DIY Sketchbooks: Combining Art, Travel, and Personalization
How I make my travel sketchbooks
Disclaimer : Bird Droppings does not pretend to be an expert in any of the topics mentioned below (except for somethings). Past performance is not indicative of future results. Bird Droppings does not take responsibility of any positive/negative side effects that may arise from the overload of positive creative inspiration below.
Consume at your own risk.
If you are an illustrator or artist, you most likely have a sketchbook. Whether you have a favorite one or are still searching for the perfect fit, the world of sketchbooks or ‘visual journals’ is vast. There are travel sketchbooks, food journals, experimental ones, and subject-specific study books. Your sketchbook can be as flexible or as structured as you want it to be. That’s why I love them so much.
Today, I want to share how I make my own sketchbook and how you can too (and why you should).
I started making sketchbooks to record my travel adventures. I loved the idea of having one book encapsulate all my travel experiences, with sketches of people I met, food I ate, and places I visited. As a mixed media artist, I use fountain pens, watercolors, and fine-liners. I also enjoy collaging and embellishing with ephemera. This led me to discover the nuances of paper—differences between brands, grain direction, water absorption, pulp retention, etc. Finding a paper that worked for both ink and watercolor was challenging. The best compromise I found was bristol board multi-media paper, but its thickness made me feel like everything I created on it had to be world-changing.
After a lot of trial and error, I found that the Moleskine pocket sketchbook best met my needs, though it was also somewhat of an adjustment. Not the A5, art, or other sizes—just the pocket sketchbook. It’s practical and durable with a hardbound cover, elastic closure, and paper that works well enough for both watercolor and fountain pens. While not perfect, it’s a happy balance. At least the thin pages didn’t give me anxiety about what I create on them.
However, at $23, it’s expensive for a pocket-sized sketchbook with about 70 pages. And the cover was kind of boring.
So, I decided to make my own sketchbooks. And I did! And many!
Some are chunky because of the longer duration of the trip.
Some are pretty thin!
It was surprisingly easier that I thought. (Don’t get me wrong, I have had my fair share of wasted paper trying to make perfect book ends but I am getting better). The best part was that it is customizable. You can choose any paper you want and create a combination sketchbook for your specific medium. You can customize the cover, the band, the bookmark—the possibilities are endless.
Yesterday, I made this sketchbook for my upcoming trip to Portland the following week.
The cover is made with canvas cloth. On one side, I printed a vintage trolley map of Portland, and on the other, I used Pellon fusible fleece to turn it into a functional bookcloth material. I then adhered it to the book board, creating a sturdy hard casing.
I added vinyl letter stickers on top and dated the spine. I can’t wait to start using it!
At some point, I would like to do a full-blown tutorial on how I make my sketchbooks, but I am wondering what format to do them in.
What do you all think? Should it be a video or a paper tutorial?
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Cool Stuff I found this week :
While researching how to find the proper way to price an illustration job I got approached for, I found this amazing website called litebox where illustrators and artists submit rates for jobs they have done in the past. Such an amazing resource especially for those starting out! I was redirected to this website from
‘s super helpful video on How to price your art.Started reading the book Dune and have been enjoying it immensely - it reminds me a lot of the Harry Potter world when it first began except that it feels so relevant in today’s world.
Listened to
‘s podcast was warm and inspiring in so many ways. It gave me so much hope on growing a slow presence on a platform like Substack along with being able to see a happy fur baby on video.Finally, I am well into building the first few steps into my illustrated book about obscure food and will be sharing thoughts about food, culture and perhaps some initial shots of the first few pages. Oh and Salt, Fat, Acid, Heat is an inspiring read!
Hope y’all have a great weekend!
Anjana, you wonderful human! Thank you so much for listening and writing these kind words! That was my first podcast appearance in nearly a decade. Back in the day, I was on podcasts to talk about animal advocacy and political protests I was doing. What a ride it's been!
I'm glad my journey has helped you feel at ease in yours. I believe everything we do just leads to the next step and you're doing great! Case in point -- these sketchbooks look INCREDIBLE! And I vote YES please make a tutorial because I'd love to make some to take to the UK with me next month!