Woo hoo! I am finally finished my Sketchbook Project 2013, and it (along with my kids’ sketchbooks) will be mailed off today, just one day ahead of deadline. Here are the rest of my pages, along with my favorite pages from the kids’ books! To see the rest of my sketchbook, click here or here!
For other Sketchbook Project posts, click here.
The end is so close! I am almost done, and I would love to finish this before Christmas so I don’t even have to think about it in January! The Sketchbook Project is now a more flexible thing to join – you can sign up at anytime, and take your time finishing your book. The deadline only comes in if you sign up for a tour. It must be an easier way for them to organize it, but I have to admit, the grandiose-project feeling is a bit lost now for me. I haven’t decided if I will continue with it, yet. Are you more inclined to try it, now that the pressure is off? I guess I work better with a little bit of pressure!
Here are the next 5 spreads in my book!
Our trip to NYC this year included a stop at the Brooklyn Art Library, just like last year. We wanted to give our sketchbooks some love and check out a few new ones, too.
We looked at some incredible books. First, we checked out books by my pen-pal friend, Jeannine Saylor. Her books have a sweet straight-forward style to them- they are lovely to look at.
Then we looked at a book by an illustrator named Gina Perry. She has such tiny detail in her work – it was so much fun to look at.
My favorite book there was by Lauren Schroer, from Chicago, IL. She used the theme “Sandwich”. I loved poring over that book!!
We also loved this book with cute monsters by Marie O’Riordan, from Toronto, Ontario. 
Finally, one of my favorite pages of the day, by Berry Villegas, from Orlando, FL:
Three of my Sketchbook Project books have been digitized! You can see them here:
Sketchbook Project 2011
Sketchbook Project 2012
Sketchbook Project Limited Edition
We are going to visit the sketchbooks at the Brooklyn Art Library again this year. Looking forward to it! I have a list of sketchbooks to check out, and I will take out my own to give them some lovin’ (and make sure the pages aren’t sticking together!).
I’m busy finishing the second half of my Sketchbook Project 2013, which isn’t due until January. Here’s what I have so far:
Ever since my daughters were little, I would try to picture what our lives would be like sometime down the road, at different ages and stages. This is pretty much impossible to do, though, isn’t it? What do we have to go on other than our children’s temperaments, and what other people tell us it will be like? I have noticed that I focus more on the latter, and I think this is a misguided way of anticipating the future. It’s even possible that by assuming my experience will be like what I have seen other people go through (or worse, on t.v. or movies), I may duplicate that experience. Does that make sense? For example, it’s widely assumed that teenagers are a royal pain in the ass – that it is just a stage parents hope to get through. We expect that it will be difficult because we have seen countless examples of it in entertainment, and we are just led to believe it. If we expect this, isn’t it more likely to be our experience of our own children? Why not enter the stage (and all stages) with an open mind, or even expecting that it will be a breeze? Is this just naive?
It’s just like the “terrible twos”; I expected that stage to be difficult, because many people said it would be (and it’s kind of implied by “terrible”). But really, once I understood that children at this stage have tantrums for a good reason (tired, hungry, getting sick), it was probably easier to get through them and enjoy the amazing things about that stage. Or maybe I am just blissfully forgetful because my kids are older now. In any case, my goal is to enjoy my children at all stages. They are growing so quickly, it’s blowing my mind. I still have my old diaries from my teen years, just in case I need some perspective!
The next spread in my Sketchbook Project, Limited Edition. I really like the chains, and I totally meant to do more in this book, but it just didn’t happen. As for the doodling comment, I was definitely fighting my gremlin that day. I would really like to develop some new doodling patterns, designs, techniques, etc. I guess the only way for that to happen is to keep drawing and hope that some pop out.
Two more sleeps until I leave for the Makerie! I can’t wait. I will be posting about it when I return!
The deadline for the Sketchbook Project Limited Edition is fast approaching, and I need to get drawing! I’m almost half finished, but I just started scanning the images. I really need to get to work on this one! Anyway, here’s the intro page!
Just got word that my Sketchbook Project 2012 is digitized! You can see the whole thing right here! Check out my book from last year, too!
I’m really interested in the projects the Arthouse Co-op has going on right now. I may have to sign up for them, even though I’m not sure where to fit them in! One is the 4×6 exchange, which is a global art swap, and it’s free! The other is a self-portrait project. Love, love, LOVE self-portraits (making and viewing), so I am definitely in for that one!
Sketchbook Project 2012 - Cover
The deadline has come and gone, and my Sketchbook Project 2012 (as well as those belonging to my three kids) has arrived safely at the Brooklyn Art Library. [OK, all you grammar-police… would you have said “has arrived” or “have arrived” in that last sentence? Oh, that bugs me that I don’t know!] I am patiently looking forward to the digitized version of my sketchbook (I’ll let you know when that happens), and looking forward to visiting it (along with my 2011 book, again) in October!
We had a lot of fun working on this project together. I love seeing what the kids come up with! Here’s a little sampling from O’s and C’s books (I already blogged about Z’s book! Have to keep it fair!!
Here are some of my favourite spreads from my book:
On to the Sketchbook Project: Limited Edition. I’m almost half way through the book! Yay! There are less than 300 books left if you want to join!
Drawn From the Fire 