Sketchbook in Review

(Publishing note: Initial draught written a few months ago)

Firstly, I'd like to give a public service announcement – This post reviews a working sketchbook; there may be sketches of such a horrific nature that you may never look at a creative in the same way again.

Like most creatives, I keep a working sketchbook to put miscellaneous ideas and experiments in. This one began at the end of my last academic year and runs through the beginning of my year out. Contains a range of notes on building webinars, mixed media experiments, as well as Business and graphics research.

I include all work, including the rough bits as I believe that more artists and makers should show their mistakes, grounding the creative process and celebrating the beauty (cough *and humour*) of creativity. The purpose of this piece is to provide a reflection on my process, learning and skills. For me, this is a digital point of reference and learning tool. For you, I hope it is an interesting journey through another creative work and reassurance that you don’t have to burn that terrible project after all.

Still, feeling brave? Me neither, but here we all are.

 

Though I have often admired beautifully covered books, I have never spent time on one.  Maybe an odd doodle here and there. However, I am fond of the rough, weathered sketchbook exterior. It communicates in its own way. Narrating its time spent moving between bags. The period it spent in the car laying on each seat, until its eviction to the parcel shelf. The rain, the sun and friction, all making marks. Even the pencil-drawn doodle on the front (reminiscent of a frantic dragon), is probably a result of its proximity during a phone call.

I attended a series of hour-long drawing classes. Put on for free, through Eventbrite, by Emilie Sketchbook. Can you tell what drew me to them? I owe a large part of my recent creative education to Eventbrite and its treasure trove of free online workshops, classes and talks.

The virtual room for these classes are filled with people looking between their sketchbooks and the screen. Questions occasionally appearing in the chat. The class moved at a steady rate, which improved my drawing and painting speed. Teaching key drawing skills which sparked epiphanies in my mind. Finally understanding those tiny basic techniques, which transform your image.

This particular class focused on autumnal leaves. I found the contrast of the cool background against the warm subject matter strikingly atmospheric. While the curves in the leaf describe its process of change. Its structure becoming more fragile as winter progresses.

These next notes are from a creative writing course I joined to help me with my blogging. It wasn't quite what I expected. However, the content was engaging. Providing me with information I am sure I will find useful later. Especially when exploring narrative within design.

I considered continuing with the course. However, its focus is primarily geared toward aiding individuals currently in the process of writing a story. Like a lot of creatives, I love diving into anything which pokes the imaginative part of my mind. During the course, I indeed planned my epic saga, swimming in the thick, warm pond of the muses. Then I remembered time. The cold ice bath of reality. I wanted to understand writing for my blogging goals, but story writing was not a current goal and I currently have lots of goals. Too many goals. In fact, a gift that time has recently given me is an understanding of its nature with regards to goals.

The next online drawing course focused on trees, expanding on knowledge from the first year of my degree. Foliage is an important part of designing and visualising space. The class focused on the proportion and placement of trees in a perspective. Giving me confidence in drawing landscaping scenes.

  I never finish Inktober. I know It would help me interact with the artistic community and show off my skills.  Its just not a core goal. However, they are great creative prompts.

My research of the prompt - Brain, led me to Alzheimer’s (research recorded on Pinterest). I used a photo of two comparing brain halves for reference. The spirals are from my mark-making style, along with memories of my Grandad playing the piano deep into his dementia experience. I wanted them to look like gold threads. His last years gave his many grandchildren and great-grandchildren important core memories. He continued to pass on his manners and values. Defined our ability to listen quietly while we would watch old movies.  Taught us how to make Grandma's tea properly. Most importantly, how to be a wind-up merchant. The golden threads ran through both his healthy and unhealthy brain, taking different routes.

The Hands are related to another hour-long online drawing class. Using our own hands as reference. The class was taught to examine the negative space between fingers, creating the outline, which is filled in with detail. The chat was full of hand adjectives and jokes. I bonded with another lady over our little podgy hands.

 

The next class concentrated on bugs. I, however, was busy concentrating on my internet connection. I'm still unsure if there was an issue with mine or hers. I managed to catch bits and learn a bit about macro scale. So all was not lost.

My to-do list, a piece of modern art. Move over Tracy Emin.

The 'Sketch a Day' app is an excellent tool for creating a regular sketching practice. The app hosts a range of skill levels, which frees you from the pressure of being good. The daily prompt pushes everyone on the app to try new things

 

I don’t quite know what happened here, but my inner 9-year-old is happy. I feel like a few more tries, and I would have designed a beautiful rug. As for the first page,  errrrrrrr.......................who knows.

 

The fish are the result of another one-hour drawing course. I felt they needed a bit of whimsy, hence the stylish hat, which I was far too proud of. I don't know why the other fish were not similarly adorned. Maybe I just felt like he was an extra snazzy fish.

The potter's wheel was the result of a sketch-a-day prompt and far too much time on art-tock (ticktock). Colour has eluded me throughout my life, and I only really started bothering about it during my architecture journey. (Maybe it was the teenage Goth phase, which never fully left me.) The colour theory and mixing trend merged with all the colour theory coursework I had completed. I felt so professional, using the colour wheel to mix different hues and tones. Painting a coloured background. An easel and berry firmly in my future.

My next entry came from a realisation that I needed to make money. I had no idea how to achieve that, with my personal circumstances in mind. Until I got 3 separate calls in the same shop. They were all people asking me to assist them with some administrative tasks. I realised then that I had skills. It would not be the first time I would be paid for office work. I have been assisting the odd small business here and there for as long as I can remember (as well as more conventional office jobs). It would typically include me setting up an organisational system or task and/or coaching people. Small business owners generally cannot afford a permanent administrative assistant and want to feel in control of their business. So, I made another scribble in my sketchbook. Approaching the business set-up like a brief, which worked well for my mindset.

 

Beach sketching is a fun way to study the human form. I tend to sit in my car, where I can spread out my supplies and try not to look like a stalker. (I will never know how people can sit on the tube and draw random strangers.) The best part about this practice is that the end result appears artistic, regardless of how poor the actual drawings are.

 

Yeah, this is an interesting piece (Read: well, this is embarrassing). The line work is what some might describe as an expression of boredom. As for the second piece, I would like to say that the outlines looked good before I added colour, but that would be stretching a hopeful truth. I want to think that this is not a waste of paper or time. These practices allow my hand-eye coordination to be calibrated. They allow me to freely explore the different stages of drawing. Further understanding techniques. but what do you think? Do you waste time, paper and space on unsuccessful art? or do you tear it out; Scrunch it up; Place it in the bin and breathe a sigh of relief that nobody knows? Keep a good and a bad sketchbook? or only practice what you are familiar with?

My wonky strawberry was another one-hour class during which I learned a lot about watercolour. It pushed me to layer. At the time, the idea of layering was logically necessary but scary. I feel the speed of this class drags you along, not giving you time to think or consider. It's an experience of human doing, not thinking, and sometimes that’s not a bad thing. I even got extra brave and tried adding biro instead of pencil.

This cupboard (in pencil) took me forever. Do not let its simple misshapen form fool you. Each line was drawn and then redrawn. Its contours were absorbed from a photo by dark pupils. The contours then travel through neurological pathways. Next, the mind issues instructions, which travel through the brain stem and then the spinal cord. Moving the head, the neck, the shoulder, the back. Core muscles position the body and hold the body's balance. Even your breathing adjusts. The arms, elbows, forearms, wrists, palms and fingers work simultaneously to adjust the page and mark it. It's observed a second time. The instructions are adjusted. The first line is rubbed out and replaced. Until you give up because your brain cannot take anymore. It needs cognitive rest. And the next day, the instructions seem so obvious.

The car is a 'sketch a day' prompt - crash. It was used as an opportunity to practice the techniques learnt in the last one-hour drawing class. I chose a car crash because my vehicle drawing needs work. Vehicles are an important element when designing buildings or spaces. We are not going to lose them anytime soon. Pretending that they are just going to disappear because we don't build with them in mind is not going to take them away. Its just going to leave more people driving around while they wait for the person they dropped off. My belief is that realistic urban and social planning is the only way to make movement more sustainable. One of the best tools for communication about this issue is visual representation. So, I practice cars at any chance.

I didn't have the time, but I did have the crayons for the 'sketch a day prompt' Laboratory. The beakers are not exceptional, but I did get to experiment (aye!) with my new pastels. The Pastels were like smooth crayons. The colours were vivid, but you could tell that they were not of a professional grade.

The roses looked amazing; until I decided to add pen. Initially, I had nothing more to say about the pen test. Then, evaluating my work, worked, and I had an epiphany – I should have kept going. If wasting hours of time on social media has taught me anything, it's that art looks worse before it gets better. I need to learn more about layering and become braver with my work. My fear of worsening or ruining pieces is counterproductive. It’s a phobia that I am working on, but I am beginning to understand art teachers who pour paint-water over their students' books.

I like the ruff, scratchy tones in the warped sketch. It juxtaposes the assumed smooth surfaces, adding character.

 

Raw - The tiger (yes it is a tiger) would look effective in bright multi-colour hues. I don't know what to say about the lamp, but practice is practice.

  I like goal lists—they have all the potential of a to-do list without the overwhelming pressure. I make one at the start of every new phase. They act like a brief for my professional and personal development.

An item on my 'year-out goals list' is to work on visual presentation. In the spirit of honesty, the deliverable part of the project is a hole in my process. Everyone has a hole in their process if they're honest, and that is just mine. I believe this would have developed more during BA2, if life hadn’t got complicated. To fill my knowledge gap, I'm working on a LinkedIn Learning path designed by my university's Creative Industries Department. (And yes, I have a problem. No, I don't know what I'm going to do when I no longer have free access to LinkedIn Learning.)

The course information was applied to my business. Crating polished descriptions of the service offered.

This course challenge was to design a full-page magazine advert. Finally, all my ultra-girly magazine reading was useful. I wanted to draw my ideal customers in by relating to them, thinking about who they are, and why they would want to use my service.

This course challenge was to design a full-page magazine advert. Finally, all my ultra-girly magazine reading was useful. I wanted to draw my ideal customers in by relating to them, thinking about who they are, and why they would want to use my service.

 

The central mixture of typology communicates and celebrates the differences in people. The colour pallet is a mixture of calm blue-greys. This piece is used as a concept artefact to maintain consistency within my business, guiding my branding.

 

One of the first things I needed to do for my business was to create a website to answer questions for potential customers. I researched website building. This had a secondary purpose: preparing for my end-of-degree portfolio. The more I learn, the more I can put into both my current and future progression. So, when completing the course exercises or applying the information, I thought about my current work and future career. These notes are really visually boring but are full of key information.

This sketch-a-day prompt ‘message’ served to experiment with highlighter pens. The pens didn't give the even surface I wanted. However, the texture could be used in the future to visually explain materials. I had obviously used up all my spoons for the day as none of the shapes are parallel. Again, I think that adding more to this sketch could uplift it.

The calendar sketch actually came out okay. I used an HB and H5 pencil. I have found an appreciation for hard pencils while learning to draw technically. They allow for nice, clean, accurate lines. The HB was used to shade.

The mining prompt involved colour-matching pens to the photo. I ran out of time to add all the layers that the picture needed.

 

More linked in learning.

I love a good architecture webinar. I have learnt so much from online talks adding to my education or keeping my head in the game during time off. This was about retrofitting and renovating buildings. The layout opportunities in one of the buildings was interesting, as well as the use of materials to make older homes passive houses, while working with their technology.

These pages are layers of notes from different things. I liked the foliage doodles I created during a meeting. They were made with different coloured biros. the range of shapes creates a rhythm to a simple subject.

This was me working on designs for something to give to people while networking. I settled on a traditional business card.

This is an example of the digital iteration. Looking back, it may have been nice to record the digital journey in more depth, but sometimes you have to just get on with the task and let things go. The second piece was used as a flyer and social media post.

The final design (in CMYK colour) was printed in matt with curved corners. The printing process was interesting. Though I had printed and proofed the design several times, the design still got sent back due to the font being too small. I appreciated the company's feedback, as one of the issues with lone working is not having a second eye. Normally, this is what I do for other people. Hence, it was nice to have professional support. The cards were received extremely well during my first networking event. Many people loved the design, it was a good talking point and I could show off my skills.

Personal subjects are normally kept out of my work to an extent, as I share a lot of my creativity. However, this is fairly impossible as art, design, craft, etc. is part of you. It is your brain and soul. On the 25th of September, my sketch-a-day prompt and my PCOS came together to form a simple, expressive sketch.

Further linked in learning. This time focusing on virtual working. It will probably become more common during my career, and it is useful within my current work. The courses form a larger certificate designed by my university.

The vegetable drawing webinar covered techniques for drawing multiple items together. The background was added to make the sketch more legible.

A key niche I cater to in my business is helping people improve their techniques. This client needed help with her social media platform. I supported her by providing feedback on her product photos. Starting with simple pointers such as how to use a lightbox.

The circle's exercise was from another LinkedIn learning course, which covered different ways of getting into the creative groove at home. 50 circles had to be drawn and filled. Some of the results were dire, but others surprised me. I spend a lot of time watching people create on TikTok. This exercise gave me space to apply some of the techniques I have seen. Some of the faces evoked a console game art. I love the way all art influences, even subconsciously.

Continuing with my presentation goal through graphic design e-learning. I used calligraphy (as a child/young woman) to work on my dyslexia, so I am quite interested in what typography can teach me. Some of the letter sketching is a bit wonky. However, looking back at it, I see that there is a charm to them.

 

I must have been working on my business card between parts of this course.

The next course challenge was unconstricted, with the aim to create a poster only using type. I picked a quote I liked and sketched ways of conveying the message visually.

On the second page, you will notice some random squiggles. These are the result of a random plan for an Inktober prompt.

I analysed and mixed different types, making use of Adobe Creative Suite free fonts. Initially, I chose obvious colours and fonts. The design was pushed further by using a traditional colour wheel to inform my choices. I liked the overlapping of text. It adds an intricacy, making the observer think. The poster needs a lot of work and feedback, but it is an experimental start.

 

Next I spent time reacting to a couple inktober prompts. I enjoy an underworldly darkness in art. I drew inspiration from Niel Gayman's Sandman for the dream concept, with a little bit of Roald dahl's BFG. The idea of drams coming through the curtains or from dreams cloak. The spider is a type of jumping spider - A tiny, cheeky arched native to Britain. As an arachnophobe, I avoid spiders at all costs, but I could find cuteness in this close-up as the real thing is friendly enough.

Continuing my graphic education, focusing on colour and layout.

WordPress is an open-source content management system. Basically you can make a website on it. It is also the CMS I was recommended on an architecture forum. My business site was created on there, and I will likely use it to create my graduate portfolio. The business website has evolved alongside my research and learning. I have also utilised feedback from the universities business support service.

Inktober day 3 lead me down a path unknown (Yes, I am here all week). Promarkers where layered successfully to create textures and tone. After, black pens in a range of line weights were utilised to bring clarity and depth to the drawing.

 

I don't know what bread that dog is. It was meant to be a jack Russell. Ultimately it was a grate lesson in understanding animal positioning.

Then, I drew a cat outline; I don't know why, but art is art. While I undertook some business sustainability e-learning.

The fire sketch looked good until I added the thick outlines. Since then, I have gently researched Blending with pencils, as beautifully blended pencils would have added more to the fire than the pen.

The RIBA webinar focused on renovating brickwork. It introduced me to key terms and gave me a deeper understanding of brick maintenance and application.

Social media is key for small businesses to connect to their customers and potential customers. I spent an afternoon researching and e-learning about the topic.

 

Finally, I used the very back page to create a large vocab reminder. The terms 'zite gist' and 'ginius loci' have escaped me as long as I have known they exist (#Dyslexia_superpower #dyslexia_management_techniques).

Since completing this sketchbook, I have almost filled another one. As always, this book is full of thoughts, progress and learning. It is a standard working sketchbook. It is not fussy, organised or a finished piece of work, but all the things which make up final pieces. It is the coding and storage of my creative mind.