Quick answer: If you struggle to start a new sketchbook, let the cover set the brief. Each artist sketchbook at Tashkeel carries an artwork and a title that can become your first exercise: draw what the cover suggests, answer the question it asks, or continue its story. Below are 15 prompts, one per sketchbook, for artists, students, writers and anyone who wants a creative daily habit. Browse all of them in the Sketchbook collection.
Why the first page is so hard
A blank book feels precious, so we wait for a "good" idea. Artists often solve this by giving themselves a constraint: a theme, a time limit or a single word. A sketchbook with an artist's cover is a ready-made constraint. You are not starting from nothing; you are starting a conversation with another artist.
How to use these prompts
- Give yourself 10 to 20 minutes per prompt.
- Use whatever you have: pencil, pen, watercolour or words.
- Do not aim for a finished drawing. Aim for a first page.
The 15 prompts
1. Marhaba Assaa, by Ibrahim Zaki
The cover celebrates a warm Emirati welcome. Prompt: design a welcome sign for your own front door using only letters. What word would greet your guests? Marhaba Assaa Sketchbook
2. For you, a thousand times, by Ibrahim Zaki
Prompt: write the phrase a thousand times? No. Write it ten times, each time in a different style of lettering, and notice which one feels most like you. For you, a thousand times Sketchbook
3. If time does not obey you, by Wissam Shawkat
The title suggests adapting to circumstances. Prompt: draw a clock that bends, melts or breaks. Then write one thing you would do if you stopped fighting your schedule. If time does not obey you Sketchbook
4. Climbing the Mountains, by eL Seed
eL Seed, winner of the 2017 UNESCO Sharjah Prize for Arab Culture and a former artist-in-residence at Tashkeel, writes messages of unity in Arabic calligraphy across walls and cities. Prompt: draw the mountain you are climbing right now, as a landscape. Where are you on it? Climbing the Mountains Sketchbook
5. The Founding Generation, by Mouza Al Hamrani
Prompt: draw the oldest person in your family from memory, then write three things they taught you without ever saying them. The Founding Generation Sketchbook
6. Gazelle, by Maitha Demithan
Prompt: study an animal in motion. Draw it five times in one minute each, without lifting your pen. Gazelle Sketchbook & Notebook
7. Call of the Fig, by Alonsa Guevara
Prompt: cut a fruit in half and draw the inside at three times its real size. Fruit interiors are some of the best pattern studies in nature. Also try Call of the Pomegranate and Call of the Starfruit. Call of the Fig Sketchbook
8. All She Must Do, by Yosra Emamizadeh
Yosra Emamizadeh draws on Islamic art, nature and conversations with women. Prompt: write the title at the top of the page, then list everything "she" must do today. Draw the one task you would gladly hand to someone else. All She Must Do Sketchbook
9. Arab Mona Lisa, by Jyo John Mulloor
Prompt: take a famous painting and move it to your city. What would the subject wear, hold and look at? Arab Mona Lisa Sketchbook
10. The Poet & Dreamer, by Tasmeem Tashkeel
A Gerbou-inspired cover designed by Tasmeem Tashkeel. Prompt: write four lines about a place you dream of, then draw that place in the space around the words. The Poet & Dreamer Sketchbook
11. Watermelon Farmer, by Her Highness Sheikha Lateefa bint Maktoum
Prompt: draw your favourite summer fruit and the person you imagine growing it. Give them a name and a story. Watermelon Farmer Sketchbook
12. Neon Handicraft, by Khalid Al Astad
Prompt: take a traditional object from your home, such as a dallah, a basket or an incense burner, and redraw it as if it were made of neon light. Neon Handicraft Sketchbook
13. Young Artist Club, by Tashkeel
Designed for Tashkeel's Young Artist Club, with a hard cover and plain 160 gsm pages. Prompt: draw yourself as a child holding the art tool you loved most. What were you making, and what would you make with it now? Young Artist Club Sketchbook
14. Doves on Desert Rose, by Tasmeem Tashkeel
Prompt: sit by a window for ten minutes and draw every bird you see, even if it is only a shape. Doves on Desert Rose Sketchbook
15. Emirates Sketchbooks, by Ali Mrad
Prompt: choose the emirate on your cover and draw the one building, tree or object that means that place to you. Compare it with Ali Mrad's choice. Emirates Sketchbooks. Read about each emirate's symbol in our Seven Emirates guide.
Exhibition sketchbooks
Tashkeel also produces sketchbooks for its exhibitions, such as Provisional Sanctuaries by Shamin Sharum and Unfolding by Moza Al Falasi. A good prompt for any of them: visit the exhibition, then draw one detail from memory on the first page.
Frequently asked questions
What paper do Tashkeel sketchbooks use?
Many use a 270 gsm Mohawk Strathmore Pastelle cover and 120 gsm smooth inside paper. Check each product page for details.
Are the sketchbooks plain or lined?
Most artist sketchbooks have plain pages; some titles are offered as notebooks with ruled pages.
Are these good gifts for students?
Yes. A sketchbook with an artist cover and a prompt makes an encouraging gift for students and young creatives.
Prices and availability change, so check the product page for the latest.
