How I learned to stop worrying and finish my sketchbook
I finished my little yellow sketchbook in August. It had 64 pages that took me 8 months to fill, which is remarkable given my propensity for not finishing things, so I've had a post about it cooking since then. I've been trying to turn it into content, like a self-help or instructional article or something, but I realized that I filled the book up so fast precisely because I wasn't trying to make content. This post will be stream-of-consciousness drivel instead. Happy end of Inktober!
A black ink sketch of the author's point of view from the bus, including their view of their hands, sketchbook, and legs. There are several rows of seats to the left. There is a large barrier blocking the seats directly in front.
We all like to talk about drawing "for ourselves" out here in these parts. I've supposedly been drawing "for myself" for a long time, but my relationship with art is completely different now. I used to crave online validation for my art. I drew a lot of stuff because I was hoping it would do numbers on whatever social networking website I was using.
I've gotten into the groove with sharing drawings on this blog, but I don't make art with the intention of posting it anymore. I share it here because I enjoy talking about the process or context behind it, but I'm not thinking about sharing at the time. Most of the drawings in this sketchbook haven't been shared here at all, and since I finished it I've been using multiple new sketchbooks without posting anything about them. (I'll get around to that eventually... maybe...)
I used to be anxious about ruining my sketchbooks, but these days I'm more anxious to finish them so I can experiment with a new one. I even started drawing random filler just to use up more pages (I later came to understand this is called using the book as intended).
I've always admired the natural world around me, and it was most of what I drew when I started making art outdoors. I've developed a greater appreciation for man-made scenery over the course of the year. Much of what I draw now involves buildings, cars, and power lines.
A black ink sketch of a structure in a water reclamation plant. It consists of a large metal cylinder with pipes and scaffolding around the outside. There are stairs running up the left side of the structure. On the right is another building.
I was on my way to do a hike-and-draw when I saw this wonderful beast and immediately took a detour to draw it!
I still love to marvel at a nice tree though. In general, I'm always looking for cool shapes, colors, and textures, even if I don't end up drawing what I'm looking at.
Black ink sketches of various sights around the Devil's Backbone Open Space. Top: A labeled panorama of named mountains in the northern Colorado Rocky Mountains. Bottom left: A rock formation with a hole in the middle. There's a note mentioning that the rocks are covered in bright green lichen. Bottom right: The Keyhole, another rock formation with a hole (but a much bigger one) that gives a view of the mountains and houses below.
I've also learned to make the most of my idle time. I've been drawing to pass the time while waiting at the bus stop, in line at the pharmacy, etc. The time pressure forces me to work fast and get as much of the scene onto the page. I've been asked about the speed at which I draw at my Urban Sketchers meetups, and the answer is really just that you have to be okay with your drawing looking rushed and possibly bad. I've come to enjoy the... rustic look of a 5-minute drawing.
A black ink sketch of the author's view from a bus stop. There's a railroad track (or what was intended to be) running through the street. The street is lined with several trees, and behind them is a radio tower.
I'm currently pushing myself to draw busier scenes with more life to them. I'm not prioritizing dweeb stuff like composition, just trying to get better at drawing from observation without editing out ugly things like light poles and trash cans or inconvenient things like people.
A black ink sketch of a massive oak tree by the farmers' market. Several groups of people are eating or resting in the shade underneath the tree. Tents and trailers from the market can be seen in the midground, and buildings in the far background.
Anyway, I went to the library and scanned this book into a PDF. Now you can look at that PDF for free!!!