Outtakes from my sketchbook: Winter 2026

My sketchbook might be my most prized possession, besides my bike, Bible and computer. I got a new multi-media sketchbook at the end of my last winter break (after filling the previous one) and since January I've been absolutely pouring my heart into it. My sketchbook has always served as a kind of journal/notebook/sketchbook, filled with whatever I'm thinking with no rhyme or reason. It's comforting to have a place where none of my art is critiqued, graded or evaluated for industry potential. I write my most intimate thoughts and feelings, while painting and drawing whatever memory or idea comes to mind.

When filling a spread, I often start without any particular plan, just painting watercolor with colors and shapes that feel expressive of where my mind is at. I don't plan or evaluate, I just put color on the page. After it dries, I enjoy either doodling illustrations over top, or using it as a journal page, filled in my different moments in which I require tactile expression.

I bring my sketchbook nearly everywhere. It's accompanied me to many park hangs, track meets and family art nights. I love that it's born witness to some of my best and worst moments. It's become a crisis line for when I need to express something but simply can't verbalize or ideate into a cohesive idea. Also, most of the art I'm creating for my SCAD classes is digital, or at least digitally presented/rendered, so creating art with my hands reminds me why I love art as a way of being and processing existence. Big stuff!

Here are a few of my favorite pages from last quarter and the beginning of this quarter, scanned for your viewing pleasure.