spring sketchbook snaps

Last week consisted of a lot of spring cleaning, but it also yielded tons of much needed creativity. Because of this, my sketchbooks saw a lot of love. I’ve been trying to just doodle and sketch more, as I tend to over work a lot of drawings due to my obsession with detail and texture. Simplifying my illustrations has been fun. Although of course, I can’t stay away from meticulously drawing animals, and so a few more excessive renderings have started to emerge. Some new pieces in my ongoing collaborative sketchbooks with Anika Starmer, Patterns & Paws, have started to come together. Stoked to finally have a bit of time to devote to these beauties so I can mail them back to Maryland soon. What have you been drawing in your sketchbook?

animal myths

I’m still awaiting confirmation that my sketchbook project for 2013 has arrived safe and sound at the Brooklyn Art House Library, but I’m hopeful it will make it. I refuse to have another disappear in the post after the 2011 debacle. I hinted at what my project would consist of here; my Art House book was themed “Creatures” and upon its arrival last fall, I was reading a book by Warner Shedd called “Owls Aren’t Wise & Bats Aren’t Blind.” Although a naturalist, Shedd writes a very conversational book, proving wrong many of the fallacies society has created about the animal kingdom. Some of these myths I also had long believed to be true; even an avid animal lover like me was still duped by common misinformation! Naturally this newly acquired knowledge had stuck with me, and it was impossible not to translate some of it to artwork. My sketchbook, titled Animal Myths, is a collection of black and white illustrations that feature some of the favorite fallacies I came across in this fantastic read written by Shedd. I hope you are both surprised by the information, and delighted by the illustrations. I used the original sketchbook pages and a black fine liner pen for the drawings. Covers were hand cut and bound with a grey suede leather. And finally, a video of my sketchbook being read. (music by Grimes). Videos of my previous sketchbooks can be seen here and here.  Want to see more of my Art House Co-op submissions?! SBP 2012 here,  SBP Limited Edition here, and a zine of my SBP 2011 here.  If you are lucky enough to visit one of the official exhibitions on tour soon, do take a picture of you holding my book in your pretty little paws. I’m thinking these new illustrations may be spawned into a zine like my other books, or perhaps even a new screenprint series? Please let me know your thoughts about Animal Myths; your feedback and comments mean a lot!

looking back, stepping forward

I had two art-related “resolutions” for 2012… One of them I did alright at: One Line a Day Diary (1), apart from a few missing weeks, I was better at recording my everyday events than most years! My other resolution, I wasn’t so great at: Sketchbooking. Looking back, 2012 was insanely busy! By the time I had completed my 2012 Sketchbook for Art House (2) at the end of January, I was onto my Limited Edition Sketchbook (3). There was the wonderful spring trip to Mexico (4), which was a great getaway but yielded few drawings. When we got back to Canada, I got busy re-designed my etsy shop, then my parents moved into their cabin, and Spring came to a close when John and I did our big move to the Kootenays (5). I dabbled a little bit in my sketchbook come summer (while things seemed a bit more calm) and had my highest number of daily blog views about some of my doodles (6). But as always, time quickly melted away while setting up the studio (7), programming a new blog layout,  spending quality time with new friends (8), and doing festivals like Tour of the Arts! Come fall, I landed a new part-time job that was 20 hours a week and suddenly winter was fast approaching and I got busy on holiday designs. In the blink of an eye November arrived and craft season was upon me, which consisted of 7 pop up markets including Make It (9) and Nelson Prestige (10), plus 2 gallery exhibitions! It wasn’t until mid-December that those were done, and by then I was cleaning house, doing laundry and packing clothes for Christmas at the cabin(11)… It makes sense that I didn’t find much time for my sketchbook. For 2013, I’m going to make another run at my resolutions, and I’ve already had a head start on some sketchbooking. Tomorrow I will share a few of my new pages, some fun techniques you can try, and link to a few bloggers who are always inspiring with their little sketchbooks. Got any resolutions that you could afford to take another run at in 2013? You can do it: the second try is always easier.