As part of the Processes & Practices module, we are to keep a visual journal. Over the last few years, I have fallen out of practice of keeping a regular sketchbook - usually preferring to draw digitally. However this often makes me feel like I need to be producing "polished" or "finished" pieces quite regularly and there's little space for experimentation.
During the first session, we had an online talk with Naomi Tipping - a self professed 'sketchbook addict'. Naomi talked about how getting obsessed with her sketchbook again, has driven her practice and helps generate ideas regularly. She uses her sketchbook to draw things she sees whilst out and about, to occupy herself during car journeys and experiment with tools or colours in order to find the best way to convey a subject.
What I really enjoyed about seeing Naomi's sketchbook work, was that you can see the energy and pace in which she put the lines down onto the paper. It looks as though she works quickly, and only tries to capture the most important lines, shapes or textures in order to communicate the scene before her.
Another point Naomi mentioned, was challenging herself to use only two or three colours/tools per drawing. This forced her to experiment with layering, textures and consider the composition and colour values of the piece more carefully.
By using her sketchbook regularly, Naomi mentioned that she was able to tackle subjects that she found difficult to draw. For example, trees and vehicles were one of her least favourite things to draw, so she challenged herself to draw more and more of them until she found a way to put the information on the page in a way that made her happy. She went on to explain that sometimes this meant using negative space to convey the object and only drawing in the few details required to pull it together.
I think keeping a visual journal will be useful for me to identify what I really enjoy drawing, and some things that I need to practice. I am keen to use different materials and challenge myself to use only two or three colours on some pages.
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