Drawing in my sketchbook is one of the ways I remember to reflect on life. I was thinking about that during a recent conversation with a friend about books we’d enjoyed when we were kids. Our conversation inspired this sketch.
That conversation and the sketch above also inspired me to draw, as public monuments, two books I’m currently enjoying reading. I’m enjoying them so much that I’ve added them to my “books to cheer up by" booklist of mostly hopepunk genre books. https://bookshop.org/shop/clancy
So you see I’ve been thinking about how we use our minds, and what we read, like building blocks for constructing our world.
Toy blocks themselves have also been on my mind. My sketchbook play lately relates to one of my current projects; an 8 inch 3d cube. I’m making it look like an old fashioned wooden toy block but with a dog theme. It will be for an exhibit later this year at the Caplan Art Designs gallery. www.caplanartdesigns.com Here's one of several of my sketchbook pages that relate to this project.
Another current project that also originated in my sketchbook has become a drawing marathon challenge by NiL Tech drawing materials … here's a video of their challenge to me asking if I’d do a drawing inspired by an ordinary object! https://www.instagram.com/reel/Ciakd2aJoZB/?igshid=YmMyMTA2M2Y=
As you saw in the video I accepted the art challenge by NiL Tech and even hinted at the ordinary object I would use in my drawing! For my drawing challenge I’ll be using these art supplies http://shop.nil-tech.com/?ref=DmLN4hDZ If you know me at all you know I like easily portable art supplies - so this art supply company and I have formed a mutual admiration society!
It is fun to share how I get ideas and it's also fun to show step by step how I created a drawing. You can peek ahead and see something of the demonstration here https://sueclancy.com/portfolio/drawing-demos-by-clancy/ And yes, this is the portable art supply set I used…👇
Back to the topic of books; here's a poem I wrote and illustrated for Patch La Belle a playful poetry book I created for children. It too began life in my sketchbook where I used ordinary objects as inspiration for illustrated poetry. Anyway, books can give us space to reflect and books are one way we know we are loved. https://sueclancy.com/portfolio/patch-la-belle-by-clancy/
Hope your week is pleasantly full of time to reflect, fun books, good art supplies and the many building blocks of love.
I enjoyed today’s sketches very much. First drawing drew me in and I wondered for a long time, how did Sue come up this idea of a fish riding a bike. Loved the shape of bike too. Sketches of books are brilliant too. You newsletter is always so peaceful.
I love that whimsical drawing that starts off this post. My eye was immediately drawn to it. That last sketch so resonated with me. It fits my writing life to a T.