I've been reticent of this idea because I remember a long while ago when sketchbooks or "Art of books..." were for those who earned it, whose life was worth documenting.
Then there's the sheer logistics of going through all these books. I need to catalog them anyway so they make sense to somebody (wife) if I keel over and die. Artists, I suspect, don't think about how their loved ones deal with the volume of a life's work. It's a difficult burden to pass on. It behooves us to offer some guidance in this matter.
Anyway...as I was saying.
The thing about sketchbooks is they are just that- a document of an artist's life. Their visual diary. I guess that's why I shouldn't be surprised when I see sketchbooks from artists and they really don't look like sketchbooks. They're usually filled with half-finished drawings. One per page. Many are filled with finished drawings and renderings OR "convention sketches" of equal levels of finish. They're certainly nice enough but still isn't the same thing as a real sketchbook. It's like they don't want to be seen or they're determined to save face and put out only "sale-able" work. In all honesty though...most people prefer sketches. It's the closest connection to an artist's conscience, their child-self when there were no boundaries.
I don't understand the law around printing and selling a book of one's "sketches" when in fact they're actually filled with other people's characters. Most, obviously put the owner's copyright in there but I would imagine if someone wanted to crack down they could go to all these shows with a cease and desist order. I'm hoping to avoid using other people's characters. We'll see.
That still doesn't solve my problem. I have to find a sketchbook in there somewhere that is honest, ugly and hopefully pleasing at the same time. Not sure if I should go about it thematically like: Monsters, Sci-fi, or From Life. Or just throw a mish-mash of themes together.
Then there's the concern about printing...yeesh.
=s=
0 comments:
Post a Comment