Sketchbook Tips for Beginners

When I started keeping a sketchbook, I thought I needed to fill every page with something impressive. That mindset kept me from drawing for weeks at a time. Over the years, I’ve learned how much more rewarding it is when your sketchbook becomes a space to explore, mess up, and just enjoy the act of drawing—without pressure.

These days, my sketchbook is more like a visual journal. Some pages are full of quick gesture sketches, some have notes or half-finished ideas, and some are just color swatches and mark-making experiments. If you’re just starting out, I want to share a few sketchbook tips for beginners that I wish I’d known earlier—things that make drawing less intimidating and way more fun. These are all things I’ve tried, messed up, returned to, and eventually made part of my creative life.

Key Points

• You don’t need to draw well to keep a sketchbook. Just draw regularly.
• Use your sketchbook to explore, not to perform.
• The best materials are the ones you’ll actually use.

Sketchbook Tips for Beginners That Help You Stay Consistent

Sketchbook habits don’t need to be rigid or perfect. Most of my breakthroughs came from letting go of how I thought things were “supposed” to look.

Start with low-pressure drawing prompts

When you’re not sure what to draw, I’ve found it helps to have a few easy prompts. I keep a few ideas scribbled in the back of my sketchbook for low-motivation days. I like:

• Random themes (combine two words and draw whatever comes to mind)
• Easy ideas for drawing like plants, clouds, shoes, or birds
• This list of 100 simple things if you just want to warm up

Sometimes I just sketch what’s on my desk or out the window. One time I filled three pages drawing the same coffee mug from different angles. It wasn’t groundbreaking, but it got me moving.

Don’t worry about “finished” pages

Some of my favorite sketchbook pages are unfinished. I might only sketch for five minutes or just play with line weight or shading. Messy drawings often lead to my most interesting ideas later.

A lot of times, I’ll come back and finish something days later—or never. And that’s fine. If perfectionism is getting in your way, try drawing with your non-dominant hand for a few pages. It breaks your brain in a good way.

Keep your tools simple (but inspiring)

For beginners, I recommend starting with just a pencil, pen, and maybe a bit of color. My go-to tools are:

• A soft graphite pencil
• A ballpoint pen or waterproof ink pen
• A small travel watercolor set

I like tools that are reliable but still fun to use. I’ll toss in something weird every now and then—a stick dipped in ink, a crayon, even makeup brushes—just to see what happens.

Sketching on black paper with colored pencils was one of those experiments that stuck. It feels like drawing with light instead of shadow.

Focus on how things feel, not just how they look

When I stopped trying to draw what things look like and focused more on what they feel like, everything changed. I’ll draw with loose, gestural lines or scribble quickly just to catch the energy of a scene. Expressive drawing helped me lean into that style.

Sometimes I squint and just draw the shadows. Or I draw without lifting the pen. Or I make the whole page about one texture. These exercises build visual memory and intuition, even when they look chaotic.

Use your sketchbook like a lab, not a gallery

I treat my sketchbook like a place to try things out. Some pages are ugly experiments with color layering. Others are studies from books or screenshots. I:

• Practice vanishing point
• Copy from old master sketches like Leonardo da Vinci
• Break down forms using analytical drawing
• Sketch face proportions or movement from video stills

If something doesn’t work, that’s part of the process. I’ve learned just as much from failed studies as from ones I liked.

Draw backgrounds, not just objects

I used to focus only on the object in front of me—an apple, a shoe, a hand. But once I started drawing what was around those things, my drawings felt less stiff. Even a rough outline of the floor, a window frame, or a horizon line gives your sketch more weight. This guide to backgrounds helped me think about it differently.

Add writing or observations

There are pages in my sketchbook where the drawings are minimal, but the words fill the rest of the page. I write what I’m hearing, seeing, or wondering. Sometimes it’s just notes to myself: “draw this again but bigger” or “try colored pencil next time.”

When I’m outside, I’ll jot down the weather or bird sounds. During indoor sessions, I’ll record what song I was listening to or what I had for lunch. It adds context and keeps me connected to the moment.

Revisit old drawings and add to them

This is one of my favorite habits. I’ll flip through past pages and finish something I left undone, or redraw it in a new way. Sometimes I treat it like layering—adding notes, textures, or new sketches around the old one. It reminds me that no page is ever truly finished.

Try timed sessions or challenges

I set a timer a lot. Five minutes is usually enough to get past the “I don’t know what to draw” feeling. Sometimes I’ll pick a theme and do 3 quick drawings in a row. Or I’ll try a full page of crows in 10 minutes, just to get into a rhythm.

If I need more structure, I dip into sketchbook challenge ideas or landscape sketching ideas. But I always adapt them to whatever feels doable.

Bonus: How to Keep Your Sketchbook Organized (or Not)

Some artists love organizing their sketchbooks. Others don’t. I fall somewhere in between. I do:

• Use tabs or sticky notes to mark favorite pages
• Occasionally title or date sketches
• Store older sketchbooks flat and dry (how I do that)

Sometimes I’ll number the corners of the pages so I can reference them later if I’m pulling ideas into a bigger project. But I try not to overthink it. I want the sketchbook to feel like a playground, not a portfolio.

Don’t Wait to “Get Good”

I wish I’d heard this earlier: you don’t have to be good at drawing to be an artist. You become good by drawing consistently, and by being curious. Drawing is imperfect and that’s the whole point.

There are pages in my sketchbooks that make me cringe—and others I’m weirdly proud of. Both matter. Both are proof that I’m showing up.

You can absolutely develop your own style over time, especially if you’re open to trying new things. Here are a few more helpful reads:

• How to find your style of drawing: A guide that helped me stop chasing other artists’ styles and start noticing what felt natural in my own work.
• CalArts sketchbook tips: These tips opened my eyes to how storytelling and observation matter more than polish, especially if you're building a portfolio.
• Are Moleskine sketchbooks worth it?: A breakdown of whether pricey sketchbooks are worth the investment, with a few affordable alternatives I’ve tried.
• Sketchbook challenge ideas: When I’m feeling uninspired, I use this as a jumping-off point to reignite my daily drawing habit.
• Landscape sketching ideas: This guide helped me enjoy outdoor sketching more, without getting overwhelmed by details or trying to make it look photo-real.