I spent several weeks clearing out my old art studio (the second bedroom in our apartment) and transforming it into a nursery. The before and after is quite striking, its actually a decent size room when its not filled like a storage container unit with large canvases and a hodge-podge of art supplies. I had to make some space saving decisions and focus on the art materials that I actually use on a regular basis. My entire studio now fits into a built in a secretary’s desk, original to the building design circa 1889. Though its small I am set up for all my collage, watercolor, digital, and (small) printmaking work.
Moving my studio also came with sifting through a LOT of paper, so many old sketchbooks or loose sketches, from classes, trips, just daily doodling. When sifting through old artwork it is harder to decide what is actually important to keep. I want to see how far I’ve come and some of those early watercolors are just horrible.
Some of those old drawings and paintings come with ideas that could be the start of a new story. I had completely forgotten about them until now. Here are a couple little short stories (or the start of stories) I made circa 2017-2019.
Looking back on this, I feel my painting skills have certainly improved, but so has my storytelling.
I’m thinking a lot about the start of stories recently. Practicing in a new space comes with it opportunities to start fresh in all sorts of artistic practices. I have been winding down on client work and working on my own projects, namely a couple children’s picture books I hope to have published. I’ve also been trying to sketch daily, usually just from observation on my back deck or at a coffee shop, nothing too complicated. For the last week however I have turned this daily sketching exercise into a “collage sketch”.
I started this practice based off of Wendy Mac’s Newsletter - Draw Together: Grown Up’s Table where she provides weekly drawing challenges. (If you are looking for a way to infuse a little creativity into your daily routine I highly recommend subscribing).
Wendy takes a different approach to collaging than I have developed so for the sake of trying something new I gave it a shot. I spent no more than 20 minutes on any of these pieces (MUCH less time than I normally would!). I cut out the first thing I had on hand and did not overthink the rest.
I’ve been focussing on refining my collage technique for so long that it can sometimes feel daunting to start a new collage project. Practicing this daily, quick “sketching” exercise has been very freeing and fun. After one week, I found that what I create is often very narrative - possibly the start of a new story.
This was such a sweet post! And loved seeing the old art and the new. I’m participating in Wendy’s drawing challenge too!