Seeing with Sketchbooks
Time capsules & Useful tools
I’ve been keeping a sketchbook for most of my life. Usually no bigger than A6 or A5, I see them as precious journals as well as useful drawing tools which help unlock thoughts and ideas.
The way I use my sketchbooks has changed dramatically over the years. I used to be very precious over each page. I wanted them to be read as a whole and perfect portfolio or narrative. In fact I once submitted a sketchbook as a ‘3D object’ at college during my National Diploma. I somehow got away with this (thanks Strode College!).
Today I use them very differently. They are more like note books now, which contain drawings from life, galleries and plans for paintings. I carry one with me always.
For me, the artist sketchbook is a key into the mind of the artist. Particularly painters like Frida Kahlo and Hilma Af Klint who used their sketchbooks as scribbling tools for thoughts, dreams and plans for the future. It is a glimpse into their private world, unintended for anyone else.
Famous artists such as Vincent Van Gogh, William Turner, Eugene Delacroix, Paul Cezanne and Paul Gauguin all used sketchbooks throughout their careers. They were mainly used as tools for repotage, which were then used as reference for paintings later on.
One of my favourite paintings in The National Gallery is ‘Peasant Girls Bathing in the Sea at Dusk’ by Edgar Degas. I read that multiple sketchbook studies were made for this painting on the coast of Normandy in summer 1869, and this strange unfinished, heavily reworked painting combines various elements from those earlier studies. Experts suggest that it was most likely executed several years after the studies were made, back in the artist’s studio in Paris.
Another painting you can find in The National Gallery is Van Gogh’s famous ‘Sunflowers’ from 1888. Amazingly, the study for this painting still remains within one of Van Gogh’s scrappy sketchbooks from the period.
It’s just a scribble on a page - a quick and confident yet unassuming drawing and a far cry away from the final outcome, which is a bold and bright masterful expression, full of character and exquisite skill.
For me, these sketchbook drawings feel far more significant than the final outcome. They represent the potentiality of an idea and remind us that some of the greatest and artistic cultural shifts can come down to a doodle.
There’s a really good investigation into this phenomenon on Malcom Gladwell’s podcast ‘Revisionist History’ - I recommend! In the episode “Hallelujah” Gladwell discusses the role that time and iteration play in the production of genius, and how some of the most memorable works of art had modest and undistinguished births. Listen here
A BAG FULL OF SKETCHBOOKS IN SCARBOROUGH
When I was about twelve, I was visiting my aunty Gilly in Scarborough when she asked me if I’d like to see some of her old sketchbooks. (My aunty is an amazing artist and illustrator and I used to love nothing more than sitting at her desk, experimenting with her ink quills and watercolours - heaven).
Gilly brought down a gigantic bag full of sketchbooks from her attic, which must have spanned over 20 years or so. Gilly has the incredible talent of capturing a likeness in one go, with one line - like David Hockney. As I flicked through the pages, I found delicate life drawings, landscapes, doodles and studies of family and her old friends.
At one point I came across a drawing of my Dad (her brother) in his late 20’s. In the drawing he looks down, engaged at a drawing of his own. He wears a cosy looking jumper and has stubble and messy hair. The table is cluttered with books and pencils, an ash tray and a sharpener with a match box or a rubber possibly?
A photograph could have technically preserved the same scene but the drawing gives us more than the image alone. It gives us Gilly’s perspective - much more like a diary, but it also tells us that nobody was in a hurry that day. There was time for both of them to draw! It is also a log of Gilly’s drawing style at the time which has of course changed over the course of her life.
A page or two later is a drawing of my Mum in profile, captured so perfectly by Gilly that I recognised her immediately.
I think this was the moment I realised you can capture time within a sketchbook. Wether its a quick sketch of your sister in law or a longer study of your brother sleeping, they are all memories in drawn form. A time capsule.
I will be doing a talk on sketchbooks at the wonderful Eye to Pencil in Exmouth Market, in London on the 13th of October. Here I will look back at my own sketchbooks over the years and discuss how the humble sketchbook has been a faithful companion to various artists throughout history.
‘THE HUMBLE SKETCHBOOK’
With Molly Martin
TALK : Friday, 13 October, 2023
6.30-8pm
Location: Studio, 26 Exmouth Market, EC1 4QE
Spaces are limited : BOOK YOUR SEAT HERE
* THE FEEL OF THINGS / NOTES WITH EL *
Introducing my friend Ellie Demoney aka EL BRAS - the most brilliantly skilled lingerie designer and maker extroardinaire! El Bras offers the most gorgeous hand made undies made from up-cycled and reclaimed fabrics, all made in her South London studio in Woolwich.
I am so excited to say that I have recently designed the new logo for this beautiful business (soon to be revealed!) and we have an exciting collaboration in mind for the near future - stay tuned!
El writes wonderful things over at ‘Songs To Swim To’ - and her latest post ‘Sketchbook with Words’ actually discusses our newly found connection as artists - as we collaborate on various projects - via our back and forth voice noting! She explains our current musings very well …
It’s funny because voice notes are a bit like Marmite, you either do them or you don’t! Personally, I find them really useful for quick and easy messages to friends or clients but also helpful for complex and/or lengthy ideas or explanations. I feel like it’s easier to get the feel of what your saying across via the voice.
Anyway! More to come in this regard as El and I share points of interest that may come up during our current notes to one another between our studio work life.
ALSO El Bras has some amazing lingerie making workshops coming up this September! You can see dates and book online here x
With love, Molly x
I love looking at sketchbooks - I get really attached to mine as they have no much meaning to me