Baker - Draw your day: an inspiring guide to keeping a sketch journal

Life takes so many interesting and unexpected turns. Drawing, painting, and writing about your days can provide you with a sense of peace and a deeper understanding of your thoughts and dreams. I know that drawing can be humbling and sometimes frustrating when you first begin. But if you practice a little bit each day, you will see gratifying improvement. It is important to remember that you can approach your sketch journal from so many creative angles, expressing and releasing your memories and creativity simultaneously. I realize that keeping an illustrated visual sketch journal is not for everyone, but I am quite certain that if I sat down with even my most non-drawing friends, I would be able to convince them that there is a way for anyone to have a similar practice. You dont have to be able to draw the same way that I do; you dont even have to draw at all. Write and splash some color on your pages, as you keep track of the places you go and the things you do. Make thought bubbles, rub some color around a particular memory you write about, glue down a piece of your Playbill after you go to the theater, and then make the prominent color for that page bright yellow. Make little stick figures engage in a conversation on top of a fun patterned tissue paper found in your shopping bag. If you feel overwhelmed by the possibilities, then my work is done. Most importantly, have fun and enjoy the creative freedom of experimenting as you draw your day!

Many of the items in the Tools and Materials section () or Amazon or purchased at your local art supply store. The following items are readily available and can be researched and purchased through the manufacturer websites:

Caran dAche

store.carandache.com/us/en

Soft water-soluble Supracolor colored pencils and Neocolor II water-soluble pastels.

Copic

copic.jp/en

Multiliners, nibs, ink cartridges, and original Copic markers.

CW Pencil Enterprise

www.cwpencils.com

Craft Design Technology plastic eraser, the Seed Radar eraser, and the Mbius & Rupert bullet sharpener, and just about the best resource for pencils, including Caran dAche Swiss Wood pencil, and Palomino Blackwing.

Faber-Castell

www.fabercastell.com

Polychromes, colored pencils and drawing pencils.

Fabriano

www.fabrianoboutique.com

Roll-style case for colored pencils.

Handbook Paper Co.

www.globalartmaterials.com

Travelogue Art Journals.

Moleskine

us.moleskine.com

Sketch Albums in various sizes, as well as Moleskine Watercolor Notebooks.

MT Tape

mt-tape.us

A great array of washi tapes.

Muji

www.muji.com

Glue sticks, pens and markers, and portable scissors.

Pentel Arts

www.pentel.com/pentel-arts

Water-based color brush pens and sets.

Prismacolor

www.prismacolor.com

High-quality Premier colored pencils.

Sakura of America

sakuraofamerica.com

Koi Pocket Field Sketch Box watercolor sets and Pigma Micron fine line pens.

Stabilo

www.stabilo.com

High quality pens and pencils.

Staedtler

www.staedtler.us/en

Mars plastic erasers, markers, and pencils.

Tombow

tombowusa.com

Dual brush pens in a variety of colors, including black.

This book would never have happened without the love and support of my family and friends. I cannot even begin to list everyone, but there are some I must call out and recognize in a bit more detail.

Thank you to my parents, Deborah and Alan Dion, who encouraged me to follow my dreams from day one and told me I didnt have to be an artist like the rest of the women in my family. I thought long and hard about doing something else, but once I decided to begin a journey on the creative path, I always knew you were watching with pure pride and love.

Thank you to my beautiful and ever-inspiring sister, Joanna Brown. Since we were little girls, I could watch you draw for hours, eyes widening with each stroke you took, in complete awe. Ill probably never be able to draw as well as you do, but I can only keep trying. Thank you for encouraging me, for your patience, and for not getting too annoyed as I continue to look over your shoulder.

Thank you to my agent Laura Lee Mattingly, who came to me with an idea and was an instant friend, and without whom this book would never have been.

Thank you to the entire team at Ten Speed Press: Ashley Pierce, Lisa Ferkel for your gorgeous design skills, Dan Myers for the production work, and Natalie Mulford and Eleanor Thacher for getting the word out about the book. A special shout-out to the incredibly talented Kaitlin Ketchum. Kaitlin, you guided me through a completely unknown process, made it fun, and helped me become a writer.

Thank you to my two boys, my two muses, Ian and Theo, who are my biggest cheerleaders. You are loved beyond measure. Thank you for keeping me young.

Last but not least, thank you to my very best friend and guiding light, Malcolm Baker. Your belief in me got this all started. Thank you for loving me and letting me love you back.

Samantha Dion Baker is originally from Philadelphia, where she grew up in a family of artists. She graduated from The Cooper Union in New York City and spent over twenty years working as a graphic designer. Now a full-time illustrator and artist, her favorite thing to do is wander the city streets and travel with her family, drawing all of the things she does, eats, and sees in the pages of her sketch journal. She lives and works in Brooklyn with her husband and two sons.

Think about when you were a childcurious, carefree, and not so critical of yourself. Chances are that you liked to draw or color, but that you stopped doing so at some point along your journey to adulthood. Heres the thing: It is perfectly okay to draw like your six- or eight-year-old self. That might be the age you decided that drawing was not for you, and you gave up on it. You had other interests, it wasnt something you were pulled to, or you didnt have a great art teacher who got you excited about drawing. Or maybe you sat next to a classmate who could draw a dog that really looked like a dog, and that was the day you decided you didnt know how to express yourself with pen and paper, so you might as well not try. All these years have passed, and you really wish you hadnt abandoned drawing. You would love to try again.