The power of the spread!
One thing I’ve picked up from watching way too many sketchbook tours on YouTube (no regrets!) is how a full spread can instantly elevate the whole vibe of a sketchbook. It doesn’t even have to be anything cohesive, just a bunch of random doodles, notes, or experiments thrown together across both pages. Somehow, that chaos works. It makes the sketchbook feel more alive, more intentional, even if it wasn’t. And the best part? It doesn’t take nearly as much effort as you’d think to make it look cool and interesting.
Even this silly spread just below kinda looks interesting and to be honest, and I think it shows, nothing was planned there ahah! I wanted to show up to the page so I ‘forced’ my self to draw whatever came to mind! So i started with a random thumbnail study using my acrylic markers. Then I saw a cool looking dude from Earth’s world instagram page. Then i went through the pictures on my phone and saw pictures of the cute cat I always pet outside during my morning walks. I tried to sketch him. and added a tree. It doesn’t take much to just do it!
I challenged myself later during the week to a spread that was more planned out while still keeping it light and fun and this happened. My acrylic marker ran out of paint so for the left side of the spread I had to use a different blue!
I read a really nice book this week and it made me feel super creative. This felt good for my artistic soul! I recommend to you reading Big magic by Elizabeth Gilbert
This has been a fun week in my sketchbook and I recommend to everyone to try to have fun with some spread next week. If you got fun ideas on how to make them fun I’m always curious to hear about it!
