Draw Your Day (352)

In this episode of the CMP, discussion of illustrated journaling (or keeping a visual sketchbook or drawing your day or combining your written documentation of life with sketches and visual annotation) and a review of Draw Your Day: An Inspring Guide to Keeping a Sketch Journal by Samantha Dion Baker.

This is definitely a book you will want to find and sit and peruse with a cup of coffee or tea. Dion Baker’s work is gorgeous, and the book contains lots of beautiful examples. Her style is breathtaking — although potentially a bit intimidating for people just starting out with the idea of a visual sketchbook and/or with limited amounts of time. But seeing her work and approach, her full-color spreads, her integration of lettering, and her sketches is inspiring. If you’ve never kept an illustrated journal before or have been wanting to get back in the habit, I know you will love seeing her pages. Use the links below to follow her at Instagram, listen to a podcast interview with her, and watch a short video where she talks about her practice.

Note: The ideas in this show are near and dear to my heart and integral to the philosophy of the CMP since the very beginning (2006) when I was inspired by Danny Gregory and others who were strong and empowering advocates of keeping an illustrated journal or sketchbook. I believe there is great power and potential in keeping an illustrated record of your daily life, moving from just a diary or journal to a visual journal or from just sketches on a page to sketches surrounded by and annotated with notes that offer daily context and situate sketchbook pages in the days of your life.

I hope you will give an illustrated sketchbook approach a try! Just remember, the process has to fit in your life and the time you have. Your daily recording may not end up looking like polished pages, and that’s okay! You’ll still have a rich and wonderful record of the day that will help you lock in some of each day that otherwise might be lost.

Mentioned in this Episode:

• Draw Your Day: An Inspiring Guide to Keeping a Sketch Journal (Samantha Dion Baker)

• Creative License (Danny Gregory)

• Everyday Matters (Danny Gregory)

• An Illustrated Life: Drawing Inspiration from the Private Sketchbooks of Artists, Illustrators and Designers (Danny Gregory)

• How to Make a Journal of Your Life (Dan Price)

• Samantha Dion Baker’s site Samantha Dion Baker at Instagram

• “I Needed to Own My Style.” My Interview with Artist and Author Samantha Dion Baker (podcast)

• Samantha Dion Baker – Independent Designer, Illustrator, Artist (video) 

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