I believe keeping a sketchbook with me at all times is of
great value. I keep one in my car, one
at my desk, and one near my bed so that at any time of the day when inspiration
strikes I am near a source to record it.
They say Thomas Edison thought up some of his best ideas in that
uninhibited state right between sleep and waking. He would nap holding a large metal ball so that
just as he fell into sleep, he would drop the ball, wake and immediately record
the ideas he had been subliminally thinking before he fell asleep. Some of my best ideas come to me in images
right before I’m sleeping.
As a first born, I am a consummate list maker. I have made lists for everything, from
groceries to 10-year future goals.
Keeping an art journal is sort of a marriage between the lists and
sketchbook. It only makes sense to record
the journey of my projects and beyond. I
feel sure that it would hold great value as a source of inspiration and
motivation for the future, if not memorabilia.
I often go back through my lists and prayer journals to find things 5 to
10 years ago that I thought were catastrophic events, which now only seem minor
annoyances. Looking back, it seems, also
adds perspective.
Years ago (22 years I think) when my father died, he
requested to have his ashes scattered in the mountains that he loved, and often
hunted in. He died in December and when
we took his ashes up there in July there was still snow on the ground. I took my sketchbook with me and recorded
weeds and flowers I found there, drawing them on one side of my journal and
gluing the actual plant onto the other side.
It was a whim that made me do it but even now that sketchbook with its
brittle specimens is of great value to me. I often look back on it and remember the
beautiful place he is now. I have also
used the drawings of the plants and flowers in paintings from time to time, so
it has double use.
Keep a sketch journal as an artistic exercise and sketch
often. It is a very valuable exercise
and habit to get into.
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