I have 9 journals at the moment that I consider ‘current’. By which I mean I consider myself to be using them on a regular basis. I’ve tried having fewer notebooks, just one notebook/sketchbook/journal etc and a diary but it doesn’t work for me. I can’t find things when I need them and that frustrates me.

I used to have LOTS of notebooks when I was a yonger; when I had a journal and a sketchbook ad a botonany book and a garden diary and a writing book and a poetry book and a book full of quotations and one of hair styles and and and… on and on. I loved new notebooks and I finished every single one of them, rarely left blank pages. I had a few that were totally blank because I didn’t like the paper, but I gave those away to my sister or friends.

These days I try to keep it under control, but there is a method in my multi-journal system and it really helps. I use all my notebooks and can say, hand on heart, I have used all but one of these – the new one – in the last 10 days at most. Some of them I use every single day, many times a day.

The 9 journals I have 'on the go' right now.

You might think 9 is a little excessive, but I’ve whittled that down from about 15 I used to have when I had a full time teaching job as well as being an artist and journaller! I use each one for different things and there is a method to what seem like madness. In hindsight I should have stacked these in a more logical order, but never mind.

1. Small red week to view Moleskine diary

This goes in my bag or pocket everywhere I go. Being self-employed you are always ‘working’ in that you can always bump into someone who wants you to run a workshop, even if it’s at 3am in the bread aisle in Asda (it has happened!). I make all my expenses notes in here too like parking charges, mileage, logging receipts, hours of freelance teaching etc. Yes I know I take my iPhone everywhere as well, and in theory I could put it all on there, but if it’s written down I remember it better. Plus, you can’t scribble in an iPhone which is mostly what I do with my diary.

Daily diary - appointments, expenses & notes

2. Handmade art journal, 120lb heavy cartridge paper

This is my current hand bound journal, made by me. I make them in different papers and sizes as required with usually around 30-40 pages in, which lasts me about 2 months. I don’t make them thicker unless they’re for a specific ongoing theme because I get bored easily and hanker after something bigger, with smoother paper or smaller with watercolour paper.

hand bound art journal

3. Asda’s own faux-Moleskine, squared paper

I use this exclusively for workshop notes. the squared paper is useful for diagrams and notes and it’s an easy layout to work with and find things easily. I generally create an index for it so I can find individual workshops notes ad diagrams. I also note out my pdfs in here before I commit them to the computer. I spend a lot of time on the computer and filming when I’m doing workshops, so any time I can salvage away from the computer is a bonus.

workshop notes & diagrams

4. Large Moleskiine sketchbook
This is my ‘other’ art journal. One of these generally lasts 6 months or more and I always have one to hand because I get a hankering for the paper and the size and the feel of it after a while. Once that goes away I wander back to my handmade journal.
5. Asda’s own faux-Moleskine, plain paper
This is for my morning pages. I used to keep a proper written journal but it felt like an obligation and became more chore-like as I went along. Now I keep to my morning pages where I don’t feel the need to write properly or do anything other than spill what’s in my head right now. I’m almost done with this one, just 5 pages to go. If I want to write a ‘proper’ diary entry it generally goes into my art journal or into my all-purpose travelling notebook (#6, below).

6. Large, lined Moleskine notebook
This is my ongoing day to day notebook that I carry with me in my bag alongside my diary. I tried combining the two but I kept missing appointments amidst the scribbles, so I split them up again. This is my all purpose journal that I use for everything when I’m out and about. None of my other journals leave home, so if I have an idea for a sketch or want to make a diary entry or notes about some workshops, they go in here. Once I’m home I transfer them to the right place and add extra notes as I go. I am anal about using every inch of this book. I will go back and use bits of pages by blocking them off and making notes in margins. It takes me about 2 years to fill one of these because of this practice, which we used to have to do at school. You weren’t allowed any page to have a space more than 3inches square on it. I used to hate doing it then but now I love finding just one more little bit I can squeeze some notes into.

All purpose travelling notebook

7. Blue Europa notebook, feint narrow lined with date headers
This is going to be my new morning pages journal because I have not enjoyed the plain one. I need lines or my writing gets out of control and I end up with 8 lines to a page and 3 words to a line. I like the colour and feel of this one, but it’s different to the other one (#5 above) so I have to get used to it. Hence I’m carrying it around and calling it current. In two days it will be.

New notebook waiting to be put to use

8. Daler Rowney spiral bound, Cachet notebook with brown paper
I use this for my sketch ideas for paintings. I paste in magazine cuttings for styles, costumes, ideas, colours, textures, body or hand shapes etc and work alongside to finalise the idea for the drawing. The brown paper means you can add highlights and darks to get a feel for the final thing without having to add extensive shading, and the huge spiral on the side allows for adding plenty of cuttings.

Here you can see the one I did for the Mary Poppins piece I’m working on. A picture of Mary Poppins from the film, alongside a fashion outfit I thought looked particularly Mary-ish and I wanted to emulate the feel of the ruffles alongside the strict black. I liked the tilt of her head in the photo but ultimately decided to add more face in the final drawing. The top right corner has a view of white umbrellas which shows the structure better than the black did.

Mary Poppins idea page and final sketch

9. A4 (8.5×11.5inches) Daler-Rowney hardbound sketchbook, 150gsm white paper

This is my practice book, or what I’ll use if I want to draw up a design larger than in my sketchbook. I do any workshop practice in these, practice poses or ink work  etc. This is all stuff I want to try rather than concepts for a painting. My current obsession is with getting hands right. I’ve never been able to draw hands and I want my girls to have more than just stumps. I have pages of magazine cuttings glued in and I work through them trying each one and practicing the shapes and shading.

Ready to practice drawing hands

In the back of this one I keep all the larger magazine cuttings that don’t have a home yet. Eventually they’ll get cut down to go into my brown sketchbook (#8 above) when I decide why I pulled them out and what caught my eye about them. Some end up being used in my art journal rather than as a reference.

How many notebooks do you have? Are they themed? Did you split them up deliberately and have you tried just keeping one at a time? Do you really use the ones you have on the go or have some gathered dust lately?

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Want to learn to make your own mixed media journal like in #2 above?
Come and join me in my Bookbinding 2 Workshop!