Sketchbooks are so valuable in the progression of all artists. They are especially useful for the new drawing student. they will become a visual diary of your daily world. Students who have not kept a sketchbook often find this new tool very liberating as they had so much to say but could not get it into words. List some ideas in your journal that you hope to use in your sketchbook. Example: thumbnail sketches, capture visual images and thoughts, saving visual records, experimenting with a variety of solutions for a problem.

Research examples of sketchbooks from famous artist like Picasso, Leonardo da Vinci, Michelangelo. Compare and contrast their sketches. What can you learn?

Select an object like a radio, shoe, pencil sharpener, any object and draw it in your sketchbook but make the object exploding or folding into itself.

Select your favorite poem or saying and illustrate it on a page or two of your sketchbook, when your finished in some artistic lettering pen your poem on top of your illustration.