Start here / Become a sketchbook artist
Become a sketchbook artist
Live drawing and painting classes you can join from your sofa, in UK evening time, with a teacher who shows you each step. Beginners very welcome.
The short answer
A sketchbook artist is someone who makes a sketchbook part of their life and lets it lead them. You become one by filling pages, trying materials and showing up regularly. For me, that grew into teaching, commissions and illustrating books. It does not have to, and it can be just for you.
My story
I grew up in the Netherlands and spent twelve years at a Steiner school, where painting, drawing, dance and metalwork were part of everyday life. When I finished school I applied to fashion and graphic design courses and was turned down, and I was told to try fine art instead. I had grown up believing that becoming an artist meant choosing a difficult, uncertain life, so I did not.
I chose law, because I cared about social justice and how change happens. I finished a law degree, travelled on my own, met my partner and then completed a master's in international law and human rights.
I moved to the UK to be with my partner, worked in cafes and pubs, and then joined the finance industry. I stayed in insurance for nearly ten years. I met interesting people and travelled, but I never quite fitted in, and I missed making things.
I found my way back to art after my grandmother died in 2018. She was an artist, and her house was full of paintings. We were very close, and I was struggling with grief. I kept her art materials and took them home. When I began to use them, I felt close to her again, and I noticed how much calmer I felt. I started making small watercolour paintings and keeping a daily sketchbook.
Slowly I realised that I wanted to give that feeling of calm to other people. I asked a local pub if I could teach there, and started a Monday evening class with just a few people. Word spread, and the class grew. In the summer of 2019 I left my corporate job, with some savings and a very simple business plan.
Lockdown arrived a few months later, and I moved everything online. I taught seven or eight Zoom classes a week, and my community grew across the world through Instagram and YouTube. I made online courses, and companies hired me for team building and creative workshops. Weekly live classes were too much to keep up, so I started a creative membership, which is now the Sketchbook Circle. Today I have moved from London to Cambridgeshire, teach almost online online and spend most of my day making art.
I have taught thousands of students, online and in person, and I have taught and spoken at events all over the UK. Teaching is now my full time living. I still paint, mostly larger oil paintings, but I do that for fun and I am not actively selling them. Sometimes people ask to buy a painting or to commission one.
The longer version is in my post, My story: how I went from law to running a creative business.
You do not need one art style
Many beginners wait until they have found their style before they begin. I think it works the other way round. A style appears when you have made hundreds of pages and noticed what you keep returning to.
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Play with pens, paints, markers and collage in the same book.
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Keep the pages you love and learn from the ones you do not.
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Let your themes find you over time. Mine include healthcare, feminism, belonging and identity.
I am a self taught artist with no formal art education. What helped me was a few useful techniques, a bit of structure and a kind, encouraging place to practise.
If you are not sure where to start, the guide on finding your art style asks a few gentle questions.
Can a sketchbook earn money?
It can, but slowly, and not for everyone. A sketchbook is where your ideas, skills and confidence grow first. Money comes later, if you want it. Here is how it has worked for me.
For me
Teaching online
Courses and the Sketchbook Circle, which began as Zoom classes in lockdown and grew from there.
For me
Events
Teaching and speaking events all over the UK, workshops for companies, and mindful sessions with local charities.
For me
Illustration and commissions
I have illustrated two children's books and made commissions. These days I focus on teaching.
Right now, teaching is how I earn my living. My oil paintings are for fun. A sketchbook can lead many places, and it does not have to lead anywhere to be worth filling.
For a longer, practical look, read Can you make money from your sketchbooks? and the guides to selling your first pieces of art and selling your art online.
Will you ever teach the business side?
People often ask if I will create a course on the business side of art, such as how to film a course, how to market your art or how to sell your art. Perhaps one day. At the moment I have chosen to focus on the art itself.
If you want to fill your sketchbook pages, this is where to do it.
Five steps to becoming a sketchbook artist
Step 5
Share a page
Show one page a week, wherever you feel comfortable
Try this today
Open a sketchbook to any page and write the date in the corner. Draw one thing near you, then close the book. You have started.
Is making a living from your art for you?
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You love sketchbooks and want to fill them.
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You feel pulled to be creative, but life got in the way.
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You are curious whether art could be part of your work one day.
being a sketchbook artist is probably not for you if you want a quick income. Sketchbook art is a slow, rewarding path.
I'd still encourage you to pick up a sketchbook though, there are soo many benefits from sketchbooking and you don't need to make a living from your sketchbook to enjoy those!
"For me, a sketchbook is ultimately a safe space. It’s a quiet place where I can explore new ideas without any judgment, test out crazy concepts, and discover things about myself as an artist that I wouldn't have found otherwise." MV
Ways to learn with me
Questions people ask
I am Irene, artist and teacher in Cambridgeshire. I left a career in law to draw for a living, and I still feel a flutter at the first page of every new sketchbook.
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