Lately I find myself asking why keep a sketchbook? My work has changed, evolved, over the past year and I sometimes wonder whether a sketchbook is still relevant to my creative process. When I painted from a representational perspective my sketchbooks served as a visual journal keeping my observational skills sharp. However, now that I am painting from a more intuitive place, where does a sketchbook fit in to my studio practice? To address these questions I took a quick tour of my more recent sketchbooks to see if I could identify what value they hold for my art making. ![]() My sketchbooks are often a place where I explore, in a non-threatening way, color relationships, mark making, and composition. It can be a quick study or I may spend more time, but however the result, it is easy to just turn the page and move on. Sometimes I like to just draw. I find drawing can be a kind of grounding activity that helps keep me centered on more hectic days. When time and commitments prevent working on a painting, a sketchbook provides a more manageable creative outlet. And from a very practical standpoint, images contained in a book require less space to store, which matters in my small studio. Often, a sketch serves as a warm up to starting a new work or series of works, especially if there will be a shift in process or intent. So to summarize, yes, a sketchbook remains a valuable tool in my art making tool box, no matter the direction my art is taking me. Do you keep a sketchbook? I would love to hear how your sketchbook influences your art practice. If you'd like to see a more complete overview of the evolution of my sketchbook pages pop over to my Sketchbooks page.
8 Comments
Elizabeth M Corsa
2/7/2018 06:15:48 pm
Your sketchbooks blow me away Ann. I love keeping a sketchbook; a place to explore with no judgements. And I admire you keeping up with a blog. I finally put mine to rest.
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Thank you for stopping by Elizabeth! Yes, I have always kept a sketchbook and probably always will in some form or another. I do know what you mean about the blog. I started (on blogger) in 2007 and posted at least a couple of times a week. Now I'm happy to get one post out there a month and I wonder if it even matters at this point. I do a lot of posting on instagram, which is really where I post the behind the scenes stuff. Just trying to keep up with all this social media stuff can be a job!
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7/4/2020 05:46:32 pm
I'm happy you found this post! Thank you for your kind comment.
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Kristine Wolfe
11/18/2020 11:00:10 pm
Enjoyed your comments. I know (former art student!) that sketch books are important but there is something about a brand new tablet, full of of white blank pages that I find intimidating. Reading this & seeing how you work is very inspiring. Thanks!
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Ann Nemcosky
5/11/2021 12:40:13 pm
Hi Sylvie! Thank you for your kind comments! The best way to see updates from me is to follow me on Instagram , @nemcoskyart
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Hello Ann,
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About me...I dream in color. *All images and content on this blog is ©Ann Thompson Nemcosky.
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