Sketchbook …
I was never very interested in working in sketchbooks, I thought they were only useful when working figuratively, for drawing, defining compositions of “real things” in nature, still life, figures, etc… Because my work is primarily abstract, spontaneous, in the moment… I could never reproduce in large what I made in small format in a sketchbook. I used sketchbooks more to write down techniques, ideas etc, but not to lay out the foundation of a painting.
Recently I took a course with Nancy Hillis, an American psychiatrist and artist for over 20 years who, through her work, learned that the secret to creating expressively alive paintings is by trusting yourself. She encourages her students to make a lot of starts, to work in a sketchbook (also called a journal), to just create, experiment and trust yourself. That way you can create alive, meaningful art.
I took this at heart and although I already experimented a lot in my work, it was always with the end result in mind… It had to be good!
Now, after these classes, I feel more free, I experiment even more, I use sketchbooks to jot down color schemes, to create little pieces with leftovers from my paint session… I try to trust myself and go ahead without the result in mind during that process.
Here are examples of some of my journal pages…
