Document Your Experiments

The sketchbook. The beloved, dreaded, sacred vessel of ideas… and the occasional cringe-worthy “what was I thinking?” moment that can’t be erased. But you probably enjoyed the process and let’s be honest, there’s beauty in this chaos—and if there’s one thing I’ve learned, it’s that documenting your experiments is the unsung hero of creative progress.

Keeping a sketchbook or journal isn’t about creating a flawless portfolio. Far from it. It’s more like keeping a record of your triumphs, failures, and those glorious moments of, let’s say, creative ambiguity (aka accidents). And yes, I know, the word “failure” might feel like nails on a chalkboard, but here’s the thing—failures are the building blocks of growth. Without them, we’d all just be coasting along, drawing stick figures for eternity.

So, why bother documenting these lovely messes? For starters, reflection is key. Ever noticed that sometimes what feels like a disaster in the moment actually turns out to be pretty cool later? Or at the very least, a decent jumping-off point for something better. Your sketchbook becomes a personal archive of what works, what doesn’t.

If you ever feel like you’re just spinning in circles, repeating the same old designs? That’s probably because you are. Without documentation, it’s easy to forget that little “aha” moment you had two months ago at 3 a.m., while you were half-asleep and thought you cracked the code to shading techniques. If you’ve got that experiment tucked away in your sketchbook, you can revisit it, tweak it, and build on it. Without it? It’s just another lost idea floating in the ether of forgotten brilliance.

You might be thinking, “Doesn’t keeping track of everything sound like a massive time suck?” Sure, it might at first. But think of it like planting seeds. You may not see the benefits immediately, but eventually, something will sprout. And when it does, you’ll have a roadmap showing exactly how you got there. Plus, looking back on your experiments can be oddly reassuring—it’s proof you’re growing, even when it feels like you’re stuck.

Most of what you create might never see the light of day—and that’s okay. It doesn’t need to. Art isn’t about hitting a home run every time; it’s about showing up, making mistakes, and learning from them. And when you look back through your documented “failures,” you might just find that those so-called disasters were more like stepping stones toward something spectacular.

So go ahead, embrace the mess. Keep a sketchbook, a journal, or even a scrap of paper with doodles. Whatever it is, make it yours. Track your experiments, document the chaos, and maybe—just maybe—you’ll look back one day and realize those failures were exactly what you needed to succeed.