I've been drawing my whole life, but often I find myself stuck staring at a blank page wishing for some kind of push to get me going. As a creative, momentum is everything. Once I settle in, I feel like I can draw for hours and never stop, but getting there is always the challenge.

If you can relate, then you need to be friends with Lisa Currie. Lisa is the queen of drawing prompts, a muse in a way. She has this incredible ability of presenting you with a guided challenge (and constraint) from just a few simple black lines and a short phrase, but don't mistake that for meaning there's a lack of sophistication to the task. It's specifically that simplicity that encourages the most creative and aesthetic responses.



She'll posts prompts and submissions weekly over at the Scribble Project's blog, but now there's something way better. The folks at Perigee (a division of Penguin) have published 192 pages of her quirky and imaginative doodle sheets, and they've declared it: The Scribble Diary. I love this book because I can carry it with me anywhere and find that it's constantly the spark I need to put my pen to paper.






(Sample Pages drawn in by Jaimeks, Lisa Davies and Takatoshi Sano)

We are lucky at Doodlers Anonymous, because Lisa is on staff here as one of our favorite contributors. We'd like to congratulate her on this book and encourage all of you to get your hands on it and play along. You'll find it to be a gem in your collection.

I first found out about Carty Sewill when an insanely bright portrait of Marty McFly popped up on my tumblr feed. Thankfully the image linked back to Carty's website and I spent the next couple of hours eagerly clicking the next page button until I came to the end.



Carty has the wonderful knack of being able to put a subtle fantasy spin on his otherwise realistic artwork. I'm so hungry for some multicoloured bacon right now.

I love the fact that Carty still produces so much work in his sketchbook. It was really difficult to pick out just a few examples to represent his work here, so if you still have a taste for sketchbook envy (and multicoloured bacon) head over to his website to check out the rest of his work.

Imagine we're in a real-life gallery right now. You rush up beside me, grab my hand and pull me over to these sketchbook doodles by Russian artist Vladimir Smokov. You say "amazing, huh!" and I nod with a certain kind of stink-face. That certain kind of stink-face that only happens when something is just too good for words.

Then maybe afterwards we'd get a toasted sandwich at a cafe nearby. It'd be a nice day, don't you think?

The drawings in Sophie Roach's sketchbook are intricate, colorful, and slightly reminiscent of artwork by Mike Perry and Will Bryant, but a touch more austere and feminine.

It's been a while since I've seen a sketchbook this filled to the brim with goodness. I literally want to tear out each spread and frame it for my walls. If you're interested in process, be sure to follow Sophie on Instagram, where she does a great job documenting her drawings prior to adding color and for those of you into ping pong, scroll down for the loveliest paddle you've ever laid eyes on.

I'm so in love with these sketchbooks of Sao Paulo architect, Gabriel Kieling. The precision and balance of an architecture blueprint, mixed with slumped shoulders and soft skin. I can't help but stare, and wonder about the moments these people are lost in…

Julianna Brion and I both live in Baltimore, Maryland, and I recently had the pleasure of visiting her studio space. Julianna creates illustrations for a myriad of clients, but also manipulates awesome old books (think textbooks) with painting and collages.

It is in these books that she can experiment with imagery or technique. While they are important to her, they aren’t overly precious and she’s able to unwind creatively and not worry about the consequences. As a result, she’s created some great spreads.

See more of Julianna’s work! Did you know she also quilts?

It's cool to see a lion in the zoo, absolutely. But to go on safari and spot a lion prowling around in the wild is undeniably cooler! Same with sketchbooks. (stick with me... I'm going somewhere with this...)

To see a scan of a sketchbook is one thing, but to see a sketchbook out in the "wild", in front of the parks and street corners where they were first doodled... even better! This is what artist Paola Gaviria Silguero from Buenos Aires does. She photographs her playful sketchbooks along with a different background, like a postcard of where she was for each page.

It also helps that her doodles are really great. Random puddles of colour, like being swept up in a street parade or a happy sugar-high! Ok now, the sketchbook safari begins...