Sketch-In and Sketchbook Practices

Since The Sketchbook Challenge began last January I've been thinking about how I use and don't use a sketchbook. What is a sketchbook? How do artists use them? How is it different from an "art journal"? These are questions I've pondered over the year without forcing any answers.

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At Ink About It over the weekend, Sue Bleiweiss and I conducted a Sketch-In. We did lots of drawing exercises:

Then worked with watercolor, experimenting with materials:


And working from still life:
On the second day we painted papers:

Using various brands and types of acrylic paint:
Look at us all having FUN!
Here I am demonstrating something brilliant, I'm sure:

And this is Sue Bleiweiss with Lori, one of the owners of Ink About It.
Then Sue gave us a great little tutorial on making a quick and easy hard-cover book. She brought book kits for everybody, and people used their painted papers for covers and end-papers. What a creative and productive weekend! Check out Sue's free projects to find this book tutorial and many others.