Are Sketchbooks Real Art?
A post on Instagram about sketchbooks led to a dialogue on whether or not the pieces we create in our sketchbooks are real art. I believe they aren’t “real” art, but they are art. Confusing, isn’t it?
Real art is the art that I create for sale. These pieces are made with matte medium on an archival substrate that can be framed or on wooden panels and sealed and varnished. They are made with care and intention, often in a series, and can take me weeks to complete. These pieces feel like work, where creating art is my job.
Sketchbooks are for play and experimentation, and they don’t feel like work because I’m not looking to them for income.
© Sarah Z Short, 2025, Women's Woe, 10"x7"As artists, if we don't have a place to play and we're only trying to make finished work, we're never going to grow, change, or experiment, because we're so focused on creating what we're already good at. The sketchbook is a place to change that.
My sketchbook collages let me play with shapes and colors I don't usually use. I can work wherever I am, so I don't feel like art has to be something I can only make in a studio. I can do it at my desk while watching TV or traveling—it's a grab-and-go situation. I’m using glue sticks, so there’s no mess, and paper scraps, limitations that lead to creative thinking.
A sketchbook practice makes art feel less precious and fussy when you can do it anywhere, and that can translate into your studio practice. I don't get caught up thinking that the vintage papers are too good to use because a few minutes ago, I was chopping up ledger books and putting them in my sketchbook with a glue stick. In a sketchbook, it's easy to get into the creative flow, and the more I access that feeling, the quicker I get there when working on my “real” collage art.
I leave open the possibility that sketchbook collages could become something more. At my 2024 solo show, Stories Told, I displayed one hundred sketchbook pieces made with vintage magazines on Bristol paper. A handful were offered as giclée prints, and I chose the ones I thought worked as complete works of art.
The collages in my sketchbook inspire composition and color palettes in other works. I use them when teaching as examples of ideas we are working on in class exercises. Seeing an artist playing with ideas takes the pressure off the students to make perfect work, especially for beginners.
To clarify this, what should I call the work in my sketchbooks? My art practice pieces? Sketchbook art? Casual collages? Maybe I'll call them 'practice pieces' or 'experimental work'—it probably doesn't matter, but I'll stop with the 'not real art' idea." That terminology diminishes the value I find in my sketchbook work.
Additional Blog Posts on Sketchbooks
Forget Perfect: How a Simple Sketchbook Can Restart Your Art Practice