The Very Scary Sketchbook Project: Rediscovering Inspiration While Sketching
- Alexis Robinson
- Jun 7, 2024
- 7 min read
Updated: Apr 7
June 7, 2024
The first week of June has come and gone, and I have another week of sketches.
The beginning of this week was rainy which is to be expected in Washington. Many bus stops do not have covered seating so I am often outside in the elements. Native washingtonians have many terms for rain, but for me there are typically two types of rain: "Washington rain" and "New York rain". I grew up in New York, when it rains, it pours buckets from the sky. Washington on the other hand, seems to have more rainy days with lighter precipitation on average, hence "Washington rain". Monday was not a "Washington rain" day, it was the alternative. Which led to my spontaneous sketching experiment. Rain water and ink based mediums (particularly the ink I use, Waterman's Fountain Pen Ink) mix poorly, and although I ended with a happy outcome I was terrified for my other sketches. As you can imagine, a wet sketchbook filled with ink drawings would be a disaster. And although I do not consider my sketches and sketchbook to be particularly precious, I would be sad to see them destroyed.
Teenage Angst But With Adult Money
If you read my last post about sketching you know that I have embarked on a challenge that I like to call "The Very Scary Sketchbook Project"; where I set out to draw from intuition and explore my art unhindered by the burden of expectations. I was very successful last month and have been successful thus far in June.
This project sparked from Julia Cameron's book "The Artist's Way," which encourages readers to explore creativity in their daily life. An imperative part of her proposed creativity process is reconnecting with your inner creative. Which in Cameron's perspective, is a representation of our childhood self. The version of you that is intrigued by the world and willing to experiment unburdened by society expectations. I have been working in her self guided program for the last 8 weeks and have reconnected to my inner artist.
My inner child doesn't necessarily mimic Cameron's outline in her book. But rather embodies my experience, dreams, and aspirations as an adolescent and teen. There is something to be said about your experiences as a teen and how they mold your interests as an adult. People around my age joke about how you spend the middle years of your twenties rediscovering everything that you loved as a teen; for me this couldn’t be more true. When I let go of the adult expectations of creativity, I find myself falling back into the things that inspired me most as a teen, and finding that I still connect with most of my teenage passions. With the added bonus of adult freedom and the capability to explore new media in our post 2016 world.
If you are reading this and remember me as a pre-teen/teen, you may remember that I was very into music (not a band kid, much to the disappointment of the band teacher), a trait that I will thank my mother for. If you don’t remember this or are a stranger, consider yourself lucky that you didn't ride in my car with me while I blasted Green Day, Falling In Reverse, Sleeping With Sirens, A Day To Remember, and just about anything with heavy guitar at 7:30 in the morning. I was a typical angry teen and listened to angry music, and although I grew out my adolescent angst I never outgrew the music. To say the least, no mom, it was not a phase.
If music is playing I am happy, but like all, I have my favorites and it tends to lean toward punk rock and metal. As an adult with a Spotify premium account, there is nothing holding me back, much to the surprise of partner who met me in college when I was painfully aware that heaviest guitar most people can handle is Green Day, and rarely played my guilty pleasure out-loud (don't get me wrong I absolutely love green day, they were my first concert). As a result more metal music has made it into our household spotify rotation and I find myself listening to my new-to-me favorites while I sketch. Specifically Arankai and Archers, which are currently on repeat all day blasting through my headphones or the house speaker.
If You Only Want to Read About Sketching Start Here
Which brings us to this week's sketching experiences! If you have read all the way down here, you probably see where this is going. If you skipped down to this section here is the simple recap, when I don't know what to draw I draw what I am listening to. Drawing music is an excellent way to keep up your sketching habit when inspiration is limited. I am not referring to the experience of synesthesia, unfortunately I do not have that super power; I am talking about music fan art. Specifically very literal music fan-art that takes few liberties with the interpretation of the lyrics.
When you aren't thinking about content you can't explore and test new visual ideas with your sketches. I drew mostly from music this week and it led to a few spontaneous experiments, one being the drawing that was happily altered by the rain.
The scene is set on Monday, I had 30 minutes before class and was stuck outside. I always listen to music on my commute and my favorite of the day was "Evergreen" by Arankai. I attached onto the imagery in the song, which is morbidly beautiful; and took to drawing a very literal interpretation of the lyrics. The more I worked on the sketch the harder and harder it rained, and eventually the whole page was covered in water. It was clear that I needed to head inside before I was soaked beyond toleration. Which meant I needed to spend the remaining time waiting for my class in an elementary school's front office. I had no choice but to close my very wet sketch book and abandon the sketch.
Although I was disappointed I was unable to finish the sketch, I was not upset about the rain and the consequences of closing a wet ink marked sketchbook. I do not regard my sketches as precious. Sketching should be about fun exploration and if I ended up feeling attached to the imagery; I could always redraw it on a fresh page.
Once class finished I packed and cleaned, but before leaving I checked on the water damage. Most of my pages were unharmed, and the evergreen drawing came out better than I could have imagine. Some of my original lines stayed intact but the overall essence of the image changed completely.
The aforementioned "Evergreen" sketch ^
Happy Little Accidents
Happy accidents can't happen if you are worried about the outcome of all of your work. This experience is what I hope others can gain from partaking in their own "Very Scary Sketchbook Project" or my documented sketching endeavors.
If I was emotionally attached to my "Evergreen" sketch, I am certain I never would have closed the sketchbook; I would have found a way to preserve the drawing. I would have robbed myself of the spontaneous water and ink experiment, which means I would never consider how I could incorporate water into my sketches in a more intentional way. A method I plan to explore next week.
My experiences this week round back to the whole point of the sketchbook project; learning to create art unhindered by the expectations of adulthood and meaning. My sketches are not precious and the changes they undergo in the creation process only benefit my growth as a creative. It is rare to see happy accidents in real life and personally, I cannot remember the last time I allowed myself to lose control over my art in this way. Thinking back, it was probably in highschool, and the feeling is freeing.
Conclusion
It is only Friday, but so far I have filled 7 full spreads in my sketchbook. I have hit the halfway mark in my little book and it is thrilling to know that I have filled 80 pages front and back in five weeks. I suspect that by the end of June I will be updating and writing a blog about the tips and tricks I have for starting new sketchbooks, so if that interests you keep an eye on my posts.
This week has been all about music, so of course I will drop some song links below! As mentioned above Arankai and Archers have been my go to this week. The two most notable songs I drew inspiration from were by Arankai, "Evergreen" and "Dead Throne."
If I could offer any tips for sketching, it would be to embrace the authenticity of your interests and unapologetically create. As a teacher I enjoy sharing my artwork with my students (of course not all my artwork), some of them really enjoy them, others think they are really strange and odd. This experience reminds me that the same is true with peers and adults. And that I often need to reconsider the reaction I have when adults share distaste for my work. It reminds me that my art is not for everyone, and unlike children who generally harbor no bad intentions when they express their opinions, adult criticism often manifests from unkind intentions. Of course it hurts when people don't like or understand my work; but ultimately, the only thing that matters is that I like my creations. The more authentic you are, the more you will attract others that appreciate your perspective and artwork, and those are the voices that matter most, second to your own.
I hope your week is filled with exploration and excitement!
Warmly,
Alexis
Painter on the Page
Spotify Music Links
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