Making new memories while reflecting on old

For this month, I worked in Heather Rodocker's sketchbook. Her theme is "Childhood Memories". I love seeing the sketches before mine and how our lives can be so similar, even in our differences. 

It was challenging to settle on one. Should it be a happy, a sad, a weird memory? Which one is actually important to me enough to draw? For some reason, I keep coming back to the memory of playing Monopoly with my sister. The whole range of human emotion played out: joy, frustration, trust, taste of victory and defeat. Epic battles that would last days during the summer. The next summer, she moved to another state. 

I started with the Monopoly board and didn't know what to do next. My sister and I were skyping when she suggested changing the street names to places near the house. I looked up the address on google. How was it that my whole world existed within a few block radius of each other? What a different life my son is having!

Then, thinking of that house, our neighbors, and the massive fig tree in the backyard, I knew what to draw. My sister and I would push each other to go higher and higher, we were in charge of picking figs for my mom's jam. How normal a life we had.

I drew the house with marker, then finger-pained with acrylic paint. I figured finger-painting was the best way i could connect to the theme of "childhood memories" . 

Many years later, my sister moved back into that house with her own family. When i visit, board games are still time well spent with loved ones. 

One Day at a time (Louise E. Donaghey's Book)

The theme one day at a time was something that I was not so sure on how to approach. I wanted to have some timeline to be incorporated within the design and implement the printmaking examples I was using for the new course i was teaching. So I thought to add a tattoo of a personal timeline onto the self-portrait. I hope that I continue to exist beyond the 2034 date near my jugular vein, or perhaps it is an expiration date (Louise, check in with me on Wednesday, June 2034).. Stay tuned-

Erin's wisdom

Erin's sketchbook introduction resonated with me. She writes about "enjoying the process of creation, layering words + image, found + repurposed items" and that she "feel[s] nourished every time I make something adds joy to the word." Oh, to always give myself that permission to nourish self, and oh to be confident in the value of joyful contributions that appear to have no monetary or productivity rooted value.

I tried to heed her words and just play--and to play based on inspiration from the world around me. A friend in India sent a block print card (upper left), and from there I doodled my version of the web of flowers. Into AI it went, and the flowers were recolored over and over again. Those hours could have been spent in many more significant ways, but I don't think my heart would be quite as happy.

Shaun's "The Design of Life" Challenge

I have just finished up my latest drawing, "The Design of Life" for Lauren. I had played with sketching some trees earlier this month, and they seemed to sum up what it is to design for life, and they look great.

So I scoured the internet for some inspirational quotes, built those into my drawing and hey presto here it is. This month I was excited to use my new pigment pens which are more water resistant and don't fade as much over time. On top of that I bought 3 different thicknesses to allow me to get some variety in the lines that I use in my drawings.

Thank you to Lauren for the subject, here's a quick timelapse video of how the drawing came together.

My Escape

My Escape

Last Sunday:  90 Minute Massage, Solitude Shopping with Christmas Carols Careening in the Background, and a movie with popcorn and a fountain Coke Light.

Contrasts in Nature (Martha Began's Book)

The human hand and the hand of nature contrasting with one another.

Quilt "Life is Delicious" and Sweet Potato Recipe

Jeeyoung's theme is What "Life is Delicious" means to you. Thanks for this theme Jeeyoung, you motivated me to make a quilt for our new upstairs neighbors, who are having a baby in December. But...I also had to add this killer Sweet Potatoes with Crispy Walnut Recipe. I only make this dish ONCE a year, at Thanksgiving, it is so rich. I make enough so I can eat leftovers for at least a week! This dish makes life delicious too!

SWEET POTATOES WITH CRISPY WALNUTS Combine with mixer: 4 Tbsp. butter 2 eggs 1 tsp. vanilla ¼ cup (or less) sugar 3 cups cooked mashed yams or sweet potatoes (about 3) Put in greased 9X9 casserole pan Combine and sprinkle over yams: ½ cup brown sugar 1/3 cup flour 1 cup chopped walnuts (or pecans) Dot with MORE butter! Bake at 350 for 30 minutes. EVERY THANKSGIVING!

One month at a time in Louise's book

Louise's theme is One Day at a Time. I think a lot about calendars and seasons, and I make long lists and tables of what lies ahead. Living in Singapore, we mark time differently, and at least in my mind--more quickly. Perhaps my listing and plotting is all about putting on the brakes.

I've been whittling away for a few months on a little calendar as a gift for my mom, and as I doodle the months, I think on what lies ahead in 2015. Hopefully--oodles of slow possibility. I like the thought of blank days and empty months.

The devil is in the details - A Macro picture for Rosa

This month I had Rosa's book, which has the theme, "Macro". I love this theme, as I have a fascination with insects and macro photography. In the end I combined a short quote from Kurt Vonnegut with a picture of bee upon a leaf. 

The quote, "Enjoy the little things in life, one day you'll look back and realize they were the big things." resonates with me and makes me think about how I approach things both at school, in my career and personally.

Once again I made a short timelapse video of my sketch. I use the program iMotion, it is free and super simple to use, I would recommend using it if you haven't already.

Matthew's 'what's brewing' (Becky Green's Book)

This work is stemming from a printmaking course that I am teaching that relates to linoleum project of the expressive portrait while using the principle of design 'emphasis'.

I thought to use converging lines to focus direction towards the figure. This image sort of describes what is brewing with me currently in my life. The rings are cut-up images of maps from places that I have visited over time (experiences that I have attained). They are floating around my head and some of them are deposited into my thinking and transferred into my speech.

Although I don't necessarily feel that what I am saying is translating my thoughts so well, so I am spreading a rambling noise from my mouth. So I suppose what's brewing is a bunch of gibberish!

Zach's Unusual Daydreams

So I realize this isn't what the "normal" sketcher daydreams about, and it's not like I'm always a total geek, but if there's anything that I can get lost in thought with, it would be thinking about the physics behind everyday experiences.
I decided to use pen which I have never done before and I'm pretty happy with how it turned out.  It brought a much more dynamic feel to the picture and it forced me to just go for it and adapt as "mistakes" were made.  

Shadow Quilt

This is my attempt at creating shadows with my quilting, as "casting shadows" is Leanne's theme. One fun thing I enjoy about quilting (as I'm sure other artists discover in their own medium) is that your work never turns out quite like you think AND when you make mistakes, sometimes you learn something new or even improve your skills through your mistakes. There's also something I enjoy about making a mistake. After I get past being annoyed at myself, I often see if I can leave the mistake. Once I've decided to leave the mistake, I feel so free. What's that about? Do I live in an environment where I'm concerned about perfection? Mmmmmmm. I've made a little "shadow" error. For fun, see if you can find it! =) Thanks Leanne for the shadow challenge.

Becky's Drawing in Martha's Book

I do love the value of a sketchbook exchange. We get to dabble, we get to fail, we get to try, and we get to learn to be okay with that. Right? Maybe? Sort of? For this round, I modeled a willingness to embrace doodles that veer off course.

Originally, I had fantasies a black line drawing would turn into a coloring book page as an entry for Doodlers Anonymous, but in the end...oh, in the end I just let myself step away from the book.

Sherbet Animal Party...ack!

The theme was "Contrasts in Nature." (great theme, Martha!) My vision was unusual animals decorated in patterns from the natural world that contrast with their unique selves. The result was not what I'd envisioned, and so after first drawing in pencil and then partially inking...I ran out of steam and found myself watching Jimmy Fallon Youtube videos and taking lots of snack breaks. So, to bring it to a close, I quickly scanned the drawing and "painted" with Adobe Illustrator in hopes of a miraculous (unsuccessful) make-over. It seems to me that a walrus and his wild friends have invaded a pint of rainbow sherbet. Sighhhh....

Black Ink Drawing

Nobody Panic, I Already Did!

Despite my theme, I did panic!  I realised I was supposed to have handed this off yesterday. Never the less, it is done. I thought this was such a clever theme,  and I have had a couple of ideas but they just didn't seem to make the cut. So in my moment of panic I used a picture that I drew of myself last Halloween using Brushes 3 on my iPad. I cut it out, stuck it behind a window frame and that was that.  Looking forward to an easier theme next time around.

One Day at a Time...

A couple of years ago when I was going through a difficult time my doctor advised me to take "One Day at a Time". We've all heard these words but they become my mantra during the dark days that followed. I decided to use them as the theme for my sketchbook because I love to think of each day as a brand new beginning, or blank page, that we can create through the choices we make.

I chose to design my page on a calendar template. Yes...even my creative side likes to have a bit of structure. I loved cracking open my "Sharpies" and creating this first entry...and I'm looking forward to seeing everyone else's interpretations of the theme when my book is eventually back in my hands.

Shaun's Escape

I'm so excited to be involved in the SAS Sketchers group, I looked on last year and loved how it brought out so much creativity in people.

The theme for my sketchbook is, "My Escape". I chose this as drawing is one of the things that I love to do to escape the from a dull or stressful day. I really enjoy doodling, patterns, sketching and trying to improve my drawings. It relaxes me enormously, and get a buzz out of sharing what I draw.

Aside from the using the "pencil" to escape, I have also added in my family & friends, my bicycle, my camera and of all things, YouTube... it brings me so much joy.

Because I love YouTube and creative video making, I made a quick video of my creative process (some draft sketches) and a timelapse when I created the actual cover.

I can't wait to see what the sketchbook I receive has in store for me as we move them around today.

Whimsy in the Park

I'm learning from my colleague, Patrick Green, to #steallikeanartist. So for my first sketch on the theme whimsy, I did a google search for inspiration. There are beautiful graphic designs with whimsical trees and birds. Following the tree idea, I also saw a poster at the SG Botanic Gardens recently with trees made out of simple shapes. I'm always trying to learn something new when I create something for a sketchbook, so this was my lesson in Adobe Illustrator. YouTube helped me figure out how to make the tear drops and how to draw shapes you can color in. It was fun! I hope you enjoy my whimsical adventure.

What's Brewing in Becky's Book

I initially intended to design some homebrew labels for my sketchbook. As a family, we're embarking on a lot of "brewing", and I had visions of clever faux-beer names that reflect the idea-percolating (and good microbrew sipping) that takes place in our quiet evenings.

As I doodled, and as we mused as a family, I realized that a lot of our mental "brewing" comes from two things in our lives: An old, about-to-fall-down barn and our ties to a third generation pear orchard. As people that have lived away from the homestead for over a decade, it's hard for us to sort out what we'll someday do or where we'll someday land or how we'll raise our completely unrooted son. So, we dream and we scheme. The dreams get large and unwieldy--tentacles all over the place of what might happen.

Returning to the sketchbook,  I took two beer mats and turned them into doors. If you flip them over, there's some embarrassing scribbles in there of what might become of the Green ranch or the 100-year-old barn. Looming over it all is our octopus of too-many-thoughts...it's a beast that is as stressful as it is liberating...and maybe someday we'll figure out what it's pointing to.

PLAY IS SOUL FOOD

Howdie Sketchers,

Erin Caskey here with an intro to my sketchbook theme, "Play is Soul Food."





I am a big kid at heart.... and a bit of a mad scientist. I feel all learning (Science and Art), experiences (Common Culture), and individuals (Strangers and Friends) are connected. Here is what I've written on the inside cover of the sketchbook:










































Here is my drawing for my theme:

I used pens, pencils, markers, collage, white out, played a tic-tac-toe game with my son, and transcribed a word game we played this weekend. In addition to that, I felt that traveling, art making, cloud gazing, music and gives me opportunities enjoy the moment.

Thank you for giving me the opportunity to create some art!!

Erin

Heidi's Empty Nest

This is my own "literal" empty nest for my empty nest themed book. The description, "empty nest" has a sad, melancholy feeling attached to it, but, it isn't all bad, just an adjustment.  I started with the nest, zigzagging the frame, then using strips of black fleece cording cut along the stretch to raise the dimension of the nest, as a new dimension is emerging in my life. I left ends of the fleece cording out to represent twigs and loose ends, all good things that make up a sturdy nest. I spent a bit of time stitching the center of the nest round and round, maybe imagining where my energy should go next now that my girls are gone from the nest. Likewise, the blue stitching radiates from the center of the nest away, giving off energy, that is being captured by lots of new adventures. 

A new chapter. A new beginning.

Matthew Laurence/ Daydreams

Hello my name is Matthew and my theme for this sketchbook is 'DAYDREAMS'. The cover for this sketchbook is shown above. Over the summer I visited my father's place and in the guest room was this small antique crib toy that I photographed and wanted to incorporate into some type of artwork. I played around with Adobe Photoshop and separated the crib from the background and added a color gradient and downloaded a bird brush to add the winged creatures into the sky. Later, I printed the image out onto photographic paper and then applied several layers of tempera paint to the background and scratched away the surface to get that deteriorated look. Last, I added color markers to the work in addition to applying several layers of varnish to protect the surface.

This is my first image of the 'DAYDREAM' theme. It is a collage of work that started out as a teacher example for my printmaking class that is focusing on the principle of design, unity/harmony. This work uses the technique of the collagraph to which textures of objects are printed off of. the leaves taken from my apartment complex were used for the collagraph and a bit of photo collage from a magazine laying around completed the work. I will be using a number of my posted based off of a collage of media since it is something I find enjoyable and allows me to 'play'.

It's never too late to have a happy childhood- 

Superhero in Pink Boots: My Outlier

Charlie on his  throne at the farm: Margaret River, Australia, 2014

He was the only boy. 

Surrounded by four elementary-age girls, three moms, and two dads, Charlie held his own on our recent trip with great friends to Margaret River, Australia. 

We'd find him early in the morning practicing his swordplay with sticks, jumping into (or off of) piles of hay, chasing sheep, and helping out Uncle Vinnie who runs the place. In pink boots.

And the girls ended up constructing the fort, for the most part (Charlie added some finishing touches). It was the most intricate fort I'd ever seen -- the little engineers designed a fantasy land I wish I'd had as a part of the neighborhood gang in the '70s.

Entering the girls' fort: Margaret River, Australia, 2014

As a teacher, I'm always trying to look beyond gender stereotypes to encourage all my students: from the boy who loves to write poetry to the girl who wants to research war tactics (those are just two recent examples) and just see them as writers and lovers of literature. So when I came across my teaching partner Betsy's Outliers sketchbook, I knew I had to include my kids: my own children, of course, but also add a little thought of how I can transfer what Mayzie and Charlie teach me into the environment I make for my students.

So I want to dedicate this post to two people.

One, the fabulous Betsy Hall, who alongside me on the journey of our recent historical narrative poetry unit, allowed so much freedom of choice that our students could take poetry and see that it's one way we, as writers and thinkers, can zoom in on anything we want, even if it's seen as some teens as typically "feminine." 

If it was three voices exploring the brutal effects of post-traumatic stress disorder from the Vietnam War or a poem's speaker delving deep into what it was like for a child to sit, waiting for someone to find her in the rubble of the World Trade Center's overshadowed buildings, the gender lines were blurred as to who wrote it.

And two, it's for Charlie, who picked out the pink boots in the store. And the Batman shirt.

Not a Dog

What is in my backyard?  Not a dog.  Because so far, we haven't found the perfect one.

Super!

It took me a while to settle on something for Heidi's theme, "What's your mood."  It hit me this weekend as my three year old switched from his Superman costume to Batman and asked me to "ride Batpods" together in the parking lot.  And with that request, I went from whatever mood I was in to feeling super.  Up, Up and Away!

  

Amelie

What inspires me? My favorite films, and of course my family.

But I want to leave a bit of mystery, just like the fabulous Amelie Poulain (possibly my favorite character of all time) would.

So treat yourself and watch it. Or come over to my house and watch it with me. 

Then my sketch will make sense.

Then we might cry a little like you do when you watch French films.

Taking photo booth-type photos around Singapore was fun, too. All you need is your phone. No apps, either. Just a white wall and some happy participants.

I also recommend stalking your favorite movie poster fonts online. Seriously addictive.

What inspires me:

For Jonaca's Book-CrossRoads

This was actually my rough draft for Jonaca's book.  I was hoping to finish the second draft, but I had surgery instead.  My idea was to blend the crossroads to make a definite "pathway" through the Crossroads of My Life.  There is a path that can be followed by color, but you have to be looking at the second page of the entry.  Here's to your new Crossroad and adventure, Jonaca!

You are my sunshine, my only sunshine.

Meaningful song into art...turned into a meaningful quilt for my eldest daughter. I have kept shirts, dresses, favorite worn shorts, patches and ladybug backpacks from my 2 daughter's growing up years. I've carted a bin for each of them from Oregon to Tunisia to Singapore. Last December, I hauled my oldest daughter's bin to BC where my folks live. While I was there, I put together this kaleidoscope quilt for my artist daughter. I pondered on it for ages before starting, trying to imagine how to put together all these memories and colors into an attractively arranged quilt, but then the kaleidoscope idea hit me. I filled in extra spaces with rich velvets and trimmed the edge with black velvet. There are little pockets of shirts and shorts in the quilt that my parents (Alix's grandparents) stuffed little love notes in before we gave it to her. My mom machine quilted the top with her amazing abilities. One corner reads, "You are my sunshine..." as that was a favorite song Jim and I sang to her as she fell to sleep when she was a baby. My mom and I sewed all her nicknames into the quilt. There are even some favorite sock pieces in it. I LOVED doing this project and can't wait to have time to work on Abby's...maybe next year after she leaves for college- boo hoo.

What Inspires Patrick?

My sketch this round is an attempt to depict just how powerfully inspiring my wife is.

I tried to show this through having a plain old letter "P" morph into something more beautiful.  You can see that the B part of the letter is helping to make the "P" part more creative. The idea was that the art and creativity of B "decorates" my life and infects me and changes me and ultimately inspires me.

I tried my hand at the process my wife uses to make her cards.  I hand drew the B, then traced it in Adobe illustrator, then used "live paint" to apply the colors.