2010 Sketchbook, Part One

I am happy to say that I have just finished filling up my "primary" 2010 sketchbook. Purchased in March, this "square wonder" as I call it, was an orange "flexi-sketch" book of 300 pages put out by the hand-book journal co. I had some great times with this book- trips to world-famous museums like the Smithsonian and the Louvre, my big trip to ICON this past summer, various figure drawing outings, and of course my beloved airplane "free-draws".

The book is incredibly dog-eared now, and I had to tape the cover back on about 10 times. Before it goes into storage, however, I'm going to present some of my favorite pieces from it here on the blog.

My sketchbook work will probably surprise fans of my finished illustrations. My ink drawings in the book are by nature more loose and unfinished- I tend to focus on one aspect of art-making while drawing in the book (design, color, ideation, skills, etc.), and don't edit as much as I do in my final images.

I have always struggled with my sketchbooks. Like most artists, I have this fantasy that by the end of the book, I'll have an incredible opus of images that will guide my work as a whole. While the first part of this statement typically falls flat, the second part rings true. What I hope to convey over the next few posts is the sketchbook as a workbook.

It is not particularly "pretty". It has bruises and scratches and water stains. It is not perfect, but I believe it is an honest representation of my process.

Enjoy Part 1!