Drawing on Sketchbooks vs Loose Sheets 

You should put your loose paper sketches in a big portfolio binder and just keep that in something that isn’t humid. Then it may be easier to refer to.

I use both loose sheets and sketchbooks .. i store my loose sheets in a portfolio, this i can get the benefits of both :)

A lot of people definitely get too precious with their sketchbooks in fear of displaying "lousy" sketches along with their finished work, but in my mind that's what sketchbooks are for. On my sketchbooks I just go crazy and doodle anything and everything that comes to mind, while when I work on loose sheets I tend to plan more and aim for more finished pieces. I don't really throw anything away. Fantastic sketches by the way, I love your use of colors.

Hi Teoh, would you please compile your sketches into a palm sized book and make it available for sale. It does not have to be through a publisher. Just something you put together and compiled into a book available for purchase online. It would be greatly inspirational. Please consider this suggestion. Thanks.

I love the wonderful reviews and the information...I have subscribed and shall feast on these rich works...

I just can’t decide between the two!Thank you so much for this video I was looking everywhere for and article or video about this topic!

Thanks a tonne Teoh! Your videos are shaping the way I have started sketching and Enjoying my journey through my sketches.

Sketchbooks are so much more portable, so I tend to use them more. Like you, I also love having a series of sketches kept together in a sketchbooks. But sometimes I like using loose paper and creating separate pieces.

Great video. You can always get a sketchbook with perforated pages so if you want to scan or sell a drawing from your sketchbook all you have to do is tear out the paper. I do this and file the originals in a portfolio book. Cheers to you and thank you for the interesting content!

I enjoyed seeing your art from this time, and your insights into these two approaches to sketching.

I totally agree that the sketch book has great advantages. A study, a diary, easy to,store and best reference

lovely sketchbooks :) , thanks for sharing.

that Is very interesting. I have been working with water color in a Sketchbook for the longest time but you pointed out some very reasonable things about things about using a loose paper. I will try it. thank you.

I am new to the art world on youtube and just started watching your videos about a week ago. You have me very excited about using sketchbooks, I just purchased my first one last evening. It is Springtime here in NY state and I'm thrilled to get out and sketch my world! I also bought 9 by 12 paper to create one of my own. Thanks for this :)

very good info Teoh, thanks for sharing.

😣I can’t decide between the two because: 📚Sketchbooks: ❤️Pros (for me) - You can flip through a book full of your work - All art in one place - You don’t have to find a way to store your art 😬Cons (for me) - You can’t hang your work on the wall to admire - I don’t like spiral bound - If the sketchbook is landscape and you want to draw a portrait, you have to flip it sideways and then there will be another page above the one you are drawing on which is annoying - If the sketchbook is portrait and you want to draw a landscape you have to flip it - The sketchbooks always come in black and other colours are rare 📝 Loose pieces of paper: ❤️Pros (for me) - You can hang your work up on the wall - No annoying spiral and your hand won’t fall off the edge of the sketchbook 😬Cons (for me): - How do I store my art?!(I don’t like binders and folders are messy which means I’ll never take out my art to look at!) For now my solution is👇 Sketchbook for art that I don’t want to display on my walls,and art I want to display on my walls I’ll do on loose paper!❤️ 👉If you read everything,have a good day!(While I try to decide.) 😊 Edit: 3 months later and still deciding ✌️

Great video, very informative and helpful. And loved seeing all your lovely art, so detailed and inspiring! Always enjoy watching your tutorials. :)

I just want you to know that I love your videos!!! I am learning very much. Thank you!!!

Love these videos, thanks so much!! I am so new at sketching that my new sketch books are sitting in a small pile while I sketch in a cheap Master's Touch sketch book because I am so new and afraid to ruin my nice sketchbooks with "bad" sketches. But thanks to you I won't be so timid. Thanks for your encouragement by calling bad sketches "so-called bad sketches". That's nice!

more please 😀 I love your channel man!

......somewhere in the middle, works for me..........but you brought up so many great points I hadn't thought about....great information, ....Thanks Teoh!

I draw on loose paper I tear from a watercolour pad that I cut down to about A4. When I finish painting I put them in a display portfolio book. This way I have the best of both worlds where I can scan easily and look at them easily in book form. I like seeing your drawings across the gutter though- very panoramic.

Excelent vídeo! Thank u Teoh

Great video! Thanks for introducing me to sketchbooks as I never heard of them before I saw your YT channel. I've always liked to draw and doodle since I was a little kid, but it was just recently that I picked it up again and started to take seriously. I am still learning to find my own style so I like loose sheets simply because am still taking baby steps and its something I wouldn't want to share just yet. But as am making progress I am leaning towards sketch books mainly because I like to get that psychological boost when I see how far I've gotten with sketching- I can actually see myself using scotch books almost exclusively at some point in the future because I do want to get them published.

You could also cover an embarrassing shitty sketchbook sketch with some gesso, and then you have a new blanco page ready again for drawing or painting, just saying :D

Forget to say: your sketches look awesome!!

I also like to use a sketchbook to keep reference material in one go-to volume. Color mixes, swatches of different color palettes, lifting tests, experimenting with techniques in washes and textures. Loose sheets are good but my paint book is a constant companion! Love the channel, love the blog!

you really help my thoughts cause I could never decide to draw in sketchbook or loose sheets. I know I won't sell my art, also I never like doing different ideas on one page I like to take my time to finish an single amazing piece of work. probably I will use the lose sheets when I'm giving a present to someone or doing a large piece of work which will take me an long time. lol.

How about this thought, The gutter adds character to the painting ?? like some people like a smooth unblemished polished natural wooden floor, with some people like and enjoy the defects in the grain of the timber and cannot get enough roughness in it for character. In other words what is the inner character of the art work. Regards Gary Tangeman.

Great video. Great illustrations. Use *loose sheets* and place the _loose sheets_ in a *plastic sheet* :) Keep sharing

Hey! Recognized that first sketch from the sketching big buildings video 😁.. Also.. I think it was nice that you said "i belong in a camp that uses both" coz i was thinking i had no camp😂.. Now i can join urs😁

You can find amazing 300gsm and 640gsm handmade cotton paper sketchbooks from Two Rivers Paper, in the UK. They are amazing quality and handmade in a small paper mill in the British country side.. check them out! I love their paper!

like your channel, Teoh thanks for sharing all these videos! ^_^

Good sheet bro!

I use Sketchbook only on the Go, even tho with quality binded Sketchbook tho i just didnt feel comfy about it

#teamSketchbook!

As a big fan of your work and your vids, I have watched this one before, but I am just now considering these options for myself. I have drawn exclusively on loose pages thus far, knowing that there would be many, many drawings/sketches I would not consider showing to anyone. But considering a trip in near future, it seems that a sketchbook would be easier for travel and drawing outdoors. In fact I'm going to Hobby Lobby later today in the hopes that they still have some of the awesome journals/sketch books that are bound in hand-tooled leather and the papers are handmade, 100% cotton rag. Fingers crossed that there are a few left!I am also going to look at Scrapbooks to see if there might be one I could use to bind my loose pages.

Good stuff. New viewer here, lots of great information! I reckon knowing how to bind would be a good thing. Binding your own sketchbook is indispensable, I think, because you get to set things up as you wish. I buy paper and bind half of 'em. If I want to bind loose sheets in the future, I'd do single-sheet binding. When I make drawings, I set up a small margin so that, should I scan I can crop out the holes, and if I want to frame to sell I can mat it to hide it, or cut it off. For the sketchbooks, I do saddle stitch, so that when I want to scan them, I simply cut the thread on the outside of the spine, and the pages come out without damage. There's no gutter shadow, but the fold line is inevitable when scanned/framed--thankfully, it is small. If I want them back in sketchbook form, all I need is more thread to rebind it back onto the cover.

I tend to use sketchbooks more than single sheets, for all the reasons you gave.

I like to use my sketchbooks, particularly as you did, as a record of a travel, a season, a journal. I went to Niagara Falls CA this summer, and even though it would have been nice to paint on a very large piece of paper (which I may do the next time I visit), i wanted this painting in my book, to remember the first time out of my country, my son's wedding, and Painting at Niagara Falls!!! :-) Not For Sale!!! If I want to do larger works, I will bring a watercolor block with me, those would be for sale, but not my watercolor journals!! Thanks for the info!!

Aww I like the gutter Teoh. I don't know why but there's just something about drawing double spreads and not caring about the gutter that seems kind of humbling because I don't mind. I guess it's an artsy thing that you either love or hate. As far as single sheet vs sketchbook. I'm in the middle. I just love paper and drawing. I guess if I'm traveling a an A5 or A4 sketchbook is convenient but you could just keep loose sheets in a pad or folder. So which is better? It comes down to personal preference. Great video!

Even though I don't travel much, I prefer using sketchbooks. They are easier to keep and I do not have to worry about accidentally losing a drawing. It is much harder to lose an entire book than it is to lose one sheet. I always give my sketches to my boyfriend so I do not need to worry about wanting to sell the sketches in the future. I do not think anyone would want to purchase them anyways since I am still learning. I also have a hard time finding paper that is as cheap as the paper in a sketchbook at the same quality. The loose paper at my art store is rough on one side and cold press on the other, so I don't much like using both sides. I do not feel it is very cost effective.

Great tips Teoh as I am starting to look into this! You mentioned that for the purple sketchbook you got it bound, so does that mean you can draw & paint on the reverse side of the watercolour paper?

I use both, however I find it difficult to draw in most sketchbooks comfortably. My hands tend to cramp and it's just awkward trying to draw in an average sized sketchbook. Loose sheets I can put on a drawing board or padfolio and have room to work with. If that makes sense. ..thanks for the review!

When sketching people do you take a still photo and sketch the people from the picture?

I started using sketchbooks specifically to avoid giving away or selling my work. after 50 years of art, I realized I owned very little of my own work. Loose sheets find new homes quickly bu now, I can go back through sketchbooks and see my progress.

Hi to my favourite tutor, Q besides your memory, do you write notes to remember the details of where and when etc.?

hey teoh, have you thought about putting your loose papers in portfolio type books so its easier to refer to them?

I think that if you do a sketch that you find so amazing that you could never part with it, you could probably have a giclee made from the sketch. Professional giclee print services can print on different kinds of substrates; such as, matte photo paper, watercolor paper, cotton canvas, or artist textured vinyl. Giclee prints are expensive, though. A person has to really want your sketch to be willing to pay for a giclee print.

Thanks for sharing your great videos! May I know the name of the illustrator you mentioned at the end (around min 13:00) ? Thanks!

I'm just too afraid to draw in a sketchbook so, I'm a loose sheet kind of girl.

If you draw over the middle line in a sketchbook, it is so easy to eliminate the disturbing line in photoshop

Watercolour paintings are glorified sketches, the majority of the time. Therefore it probably belongs in a sketchbook as its easier to catagolue and learn from. Also makes you less precious and more loose. Better for learning

sketch vs drawing ???

Hi Teoh, I'm starting to try and use sketchbooks, but like you said most of these paper quality are poorer than loose sheets. How did you customise your sketchbook with Fabriano? Did you buy the loose sheets, cut them into the size you want then get it bonded? Where did you go for this? I live in SG.

i dont see spiral sketch book, only glued. any reason why you dont use spiral?

I use thin sketchbooklets :D. I mostly carry two with me, in different sizes and with different paper, so i am able to choose which size works best for the sketching object. Also i am afraid to buy a sketchbook with many pages and i don't like the paper. With booklets it's not such a big waste of money in case the paper sucks ;)

Hello, great video as always. I'm curious about the Barcelona book. Who is the author and what's the full name of the book. I enjoyed hearing your options on sketchbooks vs loose sheets. Great points for both. Also, thank you for sending me the link to your video on urban sketching supplies. Very helpful.

What do those letters & numbers mean?...A3, A4, A5...etc..etc.. (I've seen folks refer to them for sketch books...now I see it printed on the giant watercolor block you're holding @ 1:47. Is it size? weight? length? I'm confused now.

So you can develop an romantic feeling towards your sketch books then? Only Joking but I know what you mean.

1:25 "What to use other shit like this..." :D haha (sorry)

Where do you store all this art work?

You are so cute I want to hug and kiss you 😘