I’m awfully comfortable and like to settle in, even when urban sketching. That’s why I made myself a sketching board some time ago. It has room for my water containers, the wristlet I use for wiping the brush, my palette of course, an a sketchbook up to the size of 20,3 x 25,4cm (with some overhang on both sides). That’s what it looks like when it’s in action.
My lovely friend Betti from the USK Vienna wanted to make such a board and I hastily promised to do a DIY video for her. Now a university degree in theatre, film and media studies only means that you can analyse films, not shoot them. The result is accordingly bumpy, mainly because to make this video I had to build a special construction consisting of a mobile, a selfie stick, a flower vase, washi tape, an Italian dictionary, the collected works by Peter Weiss, the three volume edition of the works by Friedrich Schiller and a roll car. But let’s go back to the sketch board.
Beside its main function it should not be much larger than A4 and must be lightweight. After some try and error I discovered that the covers of a spiral-bound notepad are perfect. They are stable enough, have hardly any weight, and can be easily removed from the spiral binding. Glued together overlapping, they provide sufficient working space. When folded, they fit in any sketching bag (even in some of my handbags). Apart from the covers, you also need a wide gaffer or fabric band and scissors. Everything else will hopefully be explained in the video.
Finally a tip when using it in action: for stabilization I fix both parts left and right additionally with foldback clips. Like that it carries all my utensils including the book. However, I would not use it as a serving tray for Wedgwood porcelain.
