The most difficult thing about starting a new sketch book is feeling like it’s precious and everything in it has to be good. Of course that’s totally opposite to the actual purpose of a sketchbook, still we are vain creatures, and what if someone asks to see our book? Well, sometimes we realise that this just means they’ll get to see our trials and tribulations – the good days, the bad days and how much we’ve progressed. Sketch books can sometimes be as private and personal as a diary, so we should just dive in and make a mark on that first page.

Sod’s law, though, my first sketch in my new moleskine is one that I actually kind of like. Now I’ll have to fight that same precious feeling when I start on the next page. And so it goes…

Oh, this is the Elusive Tree Kraken in case you were wondering. I like him so much I might turn him into a bigger drawing to practise some inking.