Scribbling in a Scribble-Book

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The word "scribble" has always killed me--it just sounds funny. When I was a kid and only wanted to unthinkingly make marks on a page, the adult comments ranged from the condemnatory "You're just scribbling" to "Quit wasting paper with your scribbling." 

But I didn't quit; remember how amazing it felt to zone out while the pencil or pen or crayon glided across the page and left multi-circles or wads of illegible marks?

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I'm still a fan. And even though I seldom make illegible marks--on purpose at least--I love the sensation of scribbling out sketches without really thinking.

 

I'd realized that I'm not always in the mood to think while sketching, but I'm too antsy to sit around with my family--just talking or watching TV--without drawing. So I grabbed this little, lined notebook and a pen, just for the purpose of mindlessly scribble-drawing. 

The only rule for myself: Use ballpoint pen only. 

It's been an interesting experiment. Here's what I've discovered:

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 1. My scribbles got better (well, at least more like my other sketchbook drawings) even without trying. Here's the first page, looking suspiciously similar to the drawings I did way back in middle school.

 

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2. As I messed with it more, my scribbles looked a bit less mindless, but they still were.

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3. I started reaching for the scribble-book more often than the sketchbook. Probably because I was enjoying the lack of pressure to make "good" sketches.

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That's really the point of any sketchbook, but somehow limiting myself to un-erasable pen on lined paper just added more freedom.

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4. I found myself developing ideas for finished works without having that goal in mind.

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 And, just like the "thinking" sketchbooks, the images that developed are sometimes getting used for finished artworks...

 

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 ...like this detail of a work-in-progress.

 

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So stop thinking a bit and scribble--it's been a great and fun thing for me, and I highly recommend it.

Thanks for the visit!

 

 

 

Talking to Myself

A page from one of my sketchbooks.

Sketches--mine (yes I look 'em over often) and those of others--fascinate me. My favorite shows at art museums are the ones that exhibit sketches. Unfortunately, not many of those happen in Denver, so while I don't get to see sketches in person, the internet provides plenty of peeks and inspiration. The variety is amazing, and the use of sketchbooks has changed quite a bit recently, as they seem to be morphing into something more finished in look--art pieces in their own right.

Not mine though. My sketchbooks are still random and thoughtless--meaning I don't think about them as finished artworks to be viewed. I use my books and my sketching as exploration of technique, as problem solving, as practice, or as a repository for the imagery that needs releasing from my head.

 

And I use them for preliminaries.

Yes that internet is great--much of the time. It provides inspiration, but also tremendous opportunities for self-doubt/comparisons. 

I admit it, I look at some of the sketchbook pages of artists and I become troubled by the roughness and absence (of what--finish, class, artistry, pure magnetism?) in my own. Ugh.

 

So part of my life as an artist entails talking to myself. Being reasonable about what I do instead of engaging in the pointless--yet somehow seductive--act of comparison.

 

The most effective words to myself?  "Get to work!"

 

So I will. 

Thanks for reading!