Lately I've been making little drawings about things that I see or do during my day. It is an extension of keeping notes on my day inspired by Lynda Barry. In her book Syllabus she writes about having her students record information about their days by drawing a grid and labeling each box with "did, saw, heard, drew," which I have been doing for maybe a year. My intention was to use that information to make comics, but guess what... 99 times out of 100 I did not do that. But I've kept up the practice and I enjoy it. One day recently I just drew four boxes and drew a thing that happened. And then I drew another thing and another. Sometimes I end up with an empty box. Sometimes I write in it, sometimes I doodle in it. This practice has the same effect that Lynda Barry's class diary does, which is that I pay attention to the things around me, and by drawing them I stay a little more connected with myself and the world around me.
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I made most of the sketches over the last few weeks at home, since I was stuck at home with bronchitis. The one on the right was made after a doctor's appointment, though. I've had so much hot tea over the last few weeks! I'm a total convert to herbal tea and especially lemon and ginger tea. In the sketch above I made myself two cups, one with a lid to keep it hot. The Nickel Boys is a good book - very clearly and concisely written and still very affecting. More things around the house, more hot tea. I drew small boxes in anticipation of small/quick sketches. That blue cup is the one with the lid from the sketch above. An artist gave it to me as a gift, probably 20 years ago, after I helped her with a show of her work. The sketch on the right was the view out of my window one day when the sun came out after days of rain and made everything look like it was glowing yellow. But the sky behind it was purple, indicating more rain to come. I surprised myself by doing this two-page spread of my tea setup. The small dish is for the tea bag - I find that if I leave the tea in the kitchen to steep it just stays there. And I happened to have this small tray that is the perfect size for this.
Usually I sketch when I'm out, but I enjoyed capturing these little moments. Do you sketch more in your house or outside of it? I've been sick with bronchitis for two solid weeks! I'm starting to feel better (FINGERS CROSSED), but I have some scanning to catch up on. This is the last thing I scanned before I got sick.
Here are a couple of different angles on this pair of buildings that I like to draw so much - officially the Clark Tower and the White Station Tower, unofficially My Devil's Tower and The One with the Hat. In the sketch on the right I was meeting with the other Memphis Urban Sketchers administrators, passing along all of the information I could to them as they take over for me. I'm now officially retired from Memphis Urban Sketchers! But I will continue to attend the sketch groups and so should you! |
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