1.1 What is your relationship with your sketchbook? 


Do you already keep a sketchbook? 

Yes. I work on separate sheets of paper, sketching on just a single sheet. I then stick these sheets within a book. 

I keep sketchbooks for my studies and then a sketchbook for my personal work. To date, these have remained very separate.  






Is it an extension of you? 

I feel my personal work is an extension of me. I draw what I feel inspired by, if I'm uninspired I find it really difficult to create. I think my very best drawings have happened when my mind and my heart engage. It's like something beyond the pencil and paper can happen. This is when I really feel the magic of creating.

My studies have been functional to date, and I don't believe very much of myself has been revealed within them. However I am really hoping this module will change that. 

Is it just a functional object that holds ideas? 

Not just functional no, although of course I do work through sketches until I feel I have got it right, so there is most definitely a function too it. Although with each drawing, I can see more too it than function. 

Are you scared of your sketchbook? 

No, as I work on loose sheets, there isn't a book as such to fear. Although I realise working like this, I discard the sheets I am unhappy with. So there are lost pages. I only stick in the sheets I like. Is this a false truth? 

Are you being too functional? 

Yes having realised I discard sheets I don't like, I think this does diminish the process. 

Are you being too emotional? 

I do feel my personal drawings are an extension to my emotions. However I do draw to get a subject right, therefore going through a number of drawings before 'right' appears - So there is function. 

Discarding sheets does make me wonder if I am being too precious about the process though. Why don't I include all of the sheets? Vanity I think. Fearing the mistakes perhaps. 

Do you need to become more attached to your sketchbook? 

Yes I do believe I should be. I don't carry a sketchbook all of the time. I only work at home. On location only if my studies require it. 

I would like to carry a sketchbook with me to capture people on the street. I often take photos and use the photos as reference once I get home. I would love to take quick sketches on the street. 

I have selected these quotes that most apply to me. Even though some contradict each other, I realise this is a complex situation and one I will gladly think about: 

Initially I was daunted but [I am] rapidly becoming more comfortable.

Katherine Robertson

It’s a sort of friend. It doesn’t judge... it teaches me things. I like it! 
Paul Butterworth

I struggle with it. I’m still trying to find a way to interact properly with it. 
Lynda

It helps me think.
Linda mayoux

Space to explore and set out ideas. 
Diana

I use my sketchbook as a regular (it should be daily) tool for thoughts and experiments. I keep it to help remember the ideas and have access to them later. 
David Howard

I take my sketchbooks to be a kind of personal thinking instrument, not in the sense of containing logical arguments, but as a way of playing around with, thoughts and images in my head. 
Wallace Fryer

I love it - it’s like a diary of the process / development that I’m going through. H M Stephenson
I love them dearly! 
Naomi Incledon

My sketchbook is a visual representation of me. They are a cumulative record of who I am, what I am thinking and how I am feeling. They explore issues that are relevant to me and I feel bereft if I know my sketchbook is about to be full and I haven’t had the time to make the next one. 
Emma Powell

They are becoming more precious and important for my creative development than before. Roger Sidney

I love being creative but find personal sketchbooks easier. I feel coursework sketches need to be more fluid and chronological and I know they will be judged which makes me hold back a bit and try and keep them neat. 
SJM

I am slowly learning to love them. 

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