Tuesday 2 June 2015

SKETCHBOOK FURY, Part 1 - "Where the hell have you been?!"



'Frantic Sketching' would be more accurate, but 'sketchbook fury' sounds better. Hey! It's been a while. I always hated reading that on other people's blogs. "Been a while? I don't care what your excuse is, no excuses! You can find 5 minutes to draw!" And now I am that guy. So, you know... here are my excuses.

I started working at my old university's shop. We sell food, books, digital equipment and most excitedly for me, ART SUPPLES. It's pretty sweet. It's also exhausting. We're a small shop in a big uni. I'm on my feet all day, always moving around, lifting things or talking to students and staff. Plus, I gotta commute there for an hour. Then I commute an hour home, as is the nature of these things. I don't know who's reading this. Maybe you're an army lieutenant who spent 4 months sweating inside a dessert tank protecting a small village/oil pipeline, or a doctor in Africa who's been kidnapped by rebels threatening you with execution unless you cure their tyrannical leader's pox. 'Poor you.' say the lieutenant and doctor. 'Having to take a little train ride to your little shop.' Alright fine Captain Lieutenant and Professor Doctor, your jobs are harder than mine, but mine still leaves me exhausted. It's not my fault you forgot your tank keys or mistook the rebel insignia for the Baskin' Robbins logo and walked right up to them asking for a banana caramel, is it? No it's not.

Sure, having this job means I've got more money than I've had in a while. I can finally afford banana caramel. But for a while I wasn't producing any work. At first it was just a few days. Then a few weeks. And with a slow creeping horror I realised that unless I do something this could be how my life goes forever. So I bought a sketchbook.

I mean, that part wasn't difficult. Like I said. We sell art supplies. The problem was finding time and energy. See before, I had the entire day to draw. And oh how I used it. I used the whole luxurious day to perfect and obsess over every line to my heart's content. I'd draw on my computer, or piece of paper I could file away nicely into pre-designated folders. I can't do that now. I have limited time. Lunch breaks, tea breaks and evenings if I can muster the strength when I get home. I have to draw quick. I can't focus on details, I just have to produce a thing. I was even brave enough to use ink. It's actually been a good experience. This is how an artist is supposed to practice, and now I've been forced into it. The result? I have my first completed sketchbook.

It was a small thing, to start me off. Cheap. A few pages. And I drew purely for fun. I drew my characters. Some you know (that is of course The Infamous Five right at the top) and some you don't. I don't feel ready to show them. Perhaps you're not ready to see them. But like I said. I'm rather pressed for time. But not so pressed for time I can resist doing this in 3 parts. See you tomorrow!