In 2013 I entered the Sketchbook Project, where I paid a fee for a sketchbook of a certain size which was, when completed, returned to the Brooklyn Art Library. It became part of a touring collection. When I was in Chicago in 2016 I saw one of those buses. It was truly phenomenal to see what interesting thing people did with their sketch books. Not all of them were great, but some of them were exquisite.
To be honest I had joined the Sketchbook Project in 2012 as well, but I had not worked out what to put inside it (this is the problem with precious “you can only do it in here” creativity boundaries for me). But 2013 I took the book, some pencils and textas, a bit of glue (no scissors) onto a flight to Paris, and I just made things, using the in-flight magazines often as stimulus.
Here it is 2025 and the Sketchbook Project is no more. All that remains is an instagram account. The Brooklyn Art Library has shut down, and I imagine the touring buses have too. I can’t say I will miss it, my only alert was when the link to my sketchbook recently broke. But I will be making my art regardless. Fewer people may see it, but the joy that it brings me stays the same whether I make for an audience of one or an audience of 30,000.
Here is my digitised version of the sketchbook.
