Before attending a studio class this summer, we are required to complete various exercises in our sketchbook. This is my second round, I did this last summer as well. And last summer, it was not a pleasurable experience. Why? Well, there is something that happens when you get back to a cheap gel pen and a piece of paper. Maybe it's like putting on a bikini - there's just no place to hide. You will be exposed. You will be forced to come to terms with the fact that you are ... not very good. Maybe not even a real artist.
At least that's how I saw it last summer. This summer, it feels like something entirely different. That fear is gone. So what if it isn't any good, it's just a cheap pen and a piece of paper after all! It feels like fun again. Breaking the blank white page up into these smaller frames as we are asked to do, tackling a tiny composition at a time, is ingenious. The process of filling a square becomes meditative, a moment of focus. I hope to continue this practice on a daily basis. I follow children's book illustrators on Instagram - they are doing sketches on napkins in between bites and while they are sitting in the carpool line. For fun. Fearless ... on paper. I'm ready to dive in.
At least that's how I saw it last summer. This summer, it feels like something entirely different. That fear is gone. So what if it isn't any good, it's just a cheap pen and a piece of paper after all! It feels like fun again. Breaking the blank white page up into these smaller frames as we are asked to do, tackling a tiny composition at a time, is ingenious. The process of filling a square becomes meditative, a moment of focus. I hope to continue this practice on a daily basis. I follow children's book illustrators on Instagram - they are doing sketches on napkins in between bites and while they are sitting in the carpool line. For fun. Fearless ... on paper. I'm ready to dive in.
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