Always Questioning

I’ve started THREE doodle sketchbooks (Doodle Anatomy Sketchbook, Doodlecillin, Doodle Bufonidae), two of which I have accidentally but completely destroyed.

And then, my Thicc Boi sketchbook—using the Ohuhu Mixed Media Sketchbook I love the paper of so much—broke. The block of inner paper tore from the spine and front covers. The sketchbook is too heavy to carry it’s own weight. And that was VERY disappointing.

I am not easy on sketchbooks. In fact, I’m hard on ALL my stuff. It’s a known factor in my decision making for the things I buy….can it handle my use?

Apparently the Ohuhu Mixed Media Sketchbook cannot.

I fixed the book, removed the spine and taped it up with book binding tape. The sketchbook is functional. But do I merely want something functional?

I know I want a sketchbook for sure. I really enjoy actually being able to finish them and carry them and be “good enough” to actually use sketchbooks the way they should be used (for practice).

But I’m really questioning if I should be using sketchbooks as finished projects in-of-themselves at all.

Old Problems, New Tricks?

Sketchbooks have always been a problem for me. But I can finally use them to my own standards and I’m still struggling with them. I definitely want something to practice with that will allow me to withstand true mixed-media supplies without feeling so precious that I won’t want to actually practice in it.

But I also want the form and prestige that comes with having a nice, aesthetic sketchbook. Something I can treat as an entire piece. Something I’ve already been doing with my doodle books.

The reason my doodle books keep failing is ultimately because I keep trying to do too much while being too perfect.

What makes Sketchbook 2 and the one before special? I finished them.
What is the no. 1 way to get me to give up a project? Complicate it beyond it’s need.
What do I necessarily need to do in order to complete these aesthetic, perfect, doodle projects? Complications beyond their need.

05/31/26 5:12 pm

After talking with Husby, and thinking through the whole process, I am definitely scaling back my sketchbooks to be more utilitarian than anything else. That’s what I’ve been successful with so far.

Maybe Fixes

Nothing with me is permanent. That being said…

I do seem to keep going back to loose pages for finished pieces being held in an album or portfolio. I was doing that with the smaller My Brain Album. I have all my favorite and best pieces in these albums. That’s how I want to proceed from this point on.

05/31/26 9:05 pm - After a lot of trial and error, I think I will stick to a standard, everyday, practice sketchbook (that can take acrylic markers) and then do full pieces in letter size and place them in a nice album.

This means revisiting my original workflow to loose pages…it worked before in the past (but with smaller pieces), so why not now that I’m more confident?