The Art of Visual Notetaking

An interactive guide to visual communication and sketchnoting

Emily Mills

• Publisher: Walter Foster Publishing
• Year: 2019
• ISBN:
  9781633226234
• Topic: Art
• Subtopic: Art Techniques

Improve your bullet journals, to-do lists, class notes, and everything in between with The Art of Visual Notetaking and its unique approach to takingnotes in the twenty-first century. Visual notetaking is the perfect skill forjournaling, class lectures, conferences, andany other time that retaining information is key. Also referred to as sketchnoting, visual notetaking is ideal for documenting processes, planning projects, outlining ideas, and capturing information. And as you'll learn in The Art of Visual Notetaking, this approachdoesn't require advanced drawing or hand-lettering skills; anyone can learn how to use simple lines, connectors, shapes, and text to take dynamic notes. In The Art of Visual Notetaking, aspiring sketchnoters and journalers will find helpful "Getting Started" pages of icons and badges for common note-taking purposes, with tips and encouragement for creating you own unique icons. You'll go on to discover instruction and how-to techniques, tips, and tutorials that focus on visual notetaking for different settings, from a business meeting, workshop, orconvention, to acollege lectureorsermon. Expert instruction from a professional sketchnote artist and educator demonstrates how to visually arrange and compile ideas, focal points, and key concepts.

DRAWING

“I can’t even draw a stick figure!” is one of the most common things I hear when people see my visual notes. The point of visual notes is to focus more on accurate information than on illustrations. Visual notes are as effective with simple drawings and stick figures as they are with professional drawings.

What is this?

Clearly, this is a house too, but the drawing is more advanced.

Our brains are capable of identifying images whether they are simple or complicated. Your brain might not remember the details, but it knows there was a house pictured.

Remember: the most important thing is to prioritize accurate information above illustration.

The most important lesson I want you to learn from this section is that you need to go for recognizable over realistic when it comes to your drawings.

With that in mind, let’s dive in to drawing!

One more time… What is this?

This wasn’t a trick question! If you answered “a house,” you’re correct!

THE BASICS

All drawings can be condensed into three elements: dot, line, and shape. You can combine each element together to create anything!

DOTS A dot is single point on a page—simply putting pen down to paper. Use a lot of dots together for shading and texture, and space them out in a gradient for smooth transitions.

LINES A line is simply a dot that extends out in any direction. Lines can be straight, curvy, or crooked. They can be parallel, perpendicular, or overlap.

SHAPES A shape is a line that comes back to its point of origin to become enclosed. It can be curvy or straight, solid (filled), or empty.

IMAGINATION AND ASSOCIATION

Illustration starts with imagination. If you can dream it in your head, you can draw it. Our brains are also really good at association, or finding something familiar in something unrelated, like seeing a dog shape in a passing cloud. Let your creative mind loose to see new possibilities in the most basic shapes, and you can grow your imagination and improve your drawing skills.

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