Sketchbooks are so difficult to fill up.
For me, on average a sketchbook takes about a year to completely fill up. If I’m stuck in my room drawing all day and all night it takes at least a month.
My most recent sketchbook is almost out of pages and I’ve been getting creative with filling it so I can finish it soon. I want to get a head start with drawing in the sketchbook Arachnid gave me, so I don’t forget about it. *looks guiltily at piles and piles of unfinished sketchbooks*
The one good thing that has come out of speed-completing my sketchbook is that I’m now constantly pulling new ideas from my head. (Even if they don’t work out as expected; those are best drawings)
Here are some things you can fill a sketchbook with:
1. Sketches that take up the whole page with no spaces
I know this takes a long time, but it’s fun to do. You can fill the page up with zentangles, random shapes, puppies, doodles, feet–you name it. Usually, I enjoy making these with the adorable versions of things.
2. Cut doodles out from school notebooks or other things
I do this A LOT. Not as much as I do regular drawings, but still it is very normal for me. Plus, it is a very easy and effective way to fill up those very last pages of a sketchbook if countered with artist’s block.
3. Draw the things you are bad at drawing
Hands. Make a page dedicated to hands. Remember that no one will see your sketchbook except you. (Unless you are like me and have societal pressures for you to expose these private treasures.) Even if someone will see your sketchbook, working on the things you are bad at will improve your drawing skills.
4. Drawings inspired by music
I love to listen to music while drawing. Music takes me to another world. Some people think it’s a distraction, but I believe it’s a tool that helps me think of ideas.
5. Write/Paint
Who says that you have to draw in a sketchbook? Writing is a cool way to put ideas down that you can’t exactly draw yet. Painting and coloring can bring a splash of color into it too.
6. Pen Drawings with sticky notes
You might be asking: why sticky notes? I answer with because they are colorful ways to cover up your mistakes. Don’t use them too much or else the point of creating pen drawings is lost.
7. Create comics or short stories with pictures
I used to do this all the time in my old sketchbook. The whole thing was basically a yellow book with maybe ten pages of normal drawings and the rest being comics about a very gassy ninja.
8. Redraw old drawings
I don’t do this that often, but it’s good to do when you are running out of ideas. Generally, I draw sketches from a long long time ago.
9. Page fillers
When there are blank spaces on a page, I resort to page fillers. Those are basically simple, small and easy to draw doodles. Page fillers for me usually include: Exclamations, cats, roses, triangles, circles, squares, rainbows, koi fish and chibi characters.
10. Scribbles
Try scribbling and making stuff out of the scribbles. It’s simple enough.
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