Sketchbook

Something I love to see on blogs is artists' sketchbooks. It's fascinating to see how artists work, and the process that lead them to a finished piece. And there's just something I like about seeing work on the page, before it's been finished and polished and framed and made to look pretty and perfect. It's like a little sneak peak into someone's creative diary, and it gets my creative juices flowing and makes me want to fill the pages of my sketchbook with equally wonderful things!

Now, I certainly don't claim to be any sort of artist, but I thought I'd get in on the sketchbook action, share some pages of my own, and talk about the inspiration for them.

This literary fox came after I did an illustration class with the lovely Marianna Marx. In the class we experimented with using different kinds of paper to make our illustrations that little bit more eye-catching and interesting. 

I can't remember the exact inspiration for this, but I think it came after I was looking at some fine pen drawings by a few different artists. And moths. For some reason I really had an urge to draw moths. I was trying to create a bit of a sense of movement here. Not sure if it worked, but it was a lot of fun!

This triangular creation was directly inspired by a similar pattern on the inside cover of Beci Orpin's book Find and Keep, as well as the huge pile of coloured paper that I have hoarded over the years. If you ever find yourself short of inspiration, I would highly, highly recommend getting yourself a copy of this incredible book. Every page makes me want to make, create, craft, draw, sew, paint, the list goes on!

Are you a sketchbook kind of person? I would so love to see what you create, please do share!