The last time when I participated in the Sketchbook Project. organized by the friendly folks at Art House Co-op, it was 2009 (you can see my sketchbook here). And right now as I’m typing this, they’ve recently opened up submissions for their 2012 Sketchbook Project (which is 100% community funded by the way) – which is akin to a concert for sketchbooks. They bring it around cross country in the USA, scan them for you (for a small fee) and basically treat them like royalty – showing them off at whatever chance they get. Best of all, 2012 is the year where they’ll break international boundaries and will exhibit at places like London and Melbourne.
They’ve teamed up with Pikaland to offer YOU – our lucky readers you – a chance to be a part of the Sketchbook Project. And we’re not talking about just one miserable sketchbook giveaway. There’s FIVE with each one to be given out to FIVE lucky reader who answers this question in our comments section:
Why do you sketch?
And not only that, we’re going to be following the progress of these 5 winners – and they’ll be profiled on Art House’s site as well. Your sketchbook be grouped in a special Pikaland archive (locally and online) and of course, be subjected to a royal treat that every sketchbook deserves.
Sounds great? What are you waiting for? The giveaway ends next week on 9th August.
For those who are anxious to start the Sketchbook Project right this instant, you can get a copy of your sketchbook here with a special 10% discount just for Pikaland readers – enter discount code PIKAFRIEND during checkout and bada-bing!
SCOOT!
{The above sketchbook spread is done by Mikey Maruszak, and taken from Art House’s website.}
*UPDATE: Commenting has now closed, thanks so much for participating. The winners of this giveaway are Jodi, Alexandra, Saga, Mareike and Sarah, as chosen via random.org!
I sketch to keep my mind fresh and nimble and to journal my thoughts that run through my mind each day. Sketching is like stretching your muscles to keep yourself flexible!
I sketch to stay sane. 🙂
I sketch because is the best and unique way to unlock my creativity.
I sketch just for the joy of it 😀
I sketch to keep the skills sharp. It can also be relaxing. It’s a form of meditation to me.
I sketch to clear my mind and find out what is really bothering me and to remember to dream.
I sketch to make any ideas in my mind evolve in to rough visuals. These are then the starting point of anything I end up creating as a final piece.
Exciting! My sketching is really utilitarian, I mostly paint on 3D objects, so for me sketches are mostly where I work how the design in my head will get onto the object. My sketch books get brutalized too! I tear things out so I can have them in the studio, use them as coasters, you name it!
I sketch because drawing is thinking. It gets me into a visual mindset and lets me come up with ideas I might not have if I was brainstorming using words, or going straight from staying in my head to a “final” piece. Also, like others have said, to keep in practice.
That sounds amazing! I love looking at people’s sketchbooks.
My right brain and my left brain are constantly at war with each other. Even though I’m a creative, the list-making, logical side of me always wants a chance to play. Sketching not only allows me to create, but to organize, reason out, and logically think about my ideas.
i sketch and illustrate because i have no other option—i have to. creating things makes me feel alive, excited, more like myself. i want to tell stories and take people everywhere through them.
Simply because I can’t help it. I ALWAYS have with me a notebook and a pencil, actually sometimes lots of pencils, and maybe two notebooks (one plain and one squared I really can’t explain why) and yes my bags usually are quite roomy : )
i sketch to keep track. to keep track on what i’m doing and what i’m thinking about and what i for the moment am in love with. and i sketch simply not to loose my mind.
Oh wow, how funny. I just saw the sketchbooks in Orlando this weekend and blogged about it this morning. I’m definitely doing it even if I don’t win one.
Why do I sketch?
Calms the mind and most of the time makes me laugh.
-Andrea
I sketch to tell stories. To make things come to life! To let my ideas take on a life of their own, so I can “meet” them once they are on a page!
Sahwheet! I sketch to capture the tiny things my brain spits out that might turn into something meaningful or at least nifty! Thanks for this contest!!! And if I don’t win- the discount!
I sketch, doodle, and draw because I have to. If I didn’t I swear I’d just keel over. There are people who don’t get it and have dared to suggest it is a time waster but that’s like hearing them say, “oh, just quit breathing.” Yeah, it’s that life affirming and life sustaining and I love it!
Beats me.
I sketch, because I like that I am leaving a trace of myself behind even when I’m gone.
My mom put a pencil in my hand as soon as I could hold one – I learned to draw when I learned to walk and talk. Life just seems to be missing something without a sketchbook.
i sketch because i can’t sculpt 😉
ok… not really… it’s because i’m constantly inspired and i like remembering.
i sketch because it’s my daily reminder to connect with myself and the things around me!
Sketching always has a positive outcome for me. If I am happy, sad, frustrated, or bored, sketching completes me. Even if I feel like I’m making “bad art”, I am still creating in a neat book for safe keeping…and in the end that’s all that matters.
Great!..well, I love to sketch…..but more than that it’s part of my life, I sketch since I was born or I can remember, I sketch to write down what I think, see or dream where ever I go. I sketch because….I was born this way…
Happy week everyone, it’s a beautiful rainy day here In France. 🙂
Throughout the last years my impression is that sketching has become an artform in itself almost, because people show and share easily their sketchbooks online. I really enjoy looking at everyones sketches and it inspires me for my own progress.
I sketch to see the world with my eyes, instead of anyone else’s.
i have a sketchbook so i can show other people the beauty i see in life.
I sketch in order to have a visual plan for paintings or prints that I’m working on — to find out what looks best where, to be sure that I have understood a form well enough to draw or paint it properly.
I sketch in order to get an idea down before it fades away forever.
I sketch to uncover the people and places lurking in the back of my mind.
I sketch to bring into existence the ideas, people and landscapes that I want to have around… because who else will do it, if I don’t?
I sketch to not forget my ideas and inspirations 🙂
(First, I’m French & my English is not so good, sorry )
I sketch as I take photos. I never keep a diary, but I started drawing with my best friend, 3 years ago. Now she is for an one year exchange in Bangkok and we’re making sketchbooks in order to tell our daily lives. 🙂
I sketch to keep track of, remember, and share my dreams and all of the other odd thoughts that run through my mind.
I sketch to stay sane, to capture moments that would otherwise be forgotten amidst the chaos of my daily life, and to remind myself of the things that I’m most passionate about.
I sketch because that is where my true masterful treasures lie; everything else cannot compare.
To sketch is to check in with your subconscious, to let it swirl out into the world for a while, take root, take flight, have a short walk and catch up as you stroll along the white page together, then pack it back away carefully until the next time.
I sketch because a meeting is boring, I’ve been stuck on hold for more than 10 seconds, I happened to find a scrap of paper and ink pen in my bag, the conversation got boring, I started to make a note about something and managed to distract myself…
sketchbooks are my visual note taking, research, problem solving, sane making solution to everything. can’t help myself. love the sketchbook project and all the other great projects art house co-op does.
I sketch to find out who I am 🙂
I sketch because it’s my most favorite thing to do!
I sketch to try and understand the confusion that is my mind!
I sketch because I want to get it down on paper
I live each day as a piece of art by sketching:
School is under stimulating, the only way to excel is in art
I can truly express the breadth of an idea and expand it by delving into my mind
Have an active internal world explained through a repertoire of visual vocabulary
Art is being a primary producer
Brining beauty to fruition
Not selling or representing
It is looking at yourself through a convex mirror and pulling out of it expression
Lines that pulsate through the life force, undulate, coil, wither, join, transverse to one collide
Layers of color shapes
Art is learning that the hand and mind don’t always work in perfect union
The mind sometimes wanders, flits in and out of different states of reality, shifting like a deck of cards
In this whole universes are experienced, emotional landscapes seen in the mind’s eye, synthesizing a day, give feeling to it
But this is a fine line to trapeze between sane and insanity
Trying to return from a divergent state, a disjointed continuum
(micro re-incarnation with a shifting brain)
Trying to find solutions through a piece of art
Trying to live each day as a piece of art
I sketch very small things. then I carry them with me all day and all night like talismans.
i sketch to collect and sort my ideas and thoughts.
Sometimes I am a very shy person (okay most of the time) but feel as though I have so much I want to say and do – sketching is a great outlet for my thoughts and ideas and really helps to keep confidence in my art and challenges me.
I sketch because it’s instant art and at the same time it doesn’t have to become anything more than just that moment of sketching. I also sketch to remember places and moments. To keep it for later …. There is nothing that beats remembering sitting in the shade at that café sketching. Looking at the sketch I racall the smells, the taste of what I drank and parts of any conversation I had at the same time. It’s my Madeleine cookie …
i sketch to get everything that is floating around in my head out and down on paper…
I sketch to reaffirm that the world is still moving beyond my computer.
To sketch is an extension of my subconcious mind, which has been said to take over 95%of the brain activity… that is a whole lot of sketching.
I draw to escape the ordinary.
I can’t help it [=
I see people and I find myself imagining a little story about their lives and why they look so happy/glum today
I go home and draw them in my sketchbook. It’s like my own little collection of make believe characters based on people I can’t help but notice while I’m walking.
I sketch because I need to. Its a compulsion.
I sketch to find ideas and to explore.
I sketch because it makes me experiment and play in I way I can’t when I have a set goal. I love my sketchbooks for letting me draw without thinking and planning too much.
I sketch to temper my ocd and to lead an examined life.
I sketch to stay healthy and to stash little pieces of today in a forever place.
Putting the pen to paper, creating lines, helps me to be more present. It grounds me and I feel happy.
i sketch because while i’m always taking photos and writing things down nothing reminds me of a particular day or moment than a sketch. Whether it’s a little doodle of a blob saying something or a detailed observational drawing of the people opposite me on a plane it puts me back into that moment more than anything else.