Sketchbook Pt. Two

I don't know if its because I've got sketchbooking on the brain or I'm still emotionally compromised by the birth of BB's baby on Bones but I really have nothing new or nor exciting to talk about today. So since it's my blog and being vain is allowed, I'm going to talk about my sketchbooks.

It wasn't until I was talk to my advisor the first semester at MU that I even thought about sketchbooks seriously. Of course, I had sketchbooks before but they were full of drawings of anime characters. I happened to find the prefect sketchbook at Borders big enough to write and draw in, and small enough that it fit into any bag, and I started using it and it's been a necessary part of me since, and usually average one a semester. (Unfortunately Borders went under and I couldn't get anymore of the first one, but I've adjusted).

I can't really think one way or another even when I get attached to something. Lately I've been getting a bit more destructive. I've been staining the pages, and I've already had to duck tape up the binding much earlier then my last ones. 

From the latest sketchbook:

Sketchbooks

Over the past year I've been really getting into sketchbooks. As an artist, a sketchbook is the sort of thing that is required to keep the endless flow of ideas damned up so they don't float away. They come in all shapes and sizes, and can be made out of any materials, and there are no rules on how to use one, and they usually are defined to the artist alone. For some this is the haven to practice and perfect their skills, for others it is a place to document the days to day observations of life, for some it is a record of notes for current and future projects.

According to Frank Ching here are some of the reasons that sketchbooks are a good way to record things:

1st: There is no special equipment needed, the eye, a fountain pen and a sketchbook is enough to note anytime and anywhere thoughts, observation and memories. There is no set form, ultimately it is a very personal thing.

2nd: If our experiences are put down in drawings we connect to our environment and give it more attention. Images and events have been perceived and processed by our senses before they hit the pages of a sketchbook. This requires a selection and filtering, we can not draw everything we see. The gathering, selecting and describing of what we see leaves an almost indelible impression of a place or an event.

3rd: We can not just only draw or note what we see. We can also use drawing as a method to gain insights and perhaps even to find inspiration. Drawing stimulates the mind, stimulates thinking and can make aspects visible which are hidden for the naked eye. We can think about the history,the making of something,of how the parts fit together and we may even try to describe noises and smells as well.

Sketching has a huge impact on the mind. It's a great way to think as you work, and it also aids in observation. (for some more info check out this awesome feature here).

Probably one of the most famous sketchbooks is that of Da Vinci. Not only do they have studies of the anatomy, but they are full of dozens of others things including his famous inventions.

Some others:

Guillermo Del Toro

Francis Bacon

Eugene Delacroix

Edward Hopper

(Dozens more here).

Before sketchbooks were not worthy to be considered art, but now they not only exhibited along with pieces now, they are also exhibited on their own. There are now artists that work primarily in their sketchbooks. Lately there has been a tread in sketchbook art, heighten by a resurgence in moleskine sketchbook and sites like fuckyeahmoleskins. Some my favorite artists in this veins are:

Mattias Adolfsson 

and more:

Small Roar Press

Sarah Jenning

Andrea Joseph

Lapin

you can see some of my own sketchbook art here. 

Out of the Book

Sometimes it's nice to take the little things in your sketchbook and give them more air:

Oil sticks 'cause.

The Finished product:

Also some watercolors I've made with the pre-colored outlines of some older drawings from my sketchbook book:

A Diary of the things I want to do,

Before transferring to get my BFA I would have never thought I could do anything outside the medium of photography, but now I've realized that I can do whatever I want. I can make jewelry, draw, take photos, etc. The sky the limit. I think once I graduate I might venture into some new fields.

I want to:

-Draw. Lately I've been drawn between the little colored pencil landscapes I've been doing with these sketchy drawings made with pre-colored paper that I've been dying with watercolor paints and tea. I also have made some larger pieces with oil sticks, so who knows. But I've discovered that drawing is ALOT of fun! (The ! is completely necessary.)

- Sew. I already have a collection of buttons to make eyes for little creatures! I just need to brush up on my sewing skills, but my grandmothers the master so it shouldn't be a terrible problem.

- Bezel set game piece rings. Once I get a job and have more money for the start up fee's I can make a bunch of these. I love soldering things, I've discovered. And I can bezel set other things. Bezel set everything!

I'm still going to take photos, but I realize that if I want to do something else I can. And it's exciting. I want to hit up flee markets and vintage type stores so I can find neat old things to work with. I've already hit up the Salvation Army stores in my area and already have a small stock of pieces to bezel set with that I'm hoping to work on the rest of the semester.

There isn't a point to this other then the realization that I'm not just a photographer. I'm an artist. I can create whatever I want with whatever I want.

Just some random pages from my sketchbook.

I'm into pre-coloring the pages now apparently... but I'm kinda digging this look.

30 Days: Technology

I've been trying awful hard to be nice to my poor, poor mac, but it's turning out to be a hassle. The mouse pad doesn't work anymore (usb mouse for that reason), the battery is falling off the back (hence the duck tape on the bottom), sometimes the keyboard goes out so I can't type anything and I have restart it (sometimes several times in one day). I can't blame it all the computer, I'm horrible at taking care of things (I don't think spilling glue in the key helps at all). Anyways, what I'm trying to say is: Why am I so freaking addicted to technology so much that I'm praying so hard that my parents will buy me a new laptop for graduation?

The Things They Left Behind

These photographs document the things I found in my great-grandparents basement.  Now that they have passed on these are among the things they have left behind. They’ve been forgotten for decades, from the oil cans that my great-grandfather used for his car to the bottles of beer they once drank. By taking these humble objects out of their original environment, I am giving them a new purpose, and with my camera, I transform them from forgotten junk to things of beauty.

As part of my degree requirement for my BFA I'm required to prepare my own solo art show. The bulk of this project has been a few years in the making. Back in 2008 I started photography my great-grandmothers house. I've always been fantasied with how it's suck in time. My great-grandfather's family moved into the house in about the 1920's (I've come to that date because of photographic evidence since I hoard the old family photos) and the house has been in the family since then. One day, I'm not to sure why, but I decided to venture into her basement.

I think the reason I found this space so exciting was the fact it's been the most untouched of the house. Even before my Nana had passed on things had already been solidified in their places, already covered in dust and spiderwebs.

 

I couldn't help think about the history of these objects, the purpose they once served, and in some cases the multiple purposes they once served. My great-grandmother's generation didn't believe in things going to waste so often these cans and containers had things in them. The lids had become so rusted I couldn't get them off but I could hear the screws and other things jittering around in there.

 

I had first brought some of these interior shots to my BFA review and I was encouraged to push them further. I was trying to find another way to give these objects a new life. Another way to make them important again. One of the cans made me think of Jasper Johns, and his piece Painted Bronze, and even Marcel Duchamp questioning the very idea of what is art.

So I decided to take these objects out of there original environment and take them into the studio. Looking at the work of other still life photographers, including Irving Penn, I decided to go for a empty white background removing anything but the objects so you could really get an idea of the character of each of them. Just by this simple change, the objects are put into focus alone. This also allowed for the objects to be placed in a new light. The forgotten junk is now art.

Since this was meant to installed in the gallery, I also had that to take into consideration. Thinking back on my Modern Art classes I remembered Joseph Kosuth's work One and Three Chairs. With the definition, a photography of the chair, and the chair itself, the view got three complete views of the same objects. Inspired by this I realized I had to included the actual objects in the installation.

I originally intended for the arrangement of the photos to mimic the arrangement of the objects in the basement but it didn't really end up like I wanted, but they still have this look of a lack of order to the arrangement.

Now that it's up and the reception is over the real question is (as it is to all artists): What's next?