Keeping a commonplace.

Whether it be a scrapbook, sketchbook in which you also write notes to yourself, a notebook that you keep on your person, or any other conceivable system for keeping records of your ideas, I think that a commonplace is an essential requirement for an artist of any seriousness.

What is a commonplace? Well I think the Wiki on it is a great explanation, but basically it is a granary of ideas. Ever get stuck for what to do? Hit your commonplace and mine it for thoughts. It's a way of preserving ideas when you have plenty, to hoard them against the inevitable lean winters of creativity.

If you don't have a commonplace, and want to get one, I recommend the following: get a notebook with blank or squared paper, as big as you can manage and still be able to take it everywhere. I recommend that it be beautiful to you, made by someone you like and admire or maybe make it yourself (more on that in the future) . Many people like Moleskines for that - while it might be a bunch of bollocks that by they are replicas of famous people's notebooks, they also have fine quality paper and highly tactile covers. I also recommend the durable and well made Leuchturm 1917 and Fabriano ranges of notebooks, which happen to come in variety of pleasing colours.

Since you're going to be porting it about all over the place, and most people glue interesting scraps into them, you'll want to get one with good strong paper and covers, perhaps a pocket in the covers.

Personally, I like to keep my sketchbook as a visual commonplaces with notes, especially if I am studying something like composition, and I keep a text commonplace full of lists of materials, interesting ideas, bits of knowledge and things I overhear that amuse me, plans for constructions etc.

With one of these to store ideas whenever . You have a glut, you need never go without inspiration. Go forth and harvest your own braingarden!