Why I use a sketch book (video)
Why are artists’ sketch books so infinitely fascinating?
And why is keeping one so addictive to those that do?
The contents of a sketchbook are as personal and unique as its owner. They’re a private place to capture thoughts and feelings, doodles and daydreams. And a way to capture ideas when out of the studio: the cut of the landscape during a walk; an interesting face in a cafe (discretely of course); the tiny hand of a new baby; and always while traveling.
Beach sketch
My son’s tiny hands as a baby - capturing them before he moved was always a challenge!
With freedom to explore ideas and try out new marks, or to push a current idea further than you wish to commit to in paint or at scale, a sketch book offers a world of possibility.
And words have their place too — notes, inspirations and aides memoire for future exploration once back in the studio.
THE SKETCH AS A STARTING POINT
For some artists, making sketches is integral to their process. For me, the sketch is merely a starting point, albeit an important jumping off point. As an abstract painter, I use my sketch book to record ideas and work out compositions and colour combinations, which may or - more likely - may not be translated to a larger scale canvas.
Sketch for ‘In The Pink’
I used the sketch above to make a large painting called In the Pink, 170 x 150 cm / 67 x 59 in, below. You can watch a video of me making this painting.
In the Pink as a final painting — oil on canvas, 170 x 150 cm.
FINDING NOT MAKING
Since I never know how a painting will turn out, I use my sketches as a way of recording ideas before transfering them to the canvas, at which point drawing with a brush in hand offers a more immediate way of develop them at scale. I am aiming to ‘find’ but not ‘make’ a painting, and so I need to keep open the process of discovery, rather than to recreate a drawing that is already complete.
My tools of choice are a soft - 4B or 6B - graphite pencil and soft pastels which, although dusty, allow for quick and easy colour mixing on the page, mimicking the use of paint to cover larger areas.
sketch in soft pastels for Fields of Joy, right
Fields of Joy, oil on canvas,170 x 150 cm / 67 x 59 in
ART VIDEO
In this brief video (1.19mins), I talk about how I use my sketch book to make prepatory drawings as a way to develop ideas and test which compositions might - or more likely - might not translate to a larger scale.
Artist interview video: why I use a sketch book (1:19mins)
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Sketching in Le Marque, Italy
Sketch of a hill top village, Le Marque, Italy
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