The Sketchbook Project.

Greetings, and thank you for taking the time to look at my art-making process. This post will give some insight into my sketchbook, which is currently at the Brooklyn Art Library anticipating a tour with The Sketchbook Project.

The Sketchbook Project is an endeavor that was the brain-child of an independent company in Brooklyn called Art House Co-op. They do a yearly tour of their sketchbooks, which come from over 100 countries and are created from over 12,000 artists. This year, they will be in Portland, OR on May 11-13. After their tour ends, the sketchbooks are archived in the Brooklyn Art Library.

The great thing is that you don't have to be an artist to be an "artist". Anyone can participate -- just send them $25 for the sketchbook and fees to participate, pick one of the provided themes, and then send it back with love and good effort by the deadline. More information on the Art House Co-op and the Sketchbook Project can be found here: http://www.arthousecoop.com/

I hadn't learned about the Sketchbook Project at all until last year, when I immediately sent in for my sketchbook to participate. This was back in October, 2011. I chose the theme to make my book about, only because it seemed the easiest for me in case I got "artist block". My theme was "I remember you". Ideally, I would have worked on my sketchbook gradually for the entire 4 months prior to the deadline on January 31, 2012. However, life gets in the way, and I didn't actually make a big dent in the book until the last week before it was due. By then, I had given up on actually trying to sketch the things i wanted to write about, and chose a few pictures I was willing to part with to slap in there instead. Hence, this year's sketchbook wasn't anything I dreamed it would be at all. It was a good process, though, and I plan on doing it again next year.

After a couple of beers and some scrap booking supplies, this is what my book turned out to be:

Not that I'm hung up on my memories, but some things just make you who you are. "I remember you" included the good and the bad. Also, my home used to include a huge Big Bird who sat in my highchair in the corner of my room when I was young. I am terrified of the color yellow to this day and never wish to decorate any part of my home with the color yellow. Ever.

Some of these pages were completely unintentional. Actually... some of the thoughts were random and  virtually meaningless in relation to the other pages.They only made it to the sketchbook because I had to fill space. That's how art goes sometimes, I guess.

My Great Grandpa was cooler than your Great Grandpa.

And finally, my first "grown up" job that allowed me to really think about who I am and what I'm doing.

Learning experiences everywhere. I rushed it off, satisfied or not, to the post office on January 31, 2012 at nearly 3pm. Just in time! $27.36 later ($25 to participate and $2.36 in shipping), it's complete and ready to travel. Next year, a less personal theme, I think. It was more of a pain than I thought to come up with interesting things to include -- honestly, who is going to want to look through all of this garbage?!