Imagine that!

A creative guide
for those who
think they can’t

by the Sketchbook Skool fakulty

sketchbookskool.com
 You’re a born artist.
We all are—when we’re kids, we draw and do all
kinds of creative things naturally. As we get older,
we lose touch with some of that creative instinct.
We forget how to draw, paint, and play.

That’s why we made this e-book for you.

Being creative is fun. (Ever notice that as adults,

we don’t have enough fun?) It’s also important:
living creatively is living better. More fully. It puts
more life in life. We just have to remember how to
live creatively, like when we were kids.

We can show you how.

At Sketchbook Skool, we don’t just teach you

how to make art. We give you the inspiration to
get you going. We’ve gathered the best creative
wisdom and tips from our fakulty and put them in
this e-book. Now you’ll have everything you need
to start living a more creative life.

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 Danny Gregory:
One of the key things about creativity is the ability
to combine disparate things into something brand
new. It might be things in your environment, it
might be influences, it might be the masters you
admire, but you’re taking different things and
combining them. The broader, richer, and deeper
your sources are, the broader, richer, and deeper
your creativity is going to be as well.
Open your mind. Open your eyes. You want to
gather as much stuff, and experience, and great
work around you as you can.

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 Koosje Koene:
When it comes to storytelling, in your sketchbook
or outside of it, sometimes you need to let the story
unfold partly by itself. Of course you’re telling the
story, because it’s done by you. But if you let go of
the thoughts that your story has to make sense and
that it should be perfect by freeing your mind, brain-
storming, and allowing silly thoughts, your story will
benefit from that.
If you don’t always know what’s going to happen
next, you can be surprised by new corners you can
turn to.

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 Brian Butler:
When you make stuff in your sketchbook, it can turn
into another project. Your ideas and your inspirations
don’t have to end inside the pages of your sketchbook.
I like the idea of getting ingredients and then choosing
different things to do with the ingredients.
Rather than just literally drawing a portrait of some-
one, I’m going to draw something that relates to the
person, but is probably a little bit more fun to draw.

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 Mattias Adolfsson:
As a freelance illustrator, I mostly just sit at a table
and draw away; nothing very exciting happens
on an everyday basis. So I try to add imagination
to my drawings in order to make life a little more
interesting.
I would like to make an epic graphic novel, but it
tends to be small ideas that pop up in my brain.
So instead of doing that big epic, I might do a little
spread with maybe some skeletons bowling or
something. I never know what will pop up.
When you draw from imagination, you never fall
short of ideas. If you have a hard time starting,
start with reality and mix in small fantasy parts.
Drawing from imagination will show you just how
much is stored in your mind. You might be sur-
prised!
I started drawing pigs on bikes one day, and I’m
still at it. Finding things you feel at ease drawing
makes it easier to overcome times when you lack
inspiration. I can always return to pigs, robots, or
trees, depending on what kind of day it is. (Today
is a typical pig day.)
In your mind, you have stored lots of stuff from
reality. If you think about it, you probably have the
image of a pig in your brain. You do not need to
sit in front of a pig to draw one. And even though
details may be wrong, it still looks like a pig when
it comes out. And sometimes it can be quite inter-
esting to see how full of life an image that comes
from your imagination can be.

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 Andrea Joseph:
You can make a quick sketch and then take it home
with you to finish later. Add details from memory
or imagination. This way of drawing reminds me
of this beautiful quote I heard that I wrote down in
one of my sketchbooks so I would never forget it. I
was watching a documentary about the rock band
The Kinks, and the lead singer, Ray Davies, said,
“It’s not how you report something, it’s how you
remember it. That’s what they call poetry.”
I love that quote, and it makes me think of this way
of drawing. I like to think that this adds a differ-
ent layer to a drawing, doing quick sketches out-
side and then taking the drawing home to finish.
It adds something; the memories of that day, the
smells, where you were, what the weather was
like, all those things. Remembering them and then
putting all that in when you’re in the nice comfort
of your own home, it’s almost a little bit dreamlike.
Or as Ray Davies said, poetry.

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 Fabio Consoli:
Even if a drawing is from imagination, it always
starts with reality: The sketchbook is a tool to
know and see the world. Even if my drawings
are very stylized and not figurative, they come
from an attentive observation of reality.
Maybe drawing places, drawing concepts, I strip
away everything superfluous and grasp the real
essence. I try to be curious, to never stop at the
first point of view just out of laziness. Some final
portraits of people I meet during a journey have
been created without having the real person in
front of me. I try to speak to the people, get to
know them in their own surroundings, and I do
quick sketches. Later, without having any visual
reference, I sketch the memory of that person.
Yes, the drawing doesn’t look like the real per-
son, but I enjoy the game of doing it.

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 Jonathan Twingley:
The part of our brain that dreams is pretty power-
ful. If we can get out of its way every now and then
and just watch it, we might learn a thing or two.
“That’s not the image I had in my head.” That
statement, which people make about their draw-
ings, has always rubbed me the wrong way. When
you’re making a drawing, there’s simply too much
mileage involved for it to be otherwise. “Images
in the head” are vague things at best, points of
departure. That initial spark-flash of an image or
concept in our mind has to work its way out of the
brain, down the neck towards the shoulder (with
a quick and substantial pass through the heart, if
it’s the right kind of idea), down the arm and into
the hand where this “image/idea” is force-fed into
whatever tool it is that you’re using at the time,
and then out, onto the blank page.
After a journey like that, what spills out will likely
have taken on a life of its own and might not have
anything to do, in the end, with that initial image
you had in your head. And that’s the fun part.

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 Penelope Dullaghan:
There’s a great quote by Chuck Close: “Inspira-
tion is for amateurs. The rest of us just show up
and get to work.”
Show up, and do it. And keep doing it. Even
those “terrible” works will push you forward and
give you more ideas, like “Oh, that didn’t work,
but there was this inkling of another idea in
there. And that gives me the idea for this.”
Just keep going with that momentum. And that
momentum will bring you something that’s truly
something to share, show off and be proud of.

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 Sabine Wisman:
You are your biggest asset when it comes to draw-
ing, and making a drawing interesting. You and your
unique way of looking at the world, seeing it, and
interpreting the world.
My best tip? Take 15 minutes every day to play! Set the
work aside, and just play. Doodle. Have fun!

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 Felix Scheinberger:
Through art you can make things real that don’t
exist yet or that never existed. I can do things with
my drawing that otherwise would not be possible.
You can illustrate ideas! You can create new things
with a drawing.
Sometimes I draw really unspectacular things, a
seedy building somewhere, or an old man I see in
the street. It’s fun to exaggerate while drawing. If
a dog looks a little weird, then I make him a little
weirder. When I want a picture of a dog the way it
is, I take a photo. Through exaggeration, by making
it weirder, it’s more like a caricature. Drawing can
do this well, cultivate things. You can also add your
opinion about things. Or about people—you can
bring in your own point of view or opinion.

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 Ohn Mar Win:
It’s all about the journey. The creative process is not
linear. You will have to experiment, learn from your
mistakes. It’s like when you travel: You explore and
go from place to place, maybe even without a plan.
There’s this quote from Tolkien that I like and that ap-
plies: “Not all those who wander are lost.”

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 Nate Padavick:
My favorite element on an illustrated map is
the iconography. These are the visual symbols
drawn to represent a particular site or particu-
lar thing. I love to infuse my maps with a lot of
creative energy, a lot of people doing things.
So when you look at a map you can envision
yourself being in this situation.

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 Nina Johansson:
Challenge your drawing skills. Even if something is
hard to draw, try it anyway. Of course you can draw a
flying horse; you just need to try. Never say no to any
ideas, no matter how silly or crazy they seem.

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 Juliana Coles:
If I have an idea, I write it down. Journal writ-
ing is a dumping ground. We are not trying
to be writers, we’re not doing themed papers,
we’re not trying to be smart or impress any-
body with what we think or what we say. Ideas
and thoughts are links. They link to another, to
another, to another all down the line, and it’s
that last one that I’m looking for. In order to get
there, I have to follow the trail.

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 Favorite fakulty quotes
Brian Butler: Lapin:
“Because why not?” “Imperfection gives the drawing more authenticity”.

Sabine Wisman: Miguel Herranz:

“What if everything is possible and nothing is strange or “Drawing is very similar to writing: lines and strokes that
silly?” flow across the paper and become some kind of message.”

Penelope Dullaghan: Veronica Lawlor:

“The word amateur comes from the Latin word meaning “The picture on my paper will never match the one in my
‘to love.’ It means to fall in love with what you’re doing. Do head—and that’s a good thing. It gives us something to
it because it inspires you and makes you feel happy.” strive for and more to do. Art keeps us interested!”

Felix Scheinberger: Koosje Koene:

“I don’t think there are mistakes; there are just different “Let’s start with less and add stuff later, so we can see
possibilities.” the forest for the trees and get our principles and basics
straight.”
Mattias Adolfsson:
“If something’s missing in your sketch, you can always add Melanie Reim:
a dinosaur or two.” “The more you draw, the better you get at your drawing,
the more stories are uncovered. You start drawing one,
Jason Das there’s a story that unfolds behind it. Before you know it,
“Who cares what the drawing looks like? Nothing bad you have lots of stories from the day.”
comes from making a bad drawing.”
Christophe Defline:
Jonathan Twingley: “When you have a nice idea for a drawing, just do it right
“A sketchbook, by its very nature, is freedom.” away. Don’t procrastinate.”

Fabio Consoli: Danny Gregory:

“It’s really important that there is no stress involved, and “Experiment with forms, media, everything.There’s no one
you do the things that make you feel good.” way to fill the pages of your journal.”

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 Mini assignments to get you going

Brian Butler:

Make an Idea Generator. Take a scrap piece of paper

and fold it in half, or make two columns. Write a list
of 20 adjectives in one column and 20 nouns in the
other. I have things like “naked” and “dark” and “flying”
on the adjective side, and in nouns, I have “pineapple”
and “tiger.” You can already see where this is going.
A naked pineapple is going to be super fun to draw.
My challenge to you is to do five or so examples from
your list, and maybe you can do more. If you want to
really render them and go bananas, then go bananas.
Maybe draw a naked banana, maybe draw a tropical
banana, maybe draw a sea banana. All those things
sound super fun to draw.
When you’ve drawn everything on your Idea
Generator list, make another! This way, you’ll never
say you have nothing to draw.

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 Jill Weber:

Make a book about yourself. It can be about your

fears, a secret, what you did today, something you
want to share or keep to yourself.
You can make it an accordion book: Just fold a strip
of paper into pages.
Make it any size you want! Make a series of books
for each month, each week, each day.

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 Sabine Wisman:

How do you come up with a story?

Find a picture—vintage black and white photos are a
great source of inspiration. You can search for them
on Google. Then, looking at the picture, ask yourself
what happened the moment before this picture was
taken. That will get you going. Another question
you can ask is the “what if” question—what if this
happened, what if that happened. Then draw your
ideas, using the picture for reference or inspiration.

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 Penelope Dullaghan:

Draw something that flies. It can be

anything: planes, dragonflies, hot air bal-
loons, whatever you can think of.
But draw it in a way that expresses how
you feel.
Use a chunky marker if you’re feeling
bold. Or a thin pencil or fine liner if you’re
feeling small. Just make sure your line is
expressive for how you are right now.

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 Ohn Mar Win:

Draw an everyday object, or a few, over and over

in different ways to create a fun, colorful pattern in
your sketchbook.

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 Mattias Adolfsson:

Draw the inside of your fridge. What parts do

you tend to forget, and do you remember the
most important parts? Now draw the fridge
of your dreams. What would be in there?

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 Andrea Joseph:

Write a letter to somebody; a handwritten letter to

somebody you love. Add a little illustration. Your
choice of anything. Just draw it with love.

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 Danny Gregory:

Take a journey and turn it into a story.

This could be a weekend drive, a walk in
your neighborhood, a trip to the grocery
store. Draw it as one picture, a series of
pictures, a graphic novel in squares.

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 Imagine that!
The tips in this ebook are from the Sketchbook Skool fakulty:

Danny Gregory Mattias Adolfsson Penelope Dullaghan

Koosje Koene Jonathan Twingley Felix Scheinberger
Brian Butler Fabio Consoli Sabine Wisman
Andrea Joseph Ohn Mar Win

We hope you enjoyed this e-book! We had a great time making it for you, and we want
to give you even more free stuff.

• You’ll find tons of free lessons and tips on the Sketchbook Skool YouTube channel
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