I have a sketchbook problem...

One of the downsides of learning how to do some basic bookbinding is you can make a sketchbook much quicker than it takes to fill one so you very quickly become a bit overrun with sketchbooks. Most have soft covers but there are some with hard covers, some are big, some are small, some have cheap printer paper in them, some have decent drawing paper...

Having all different shapes and sizes, I've found myself with sketchbooks for different contexts. Right now as I type this I have:

A4 sketchbook (I didn't make this one)

This sketchbook I bought before I learned how to make hardback sketchbooks of my own. This will probably be the last A4 sketchbook I buy.

I use this sketchbook for general doodling, comic ideas or character design work as well as last year's Inktober project.

Pocket sketchbook

This sketchbook goes in my coat pocket whenever I leave the house. I've got into the habit of doing quick sketches in this book. The subjects vary from things on my desk to views of car parks while I'm waiting for my wife to pop into a shop.

Pocket notebook

I carry this with me in my jeans pocket everywhere. I typically use this as my commonplace book where I write down interesting quotes I find.

Illustrated journal

Similar to my pocket sketchbook, this is more or less a place to sketch something down. The main difference is this sometimes comes with a date and perhaps bit of text which provides a bit more context and will serve as a reminder of a particular place in time.

12x6" sketchbook

This one was intended for a single week project over the Easter holiday. I made this one for me and another for my son and during our week off, the plan was to visit loads of different places and fill this book up with urban sketches but the weather put a spanner in the works so we only managed a couple of outings.

As such, this book remains only half filled and has now become my sort of urban sketching practice book.

12x6" writing book

In an attempt to get away from screens, I started writing down my thoughts for my "Essays on creativity" posts. After a few pages, I've sort of realised that while it's nice to get away from my laptop, it's actually a bit of a pain in the arse to write something down to then type it up. Also, I don't carry this book around with me so it's a bit inconvenient. Need to think of a use for this book as I don't want to waste it but also don't want to keep writing the essays in it. Time will tell on this one...

8x8" daily comics book

This my third hand-made sketchbook for my Daily Comics. I've taken a break from making the comics as I write this so this book is sitting patiently on my desk waiting for me to start doing the comics again. I don't actually think this one is a problem, it's kinda nice to have a sketchbook filled with nothing but comics.

That's the run down of the sketchbooks so as you can see, I do have a problem.

Over the last few weeks, I've been thinking a lot about all these books and all the different contexts I've been using them for and I've come to the conclusion that I don't need to separate stuff based on context, apart from maybe the daily comics which I like as an object itself.

But the rest all sort of culminate into stuff I want to take in, like quotes or bits of useful information and also a place for creative output.

Once I've got these remaining books completed, I'm going to condense everything down to just two books, a pocket sketchbook and a "for everything else" sketchbook.

If you see me in a few months with more than two sketchbooks on the go, give me a slap.