more thoughts on keeping sketchbooks/journals

one factor in how you will keep your sketchbooks is your working style...
and the actual process of journaling can help you discover your working style if you're not already aware of it.

someone who works best with a distinct plan will create small mock ups of intended work. if that is your dominant working style you will most likely create detailed sketches, include swatches of fabric you intend to use and samples of textures you want to incorporate. you will be the person who will create sample swatches of various stitches, and make color boards of the various hues you will incorporate. you may work out ahead of time what size your finished work will be, and create patterns or templates.

on the other hand, if your creative style leans more toward the intuitive style, you will likely use your journal to "prime the pump". rather than recording detailed plans you will lean more towards doodling and compiling the inherent shapes, forms, and colors that interest you.

keeping my journals has revealed to me the types of images that are important and that fuel my creative drive. these are the shapes/subjects i clipped from magazines, photographed consistently thru the years, and incessantly doodled: tall, thin vertical forms, whether they be trees, the obelisk across the river from my home, cathedral spires, standing stones, fences, long thin spikes of grasses that dance in the breeze......

thru the years i have learned that i am pretty much 70 /30 spontaneous vs planned. i like to have a notion of the shapes and colors i want to work with, but prefer to work out the details as i go, in the actual medium itself, rather than pre-plan. for me, if i already know how a piece will look down to the last detail, there's no longer a point or an interest in creating it. it's the process of discovery along the way that fuels me. my journals will look and function differently than someone who likes to work with a set plan. neither way is better. there is no right or wrong. you do what works for you.

keeping sketchbooks is a great tool to help you discover what your working style is. it's the old what came first the chicken or the egg rout
ine. working in a sketchbook will help you to define your working style, which in turn will determine how you do your books, which in turn will influence your work, etc etc. we learn by doing. if i had to have one solid *rule* for keeping a sketchbook it would be to use them consistently. spend some time every day with it. developing the habit to sit with the process for 20 minutes a day whether you feel like you want to or not is one of the keys to generating ideas and new work.

the more work you create, whether in a journal or with the actual materials, the higher your chances are that you will create good work. take one idea and doodle it or work it 30 different ways. push it past what you think is reasonable. brainstorm. play. go to what feels like ridiculous lengths. quite often it will be that 29th idea that will be the greatest.

a couple of really good books along these lines are art and fear and drawing on the artist within.
imho, both should be standard items in every artist's toolbox, regardless of medium...

and now, it's back to work for me!
next installation: the evolution of my personal imagery....views from sketchbooks thru the years..

sketchbook ... the basics

i keep a couple of different types of sketchbooks at a time...the workhorse is my basic stuffeverythingintooneplace book. and for that the key, especially when you're just starting out is keep it simple:
make it EASY to use..
don't leave home without it
the book and a good mechanical pencil are the basic tools

i've just started using moleskins and love them. the paper is so much nicer, they have a nifty pocket for storing odd bits, they're a bit smaller (easier to fit in my purse), they have a wonderful elastic band that holds them closed as well as a ribbon to mark places, they're just a little bit more expensive than the standard ring bound books, and i can find them locally(booksamillion). they're available online too.

when i started out, i made covers for them, or collaged the covers... nice idea, and i still do it when the notion strikes, but i pretty much quit doing that as i would rather put the time and effort into the actual piece rather than have it just be a decorative cover. i put the year and journal number on the cover (bout halfway thru 2007 #1).

i use these books for brainstorming essentially. because i pretty much put all of my thoughts, ideas and inspirations into each book they are a chronological record for me. and because i (almost) never lose them, they are also the repository for the odd bits of info. phone numbers, record of orders placed etc, notes that i don't want to lose. (which i usually put in the back just to make it easier to find...)

everything that influences me goes in them:

images of all kinds that speak to me for whatever reason very rough sketches - ideas for materials, colors, etc
notes taken while reading particularly good books dreams, quotes, words or phrases that intrigue or inspire me
doodles doodles doodles, no matter where i am or what else i am doing!

when i was in school i was required to complete a journal a semester in each of my sculpture classes. (3 sculpture classes in one semester = 3 completed journals.) tho i was already keeping a journal, it was great discipline.

because of the way i do them, as individual books, they are somewhat disjointed. but as a series of books what happens is i start to see trends in colors, shapes, forms, thoughts that appear with frequency.. and these are for the most part the little nuggets i mine when i'm stuck and looking for ideas for future work.

what i don't do with these journals is make them precious. i don't want to feel too intimidated to use them. i love the illustrated artist journals but for my working sketchbook, i have to keep it simple.

i will doodle, and as you can see, will play with color, but only in the spirit of trying out ideas, etc. not of creating a finished work in and of itself.

when i want to add color i typically use watercolor crayons in them. this set has the water brush included... it's one of my favorite ways to play. you can also come back later to sketches you've already drawn and add color to them after the fact.

more later.