Whenever we travel by car I feel pretty unconstrained in terms of how much I bring along, but if we’re going by plane I try to travel as lightly as possible. That definitely includes art supplies.
For Belgium and the Netherlands I trimmed my kit to the bare essentials and it worked really well. However, the one item that’s absolutely non-negotiable and that goes with me everywhere is a sketchbook. I’ve tried all sorts of options in the past, but even the smaller ones end up feeling bulky and heavy, taking up more room in my handbag than I’d like.
For this latest trip though, I happened upon a new solution that worked beautifully: I made a sketchbook myself. By doing so, its overall size, type of paper, number of pages, and weight were exactly right. The binding isn’t at all bulky and, since it is hand-sewn, it opens completely flat, making a double-page spread possible if wanted.
As a matter of routine, I cut my 20″x30″ drawing sheets down to 18″x24″ so they fit the drawing board I bring to my weekly life-drawing sessions. That has left me with a slew of 6″x20″ strips in a variety of high-quality papers. By trimming 6 inches off the end of some of the strips and then folding each remaining 6″x14″ piece in half, I ended up with the very workable sketchbook size of 6″x7″.
One thing to think about is how many pages you think you’ll need for the time you’ll be away. I used 4 of the 6″x14″ strips and hand-bound them within a slightly larger “cover” of watercolor paper, giving me 16 (6x7in) or 7 (6x14in) pages — not counting the cover which can be additional pages if needed.
It was perfect! Lightweight, easy to slip into my purse, and especially versatile considering the variety of papers I had included.
Google around to see if there’s a particular method/type of handmade sketchbook that’s right for you – there are a ton of tutorials on the web and Youtube. Or, follow these links: DIY Sketchbook & DIY Binding for a pretty comprehensive overview of the process and binding technique. The bottom line (and beauty) of this method is it’s completely flexible so you can adapt your book to your own particular needs.
Finally, here’s a taste of how I filled the sketchbook that I brought to the Netherlands and Belgium..