Every year, my family throw a big party for the Fourth of July and it has been how I’ve informally measured the halfway point in the year for some time now. I love seeing everyone and making family memories, but it is a lot of work and I am not a born entertainer. Beforehand, I have a lot of cleaning and planning, prepping and cooking to get done. Afterwards, I am relieved that it’s over and I feel ready to work on some personal projects.
Looking back over the first half of the year, I feel like I’ve barely done any artwork that I’m really pleased with. I just haven’t been dedicating as much time to it due to other obligations.
This sketchbook is the first thing I’m going to finish off. I only have two pages left and it has been hanging over my head as an unfinished project. I had originally started it in 2023, but progress became painfully slow when I developed central serous chorioretinopathy. Even though the acute condition mostly resolved, my eyesight has dramatically gone downhill since then (maybe the timing is coincidental?) and I really can’t see anything now without my glasses. My work has become less detailed as well because I don’t enjoy the feeling of straining to see clearly.
At this point, I’m ready to move onto a new sketchbook and make a fresh start. I might start to experiment with some different styles a bit as well.
Above are some recent sketchbook pages that I’ve completed as an attempt to get through some of the remaining pages in this book. In my next posting, I will share the remaining pages in this sketchbook.
I’m very late to understand this, but the day-to-day job of the artist is not ‘making art’, it is filling sketchbooks.
Some links for you (videos)
An Instagram account which focuses on restoring beautiful design and color back to the world: neuroxart.
I enjoyed this episode of The Creative Pep Talk podcast, featuring an interview with Cal Newport. I appreciate his wisdom and insight into AI.
A short video describing different kinds of sketchbook pages. It reminds me that I need to expand the use of my own sketchbook pages.
Flipping through the amazing sketchbook of Charles Ritchie. I love the little vignettes and petite handwriting style.
Amazing whimsical sketches and characters from pareidoliate. The imagination and storytelling is quite unique.
Until next time,
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