Indexing My 2023 Sketchbook Journals

It’s the time in-between Christmas and New Year’s Day, a week where there is a lull between the holidays. This is the time when I go through my sketchbooks and journals for the last half of the year and “file” them.

I started sketchbook journaling in 2007, when my first baby was a toddler. She is grown up now and I have so many sketchbooks and journals filled with my life and my family I have had to figure out a way to keep them organized! And, more importantly, a way to find what I am looking for inside them!

I researched and dreamed for a long time trying to find a system that worked for me. I finally cobbled one together and then refined it over the years until it works like a well-oiled clock.

I index 2 times a year (January & July) and it takes several hours. I find a cozy place where I can lay out all of my cards in their catagories, I pop in a good movie and get started!

The best part is getting to go through the last 6 months in both my journal and my sketchbook. (I keep 2 Moleskines- 1 for each.) It’s fun to review and to add anything I might have forgotten.

Step One
I number each Moleskine’s pages. Just as a book’s pages are numbered; for these are books. The books of my life.

Step Two
I get out my index cards from my file box. This is the index to all of my sketchbooks, journals, watercolor books,- any of my works that are bound. The cards are divided into categories that hold more specific cards that fall under them. For instance in my “Art” category I have cards for “Art Supplies” (this includes color swatches which I do a lot of), “Art Thoughts,” and “Art Not Connected to an Entry” (any sketch or doodle that is a loner). In my “Things I Like” category I have index cards for “Tea” (of course), “Kitchens,” “Pottery,” “Toys,” “Movies- Not Scary,” “Scary Movies & Things,” and “Books,” plus a lot more. If a card like “Books” keeps filling up with a specific thing then I make another card as I did for “Agatha Christie.”

The categories and cards should all be very organic and grow from you and what you put into your journals. When starting for the first time I just made a new card for each new subject as I went through my first journal I indexed. I had a big stack of cards for the first few times I indexed until I realized they fit into general categories and then I made a category title card for each and paper clipped then together. This saves a lot of table space when I am indexing!!!

Step Three
Now I make a pot of tea, put on a movie I have seen before and get busy! I go through each page at a time and put anything on the page under the index card it goes with along with the page number and the sketchbook call number which is typically the last 2 digits of the year followed by an A or B for the first or last half of the year (this one is 23B). This can take several hours for my journal as I like to put entries in crossover category cards if I need to as well (although this doesn’t happen that often). Each page might need to be indexed on 2-3 cards depending on what is on it. If the entry has a drawing with it (many do!), I put, in italics, “illus.” on the card entry as well. A lot of the time I am looking in my index for old illustrations and this helps enormously.

If I fill a card up I file it in abc order in my index card box and I make a new one, keeping it in the category it was in. Cards ONLY get filed when they are full. Otherwise I would forget my categories very quickly! The categories help my brain work efficiently.

Step Four
Once the whole journal is done I stack my cards together and paper clip them again. (I repeat I DO NOT file these!) Then I write with a paint pen or a white grease pencil the name of the book on the spine- this last one was 2023B, and it goes on my journal shelf to sit with its friends! Then I stretch and celebrate!

Here are some of my favorite spreads from the end of 2023:

Merry Sketching & Journaling to you in 2024 from Kansas Street and me,

-Jaime