For the record, I don’t use sketch­books effec­tively as I should. Mine tend to be filled with scrib­bles, non sequiturs, and aren’t very exper­i­men­tal. The best sketch­books help artists to refine their style, and make it a safe place to “mess up” and try new things. For this Thursday’s round up, I’ve included some sketch­books that I really enjoy. I can only image what the rest of these books look like.

The Sketch­book Project is like “a con­cert tour but with sketch­books”, and avail­able to every­one. Par­tic­i­pants sign up and choose a theme to their book and use it as a basis for imagery. From there, each indi­vid­ual fills the book with draw­ings, col­lages, paint­ing, writ­ing, etc. until the project dead­line. After it’s been sent it to the good folks at the Art House Co-op, all of the sketch­books tour the United States until they are put in per­ma­nent col­lec­tion of the Brook­lyn Art Library. If you are inter­ested, you have until Octo­ber 31st of this year to sign up and choose your theme!

From top to bot­tom, in order: Andrea Posada // Jesse Draxler // Lizzy Stew­art // Lili Scratchy // Tyler Parker