Do you keep every sketch?

[June Scarlet]

I was showing off some recent life study sketches to my mom that didn't really turn out. And mom said, "You know, you don't have to keep everything."

I actually hadn't thought about it before. I mean, getting rid of old papers, yes. But not sketches and artwork. I have just about every sketch I've ever made, either in paper or digitally.

I'm curious what your thoughts are on keeping your own sketches and artwork. Do you keep everything? Are you a minimalist about your old art?

I want to hear from artists, obviously, but I think the discussion can easily extend to drafts and writing as well. So let's hear it!

[Stephanie (swordlilly)]

I haven't kept everything, but it wasn't on purpose. Things got lost when Photobucket went down, when old computers got replaced, and when I had to physically move irl.

I do try to keep most of my stuff, though. It's nice to see the progress you've made over time. I think I still have maybe 70% of my old journals, notebooks, and artwork.

[Moni]

i throw out even finished stuff.

[Killix]

I've kept the majority of my art stuff from throughout the years, including sketchbooks full of unfinished or poor quality sketches. I have paintings from when I was very young, and old schoolbooks (recycled after the school year! Free paper!) full of doodles.

One of my favourites is a painting I made when I was in some single-digit age range.
It depicts the living room of my house at the time, and 3 characters. My mom tells me this is what I said when describing it: Me: "This is me, and that's you!"
Mom: "Who's that?"
Me: "That's the ghost!"

Some of it has been lost over time, but that was unintentional. I've periodically rediscovered old drawings, and it's like finding a long lost treasure to me. XD There's something just so pure and innocent about my old OC drawings, and looking at them now offers a glimpse into that carefree past and reignites that feeling of love that went into them.

[Twillie]

I try to keep what I can, yes! I think preserving your work throughout the years is good for tracking progress as well as just archiving your personal history. It can remind you of your interests and priorities from the past, as well as memories from other facets of your life that happened at the same time you created that artwork.

I've got sketches that range back to I think the first few years I started drawing, although I can't guarantee that everything is still around. I used to keep all my notebooks and sketchbooks from my school years on a bookshelf, but as some point that method just got too chaotic as the notebooks themselves were never organized in content (and often frayed and falling apart). Instead, I ripped everything out of them; sorted everything between Blossoms, Other Stories, and Misc.; and put them into huge respective binders.

That said, there are some times where I don't bother keeping something. If it's a barely done sketch or sentence of writing on a scrap of paper or unsaved file, I may just toss it out as there's not enough content to show progress or hold a full thought or memory.

[Breakingchains]

I used to throw stuff out on a regular basis, but I stopped. It helps a lot to be able to look at something a few months or a year down the line and see where I ran into trouble, especially if something specific caused me to give up on the piece.