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| "Our Sunday-Go-to-Meeting Best" 2015 digital |
I am obsessed with sketchbooks. I would say that through the years they have been utilized more than any other media. Many are dog-eared and have pages pulled away from the spine...some are 20 years old, but for the most part...most of them are in pretty decent archival condition. I have held onto them tightly, but I have also bartered, sold, or given a few away (much to my chagrin at this point in my life). I guess I can be thought of as a sketchbook hoarder; but occasionally these page-bound galleries have served me well in further creative endeavors.
For instance, this image embedded within this blog illustrates that point quite well. Every image you see has been distilled from various sketchbook images. Even the sand and grass are copied and pasted from scanned pages. Although not every page has been scanned from the books, I have created a substantial repository of many images.
Occasionally, I will peruse the folders in search of creative titillation and inspiration to create a new composition. Stories naturally develop as you introduce characters into a setting. Composition (aka...the "feng shui" of the page) acts as a catalyst to bind the elements together...a Surrealist's lynchpin mechanism to bind unrelated elements together into a cognitive narrative soup.
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| "Thumbs" original sketch (ink & marker) |
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| "Chapel" original sketch (ink & marker) |
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| "HooDoo" original sketch (ink & marker) |
Of course I must add digital coloring to the mix to further enhance and blend the components into more of a cohesive spatial property. During this process, alterations are constantly in flux...scale and tone also has to be considered since I want some pieces to have a more dominant inflection, and letting others flow towards the sublime.
The general idea is to let the eye roam around as if in a gallery. A one-piece must communicate it's message through incremental beats and pauses (alternating between dominance and submission) embedded within the overall composition. The goal is not to impede the optical ebb and flow created by your aesthetic stream.
