly?

When I was in college, I used to worry a little about what my fellow artists might think if they looked in my sketch book (which sometimes they did).. but I drew anyway.  And now, I don’t care so much, because I know that it’s getting it out of me, even if it’s silly things like drawing clothing designs, when I’m not a fashion designer, or the lines the streets make when seen from an airplane, or a poem about my shoes…. whatever.  I can go back later, and laugh at some and find good ideas in others.  It’s kind of like a visual journal that I can just pour bits of my soul into.

This entry was posted on Tuesday, September 2nd, 2008 at 11:45 am and is filed under artsy, babble, creativity, design. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Responses are currently closed, but you can trackback from your own site.