Maybe I’m just picky, but I’m very particular about what kind of paper I draw/paint/write on, and lately your run of the mill store-bought sketchbook just hasn’t been doing it for me. For the past few years whenever I’ve found myself at the end of a sketchbook I’ve gotten into the practice of buying a new one, ripping out the book block, and re-filling it with my own hand-stitched book block made of a nice, slightly heavier paper.
Is this a lot of work? Yes. But is it worth it? Definitely! I wind up with a lovely sketchbook that I know I will willingly open often, because it’s a pleasure to work with. The paper I use is Strathmore Windpower Drawing paper (sold in large orange spiral-bound pads), and it accepts a vast array of media nicely, from graphite to charcoal to watercolor to acrylics. An important side-effect to crafting my own sketchbook is that the hand-stitched book block lays open and flat, allowing me to work across the pages with ease. And as an extra bonus, I can add my own little flourishes to the construction of it, like a pretty satin bookmark and decorative endpapers.
Recently I also found Louise Stanley’s rules for keeping a sketchbook:
Uni: Never, ever tear out a page unless you sell it, in which case you can replace it with a copy.
Due: Start on the third page to get your courage up.
Tre: Go back to the first page and do a self portrait when you’ve got the nerve.
Quattro: Strap your journal to your body. Don’t leave home without it.
Cinque: A little gold leaf and color peps up a page.
Sei: Always carry a pencil. Many museums won’t let you use ink.
Stanley is a sketchbook artist, and although most of her rules are ones that I have always followed, she is the first one I have seen put them in writing. Rule number three is the only one that I haven’t ever done with regularity, but this time I’m starting my journal out right (and it’s easy to get up the nerve to tackle the first page of a sketchbook when you’ve just ripped apart and re-sewn the whole thing):
Happy sketching!
Here are three recent pieces that I did for Appleseeds Magazine – an educational children’s magazine focusing on history.
Delilah
Harriet Tubman
The Moon Sisters
The concept was “Spies in Skirts,” and the article focused on female spies throughout history, specifically telling the stories of Delilah (à la Samson and Delilah), Harriet Tubman, and the Moon sisters (a pair of confederate spies during the Civil War). You can find these paintings in the current issue.
Here’s a quick little experimental painting I did the other night to keep my brush hand working… and to break in my brand new size 3 W&N Series 7 brush (wheee)!
The subject is Zoe Keating, a marvelous and inventive cellist who I have been wanting to paint a portrait of for quite some time. She released a new album recently, which Dara and I have been enjoying often over the summer. Give her music a listen sometime – it’s a treat for the ears and is wonderfully sublime.
Earlier this week my boyfriend and I had the opportunity to spend a couple of days in Yosemite, a veritable cathedral of nature. True vacations, with an absence of technology and worldly connection, are rare for us, and the whole experience was a real treat.
Our stay there may have been brief (one evening, one full day, and one half day; far too short!!!), but I got the chance to do a little painting to break in my new sketchbook in between hiking trips. This is part of the mountain that makes up the gorgeous Half Dome (this is a bit of the south side, I think?), as viewed from Mirror Lake (which, it should be noted, is actually mostly a meadow in the summer – much to the surprise of my bathing-suit-clad and towel-toting boyfriend and I).
Please click image to view larger version
A few months ago I was contacted by The Saturday Evening Post to create an illustration to accompany a J.D. Salinger story set to run in their July/August 2010 issue. Seeing that e-mail in my inbox was a real thrill, let me tell you, and I couldn’t wait to get started! And I confess, though I consider myself a well read person I had never read any of J.D. Salinger’s works before the beginning of this assignment (I know! Bad, Ashley!).
The chosen short story, “A Boy in France,” was written during Salinger’s time in army service during World War II, and was originally published by The Post in 1945. From its tone and realism the story made it clear that Salinger was writing about experiences and feelings of a war that he knew intimately, not from the distance of American soil. I wanted to capture this feeling in the final illustration, and to really hi-light the difference between the nostalgic glow of home and the dark reality of life in a WWII foxhole.
Working with the art director at The Post was wonderful, and when I presented her with my three sketches she chose one that we were both excited about. From there it was a straight shot to the finish, and then many weeks of excited waiting for it to be published before I could share the final. And then a couple of weeks ago, this arrived in the mail:
With lovely cover done by Paul Rogers
Hey! There it is!
So there you go – my first job with The Saturday Evening Post! I’m really pleased with the final painting, and thoroughly enjoyed working with everyone over at The Post. You can still find this issue on newsstands through August.
