In 1943 Earl Mac Pherson created his first 'Artist's Sketch Pad' for Brown & Bigelow, in which a central, finished figure is augmented by preliminary-style side sketches. In 1951 MacPherson developed Polio and his assistant T. N. Thompson took over the Artist's Sketchbook calendars, successfully reproducing MacPhersons style. KO Munson, Fritz Willis, Freeman Elliot and Ted Withers have also worked within the genre.

One of the added advantages of the format is the ability to feature additional nudity and risque notations on the borders since it is 'only' a sketch and therefore somehow more 'artistic'.