Sketchbook 2021 (so far)

i always keep a sketchbook, though I may go days without writing or drawing in it. I’ve come to embrace the idea of sketchbook as artifact that must be viewed in its entirety: I’m not trying to string together a narrative or anything, but I want it to be somewhat cohesive. This method takes a little pressure off of each page or spread, and rarely does one come off as something I would consider a serious, complete piece of work. Sure, my sketchbook is a place to record thoughts and work out ideas, but it bothers me when a page seems incomplete or unappealing, so I rework them to my visual satisfaction. Sometimes I just doodle and let it become whatever it wants to be, but lately I’ve been more into pursuing an idea to various ends, such as these double/Siamese twin-type creatures. Ideally, some of these ideas will become prints or paintings.

Closing out this Sketchbook

After more time than I care to admit, I am finally calling this sketchbook done. Here are some of the last pages I finished.

mobius strips

These are a fun exercise, I think I may teach them to my third grade students this year. Sometimes after I make one I trace its path and realize it is not a true mobius strip.

recent sketchbook pages

Here are a few recent additions to my sketchbook. I suppose if I was smart I would do these works on paper that could be framed and perhaps sold; instead they become part of this book which, to me, is an invaluable artifact, but at least I can share it digitally.

sketchbook pages 2018

Here are most of the pages from my sketchbook this last year. It was actually started in 2016 but most pages have been altered or added to in some way. It does not seem like a lot to show for a whole year (and there are still many empty pages!) , but I am dedicated to the idea of sketchbook as art piece or artifact, and increasingly I care more about completion than recording ideas. Therefore, there is no rush. Content over quantity. Although that puts a lot of pressure on the content, and admittedly it is not all excellent content. But I digress. Hopefully you find something you like to look at.

Mt St Helens

Mt St Helens

On the 35th anniversary of the eruption of Mount St. Helens, I drew this in my sketchbook.  On the day of the eruption, I was playing with my brother in the backyard when the sky darkened.  In the coming days, we had to wear masks when we walked to school.  There is still a lot of ash in the soil around the house where I grew up, In Cheney, Washington.

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Celtic Tree

I drew this Celtic tree for my friend Claire awhile back.  In a way, it was one of the more challenging drawings I've done because it had to be intricate yet mostly symmetrical.

Kraken and Submarine

My friends in the band YOU.MAY.DIE.IN.THE.DESERT asked me to design a t shirt for them last summer.  They had two awesome ideas: a guy parachuting out of a submarine with a jellyfish parachute, and a kraken reaching up out of the ocean grabbing a UFO.  They ended up using the submarine, and I ended up making a linocut of the kraken.  As soon as I get the commerce part of this website going, you can buy a kraken print if you'd like.

Hand-lettered this sign for my school's speech pathologist, who is retiring.​

moth linocut

Carve that sucker. 

Ink that sucker.​

Newsprint proof

Several proofs

Newsprint proof mounted on construction paper