Penny is an artist who uses her creative side and imagination to express herself. She’s now using this opportunity with ASDNext to not only do that through art, but also blogging. For much of her life, she felt like the “quirky sidekick” stereotype in a movie, always doing what others expected of her. When she was diagnosed with autism later in life, that all began to change. This news was life changing and she knew it was time to rewrite her story. She’s no longer on the sidelines of this so-called movie that is her life, she’s the director, leading-lady, or whatever other part she needs to play to figure out who she REALLY is! Every small step toward authenticity is now a victory for her in this new stage of life.
View all postsTrash and Treasure: My Creative Sketchbook Journey
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In late spring of 2026, I FINALLY filled up my sketchbook. While this may not sound like exciting news, I consider it a HUGE personal achievement. This was a sketchbook I purchased fresh and new in August of 2023. At that time, I felt like I had so many ideas but not enough mental space to keep track of them without completely forgetting what they were in the first place. Sound confusing? I couldn’t agree more, but I don’t make the brain rules; I live with them. The sketchbook I bought was a simple grey, spiral-bound hardback with 100 sheets of sturdy, toothy 68lb/100gsm paper. A simple tool to keep better track of my creative ideas turned into an endless journey and practice I maintain to this day.
That grey sketchbook is now sitting on a shelf, but I thought it would be fun to look back on. Starting out, I wasn’t really sure how to use a sketchbook. I began attempting to draw things I saw around me at lunch at work, like the dumpster, my water bottle, and literally anything else that existed, no matter how mundane. The sketches were small and not very confident, heavy one line work but light on dimension and sense of existence in space. Still, I dragged the book everywhere I went; even if I didn’t reach for it daily, I wanted it within reach JUST in case. At one point, I tossed the sketchbook in my backpack for a bike ride with my brother and niece. During our pit stops, I let her contribute by drawing pictures in it alongside mine. Overall, the idea of putting pencil to paper and having ideas magically flow endlessly was a myth. 2023 came and went; many pages remained blank.
The following year, a friend at the time approached me about helping her storyboard ideas for a children’s book she wanted to create. “Me?” I thought to myself, not realizing people often saw me as the creative girl. At the same time, I WAS carrying around that mini hardcover sketchbook, which must have shouted, “artistically talented.” I didn’t have much confidence in my skill level, but I agreed to give it a try for practice and direction to help fill up this sketchbook.
Lacking some fundamental knowledge in anatomy, I decided to draw all aspects of the broad category known as “people.” This is when the sketchbook started to serve more as a tool for skill-building. A lot of my early people practice came from drawing whatever movie or TV show was on. I would gesture out and exaggerate character features to find a sketching style that matched what I liked to see in art. Overall, they were very hideous and left me incredibly dissatisfied. I built Pinterest boards full of faces to sketch. I drew from those references until character faces became a comfort zone of sorts. The storyboard work was not exceptional, but I made a sincere effort to help a friend in a pinch and accepted a meager payment for my contributions.
The next phase of my sketchbook was all about exploring more freely. I loved creating line art but realized my understanding of shapes and forms was still lacking. Forget people; it was now time to dive deep into the diverse shapes found in the animal kingdom. Starting with birds, I used photo references from stock sites, images from library books, and videos of birds walking, flying, or hopping on YouTube. What shapes made a bird, a bird? Figure it out, brain! Looking back, I now count 7 pages of owls, 3 pages of pigeons, and 8 pages of hedgehogs (which are not birds but still notable for taking up that much space). I filled more pages with worms, snakes, snails, lambs, deer, foxes, and frogs. Practice remained relatively inconsistent, but I drew all my favorite animals until my hand understood the assignment. From 2024 to the close of 2025, I filled up the remaining blank pages.
After creating numerous drawings (good, bad, and ugly), I found that my ideas did INDEED begin to flow more easily from my mind to paper. I eagerly accepted prompts and challenges offered by other artists. I combined pages of practice from references with my own reimagined sketches, which I then developed into final artworks. In 2026, I made it a point to utilize every inch of space in that gray sketchbook before moving on to the new one I received for Christmas. I wanted to prove to myself that I could finish one sketchbook before deserving a new one. My new sketchbook has a purple hardbound cover with a spiral binding, but the paper is much thinner than the paper in my old sketchbook. I miss the heavy, toothy pages of my previous book (my fault for not being specific when I asked Santa for a new one).
As I eagerly dive into this new sketchbook, I remind myself that a sketchbook is a journey, not a quest for perfection. If you’re interested in sketching, drawing, or journaling, treat yourself to a travel-size hardbound book full of blank pages. If you’re afraid to start, that’s normal. Remember, my sketchbook proudly features a literal trash drawing of a dumpster. It can’t get much uglier than that. Embracing the trash, along with the treasures, is all part of the process. Your imperfect dumpster drawing is part of your story and every bit worth celebrating. Push past your inner critic and get your ideas on those blank pages. I count myself as living proof that you never know what you will create unless you try.
Penny
