The night before I was planning on going to New York Central and trying to buy one of these elusive sketchbooks, I had all sorts of wonderful dreams about paper and drawing and George Bates' sketchbook class and the open model drawing session at Parsons etc etc. It was really nerdy.
And then I had the best trip there, because not only did they have the sketchbook, I had this fantastic conversation with one of the notoriously pretentious employees about it. We were like "isn't this sketchbook the best, it's such a good size, it always sells out so fast, and the cover is so nice, and it even lays flat when you open it in case you want to use the full spread, and that coventry vellum is super nice too, such a good pick." It was really nerdy.
After a week of emails and recoloring patterns and writing licensing contracts, I was so happy to paint a bunch of leaves and flowers for a few hours last night.
I started drawing in sketchbooks religiously toward the end of high school when I was 16 or 17 and knew I wanted to go to art school. My drawings may not have been that good, but I can look at a page and remember exactly where I was and what I was doing. At Pannikin with Ryan and his brother on New Year's Eve. I was drinking tea, his brother was reading a newspaper. It was lightly raining. It's a more accurate account of my life than anything I could write.
My two more recent ones are less vivid, maybe because I don't have as many feelings as I did when I was 17 or 20, or maybe because almost all of the drawings were done while giggling with Chelsey in Jordin's class. It's really nice to flip through though and see what I was thinking about then (mostly girls and flowers, of course).
I wish I could see more of your sketches! Love them
ReplyDeleteThank you! I was thinking of adding a sketchbook section to my website, so ill post more then. Xo
Deletenice, i like your Prolificness & that they are all together, in a order because of the sketchbook. I've never really been one for sketchbooks, i've always liked the idea, but i tend to work in loose paper. I should try a sketchbook. there seems to be a lack of control in it, in the order of your work when you (the big You, anyone) use a sketchbook that I guess is uncomfortable for me. The drawings or paintings I don't like i want to tear out of sketchbooks and then i end up with just loose pages, i need to work on not doing that. anyways, nice work, your work is inspiring.
ReplyDeleteYes, that's so true - it's inevitable that you'll have things that you don't like (I make bad drawings all the time!) but it forces you to try new things and find ways to work with the things that aren't perfect. Since you shouldn't rip it out, how can you get around it? A lot of the time I glue new paper on top, or turn it into a collage. It's a lot of fun! And definitely not precious..my professional work that I need to be perfect I do on separate paper :)
Deletei love the paintings of the royal family.
ReplyDeleteI love all the details about this sketchbook! Would you mind sharing the brand? I work at a little art supply store in Portland, and this sounds like a dream. Plus the blank fronts and colored spines!
ReplyDeletethanks, and your job sounds incredible! The brand is Kunst & Papier, and their site is kunst-papier.com. I'm glad you asked this really, because somehow I've never noticed the brand til now - it says it in the back super small and I always assumed that NY Central made them.
Deletexo
I actually just discovered this morning during our manager meeting that we'd been sent samples of this very sketchbook! We're getting them for the store after I raved about how lovely your post on them was, ha! So, thank you! xo
DeleteLove your sketches! I tend to sketch patterns on loose paper, but it's a great idea to have them all organized together! Thanks for sharing them, hope to see more soon. I really love your work, you're always an inspiration.
ReplyDeleteLovely drawings! Love them :) what's the dimension of the sketchbooks? It looks like a perfect gift for my niece :)
ReplyDeletethanks so much! Each page is 8 x 8"
DeleteThis is such a wonderful post- I'm more of a traditional journal keeper and have always been so fascinated by sketchbooks... I think you're really right in that they preserve a specific moment in a way that words never really could.
ReplyDeleteThanks for sharing!
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What scanner do you use with this large of a sketchbook?
ReplyDelete<3
I just have a standard 8.5 x 11 Epson scanner, my sketchbook is 8 x 8 so it fits one page at a time. I wish I could afford a huge scanner though!
DeleteDo you know what the sketchbook is called or the brand? I am on a hunt for the perfect sketchbook (I always end up binding my own because I feel like nothing is good enough or lays flat enough) and that looks pretty perfect.
ReplyDeleteyep! It's by Kunst & Papier, I believe you can buy them online.
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