Inspiring Sketchbooks

Flicking through an artist’s sketchbook can be a joy; there are so many inspiring sketchbooks to discover. There is something more intimate about it than looking at an artwork on a wall. You’re holding their creativity and thoughts in your hands, and you go on a journey through their ideas as you turn the pages.

Sketchbooks are made for different purposes and it’s important to show students different types of sketchbooks. Who knows what will appeal to whom?

Some sketchbooks are practical tools, filled with rough sketches, notes, colour tests, and visual research to help plan and develop ideas for work made outside the book. Others take the form of personal art journals, combining images, words, and mixed media as a space for reflection, experimentation, and emotional expression. At the other end of the spectrum, some sketchbooks become finished artworks in themselves—artist’s books that use the book format as a medium, often incorporating handmade elements, unconventional materials, or non-linear narratives. These categories are not fixed, and many sketchbooks blend elements of all three.

Artists Sketchbooks

Henry Moore

Henry Moore is popular with art teachers and has inspired many 3D projects and wax-resist drawings. He was a British sculptor and is best known for his large outdoor sculptures of semi-abstract human forms. He has also created many works on paper, such as his London Underground series, his sheep sketchbook and other drawings and sketchbook/portfolio pages such as the example below.

Below we can see ideas pouring onto the page. Ideas for shapes of sculptures, visions for how they would work in the landscape, the wax crayon indicating how light might hit the sculpture, and annotations sharing his thoughts.

You can see that this is a page with two holes on the left-hand edge which allowed this page to be part of a portfolio. So is it a sketchbook? What qualifies as a sketchbook? Ha! A great question for your students.

Kate Malone

Kate Malone is a British ceramicist known for her bold, joyful work inspired by nature. Her distinctive style includes vibrant glazes, rich textures, and sculptural forms that often celebrate growth, abundance, and the beauty of the natural world. When I think of her work, I think of huge pineapples and plump, glazed gourds.

If you are delivering a 3D project of any kind, it’s useful to show your students her sketchbooks. She has uploaded 3 sketchbooks to her website: Sketchbook 1, Sketchbook 2 and Sketchbook 3. In them, you will find sketches that are ideas for pots, collections of photographs, and inspiring found images, as well as interesting patterns.

Fashion Designer Zandra Rhodes

Zandra Rhodes’ sketchbooks are bursting with colour, pattern and energy—just like her fashion designs. She uses them to work through ideas, test out bold textile patterns, experiment with colour palettes, and plan garment shapes. They’re full of expressive lines, fabric swatches, handwritten notes and layered ideas. Her sketchbooks aren’t just for drawing—they’re where she explores themes, solves design problems, and captures the creativity that makes her work so instantly recognisable. I’d love to know where she buys her sketchbooks!

Frida Kahlo

Just like Frida Kahlo didn’t fit into a box, neither does her sketchbook. Part written diary, part visual journal, part plans for paintings, the sketchbook documents the last 10 years of her turbulent life. It has been reproduced in its entirety and published as a book which you can find on Amazon.com and Amazon.co.uk #Ad

This will definitely fascinate some of your students. The colourful inked writing and drawings, which feel quicrek and loose, have instant appeal. There are explanations and translations into English in the back of the book.

Sketchbooks as Journals

Andrea Joseph

Andrea Joseph is a self-taught illustrator who creates the most beautiful and intricate sketchbook pages. She draws everyday objects with such care and detail, often using biro pens to build up rich textures and soft shading. Her work has a personal, diary-like feel, and she also shares her passion through workshops and collaborations with charities.

Jennie Maizels Inspiring Sketchbooks

Hugely successful illustrator Jennie Maizels, who has published many children’s books and pop up books including ‘Pop Up London‘ #Ad, also has a wonderful collection of sketchbook pages at the bottom of this page on her website. She describes them as personal holiday diaries that include mixed media and hand lettering.

Ed Merlin Murray – Interactive Sketchbooks

I’m not sure if Ed Merlin Murray’s work is art journaling or an artist’s book. If I had to choose, I think I’d plump for ‘artist’s book’ as I feel his pages become an art object and, because of the movable flaps and cutaway areas, if it was in your hands, you would interact with it physically as well as visually. The videos of him turning the pages on his Instagram are well worth checking out.

Samantha Dion Baker

Graphic designer Samantha Dion Baker, from Philadelphia, began to draw again in her forties. She states that she has transitioned from designer to artist, and I have to agree. She says:

“My favorite thing to do is wander the city streets and travel with my family, drawing all of the things I do, eat, and see on the pages of my sketch journal.”

She has published a range of books that encourage the use of sketchbooks such as ‘Draw Your Day’ and ‘Draw Your World’ and you can find these on Amazon.com and Amazon.co.uk #Ad

Helen Wells

Helen Wells is a self-taught artist, author and workshop facilitator. Her sketchbooks are an explosion of colour, shape and pattern. She described her sketchbooks as ‘expressive sketchbooks’, which to her means ‘a creative practice that allows you to explore, express and enjoy your own innate creativity on your terms.’

Dina Brodsky

American painter Dina Brodsky created paintings, miniatures and drawings. She also creates paintings in sketchbooks.

Even More Inspiring Sketchbooks!

Other sketchbook artists well worth exploring include the Journal Fodder Junkies, the collaborative duo of Eric Scott and David Modler. Their richly layered sketchbooks are bursting with mixed media, personal reflections, and visual experimentation—perfect inspiration if you’re looking to show students how sketchbooks can be a space for both thinking and making. Individually, Eric Scott (Eric Scott Art Studio) and David Modler each continue to share new work that blurs the lines between journaling, sketching, and fine art. Then there’s Dan Eldon, whose travel journals are raw, emotional, and packed with collage, photography, and mark-making. His sketchbooks are a powerful example of how students can use visual journals to explore identity and tell personal stories. Finally, Guillermo Del Toro—best known as a visionary filmmaker—keeps the most extraordinary sketchbooks filled with eerie creatures, film ideas, and poetic scribbles. They’re a brilliant example of how a sketchbook can capture imagination in full flow and how they can support creative work across disciplines. All of these artists show that sketchbooks are more than just places to practise—they’re spaces to play, process, reflect, and dream.

If you know of any sketchbook artists who have been particularly inspiring for your students, please comment below.

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