Saturday Sketchbook: notes on a week of sketchbooks.

I’ve been unsatisfied with my sketchbook usage the last few years, I use to draw almost every single day, but life catches up, and my professional work leaves me with very little creative energy left to draw anything.

When I’m in a beautiful place with new surroundings I don’t have an impulse to draw like I use to but I do end up taking a ton of photos to reference later. Usually while I’m watching TV with my dog laying beside me.

When I do draw from life I’m drawing a pile of laundry or the beer mug in front of me at a brewery to be honest.

But I guess my work was never about reality, and it is more important to me to translate some idea or feeling into a piece of work.

I used a Baron Fig sketchbook for many years and I’ve been mostly satisfied with the size and reliability of it. But I think I would like to move into a different direction and have a place to work on more small paintings and color work. And I’ve been limited by the weight of the paper.

I feel like it’s related to my shaping the work around a specific type of practice. But I think I make the best stuff when I am just naturally exploring the things that interest me.

In the ink sketches I draw boxes inside of boxes, I start to form comics and then get bored with boxes and framing devices. I’ve always loved comics but I hate the boxes and traditional structures of paneling.

It’s possible that it’s because I’m not good at them, but it’s also possible that the work I was initially drawn to was work that resisted these boxes and tried to break free of structures.

In painting I love layering colors over and over again, creating space and dimension through weird marks and blocks of color. I like to build a space on the page starting from one position and almost constructing the page from bottom to top.

In school I use to build these sculptures of scrap wood on the smoking deck during breaks. And I feel like that kind of seeped into my work. This way of trying to balance loose scraps together and fit them into a piece that hangs on the balance and tension of the next object. Creating odd spaces that sometimes work and don’t. That are mostly heavy to a singular side.

In the moment I rarely have any idea about what I’m creating, and it’s only in reflection that I’m able to think about all the things I want to say and all the feelings I’m trying to convey. So this process happens where I make some work and then reflect on its importance and purpose combined.

Mostly lately drawing has just been fun and exciting to me. I make a living professionally as a designer, I have the things I need and live comfortably. I can waist a bit of money on a website with little traffic or a blog to no one.

I envy the hustle of other people who can build an audience and create something engaging and interesting. And the dedication it takes to build a sustained practice is something to be admired.