No. 36: Favorite Sketchbook Pages
I have fifty-nine sketchbooks filled with memories. While I have a fondness for each and every page, there are some that stand out. Here’s why. Plus DUMBO Open Studios this weekend!
Yesterday morning I watched Rick Rubin, author of The Creative Act, talk about how all artwork is a type of diary entry. This resonated with me, as pretty much everything I draw and teach is rooted in memory keeping. I find that the sketchbook pages I favor the most tell a complete story to both the viewer and to myself. It is the balance of the two that I look for when drawing my pages. Since my form of diary is personal but also for others to see, I like to create a dialogue between the back stories and the more obvious happy moments, arranging them in fun ways on a page. There are many competing elements when I’m composing the pages. Some of what gives me pride and a small smile when looking at these pieces is not what others see but what they don’t see. I will explain a bit more under each image.
These pages are from a trip to Venice with my family. When I look at the drawings, I am able to remember bits of conversation, jokes we made, and places my husband and I revisited and couldn’t wait to show our kids. Details of a small Calder piece seen at the Guggenheim peeking out from underneath a postcard-like image of a gondolier, the birds and the laundry lines above, and the tiles at my feet show the full perspective. This one spread shares local life, tourist life, shopping, food, and art.
In 2019 I was invited to speak about my career in front of about two hundred people in Dallas as part of a yearly series hosted by the Dallas Society of Visual Communications. I had just a little bit of time to myself during the few days I was in Dallas, as most of the trip was planned around the speaking gig. Public speaking is so out of my comfort zone, but I knew I had to seize the opportunity. Drawing the Maillot sculpture was meaningful, as the crouching figure embodied much of my feelings, discomfort, and fear around the event. And since the trip was an opportunity to speak about my career to that point, I was feeling empowered by my design history as well as my drawing and writing, so this page revisits my love of playful lettering.
This page appears on page 26 of Draw Your Day. There is one key element that I omitted and was the cause of the stress: I had been called to pick up my son from school in the midst of a crazy workday because they discovered a few cases of head lice in the class. Not fun. I hid the bigger things with drawings of food and a vintage van, but when I look back, I remember.
This day was so peaceful. I sat on a bench and drew and painted with my artist friend
and her husband while at the New York Botanical Garden, where we had met to see the Yayoi Kusama exhibit. I attended a family event on Zoom while sitting there, as it was still Covid times and special occasions were being held virtually. There is no mention of the Zoom call here, but it is one of the first things I remember when I look at this spread.
This page is a special one to me because it was made when Covid was at its peak in NYC. Many people were leaving the city, but I really wanted to stay. My good friend Kerri had just written a piece on Medium sharing her feelings about her love for the city and how she was staying put despite so many people fleeing. Reading her essay and seeing a woman comfortably sitting in her window felt like a moment that I needed to capture. New Yorkers in their small homes, staying safe from the ravages of Covid, us loading up our car to head to my in-laws’ place on Long Island to have some more breathing room and fresh air…and my mixed feelings about it all.
A recent page that is about creative projects, my sixteen-year-old starting to drive, and my relationship with a family boat. This is the first full page I completed after sending in the first draft of my next book, so I was feeling a bit liberated, diving back to how I typically work and share. In one piece I convey what my son was up to (embroidering a piece of art, learning how to drive, spray-painting a pair of Doc Martens), and a single shell at my feet recalls our visit to the boatyard. The page is greatly about my son’s creative endeavors and how watching him create has weaved its way into my own work.
For so many years I have used this as an example of a page that encapsulates everything I teach and write about. I was in Barcelona with one of my sons, who was eight at the time. We had many adventures in our few days there, and at times he was very impatient, especially when it came to looking at art. And he would not eat anything but one salad that we found at a nearby restaurant so we went back to that same restaurant three times in four days. The small boy on the right is from a mural painted on the wall of a room inside of an apartment that Antoni Gaudi had designed. I imagine the room once belonging to someone my boys ages. The circles were part of a sticker sheet that a salesperson gave to us after purchasing a t-shirt. And last, one of the circle stickers is transformed into a sun because we had tons of hot sunshine during the trip.
The other day one of my boys said to me, after looking at my stack of sketchbooks, “Mom, this is a crazy amount of memories… whenever we decide to sit down and look through these, it will take weeks!”
This weekend I will open my studio door for guests from 1 to 6pm each day, as I am taking part in DUMBO Open Studios. Over 155 artists will be participating, so if you can make it to the area, you will have hours of art to view! My address is 45 Main Street, Suite 1001, on the 10th floor.
Thank you so much
of for having me join you this week. It was so much fun to draw waiting dogs together. Our styles are so different, but the models shine in each of the drawings we created, as well as in the work of all of the other amazing artists who attended.
Sketch and Paint Your Coffee with Derwent
April 19 at 2pm EST.
In this class we will be sketching and painting our coffees—the cups and the patterns in latte/cappuccino foam. Click here to reserve your free spot!
The Next Draw Your World Meetup for Paid Subscribers with Special Guest Gavin Snider
Friday, April 26, from 4 to 5:30pm EST.
I am so excited to welcome super talented artist Gavin Snider to our next meetup. Gavin is a fellow Brooklynite who draws/paints the world around him. His work is loose yet so precise at the same time, making it completely inspiring to look at. I love how much detail he manages to get with few lines.
Gavin will do a demo while we are together, we will chat and ask questions, and I will also try to follow along in my own style. If you join us, feel free to bring along your favorite materials. Gavin will be painting with watercolor. Link to RSVP was sent in the subscriber chat.
My newest Skillshare class is now available to watch
Drawing Everyday: Using Shape and Light to Paint Everyday Subjects
You can now join Skillshare month-to-month or yearly. Check out the newest class here!
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Wow, 59 sketchbooks, that is amazing! I remember that day at the botanical gardens so well, and the zoom! It's all very beautiful and special!
This was lovely to read. I really appreciated the personal stories behind each page ❤️