So….since foundation I have had this struggle with Sketchbooks. Even though I never have trouble using them and always do, I am never happy with them ! I think it is because in A level I done Art and Design (Textiles) and we were basically told to have our sketchbooks like a piece of art….every page with a background…all textural…pieces of work dipslayed in them as well. I loved doing this at A level as it did look really good – however it was just so time consuming and when it come to Foundation it was alot more about concept and ideas….and for this reason I started writing a lot more notes. There was not as much visual stuff at all and there seemed no point in working in the way I did at A level – it didn’t get you any extra marks and although at the end of the day I’m not too worried about a grade I would have fell behind if I carried on working in the same way as I did at A level. At foundation I ended up writing crazy amounts of notes – noting down ideas and how I felt. Although this is good (getting ideas and thoughts down) I got so frustrated with not having a visually interesting sketchbook ! Okay there were some photo’s etc in there but most of my pages were just notes ! Towards the end it got a bit better but I still felt I wasn't working in a way which was allowing me to have a sketchbook which I actually enjoyed ! I see peoples sketchbooks and they contain notes ….but lovely visuals as well (little paintings, drawings, sketches etc) and I really wish I could work in that way again…it seems like its one or the other…..really visual (as I was in A level) or a sketchbook just full of notes (like Foundation)
This has continued into this year however I got to a point were I had to do something about it ! I decided to split things up a bit ! Have a sketchbook in which I put my research, notes and ideas in and then have a separate sketchbook which is basically just for visual stuff – sketches, doodles, paintings etc. I’m enjoying working like this so far…..however there is a lot of separation and I can’t work out whether it’s a good thing or not. I feel as though NO notes atall can go into my visual sketchbook as each page seems to be it’s own piece of work and I feel I can’t really make anything too visual in my research / notes sketchbook. Anyway enough going on about it….it’d be good to know what people think and how they work. I’m really trying to find a way of working in sketchbooks that suits me and I feel if my notes and ideas are in the same sketchbook as my visual stuff it just wont work as notes will soon overtake !
I’ve included a few pictures from my “Visual” Sketchbook below. I now have have a method of overcoming the blank page syndrome ( well for this project anyway) – I have been pasting newsprint onto the pages of the sketchbook before working onto them. It’s been nice having something to work onto and with – found newsprint is especially ideal as you get little images and patterns that you can develop on but you can also produce images or collages on it that have no relevance to the newsprint at all and it still works well ! I have tried not to think to much about what I produce in this sketchbook but to simply use it as a visual retreat that ideas and ways of working can spawn from. Some of these pages are not finished at all – I keep coming back to them and working more.
I think this is the page I am most unhappy with so far….I think it’s because of the colour. Over the past few days I’ve come to realise that I am quite fussy when it comes to colour ! Blacks, whites and greys always work for me but when it comes to colour it has to be right !
I’ve also noticed how much I enjoy doodling and how graphic I can be sometimes. Ok I’m probably working with newsprint left over from Illustration students however that doesn’t answer for the doodles – although I do really like the visuals also and working into / developing them !
I really enjoy working in this sketchbook and actually being able to enjoy working in a sketchbook (not becoming tied down in ideas and thoughts) is something I’ve missed a lot !
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