The other day, as I sat on my back porch and designed a few comps for client it occurred to me that I had a process! I had never thought of my creativity following any certain channels because of the nature of inspiration. While that process is somewhat varied and inherently chaotic, I think that I will strive to capture what I do and how I do it. I will start with one of my favorite tools.

The Sketchbook.

When I mention sketchbooks, the voices in my head immediately conjure up images of college freshmen sitting on the quad either furiously scribbling in a large pulpy tome or snoozing over a blank page in a bound book of some sort, firmly ensconced in an array of conte crayons and colored pencils. In most cases they have something in common:

• They are encumbered; It’s Inconvenient to Carry  A Sketchbook
• They lack meaningful inspiration and are frustrated
• They will probably give up the practice of sketching some day

Scribbles from my noggin

They are doing something worthwhile and the sketchbook is vitally important to what illustrators do. Why is it so often abandoned in a world of bezier curves and graphics tablets?

Just as writers write, Illustrators draw. We always need to be doing it… it feeds our creativity and helps us stay awake in church. But the barriers to convenient illustration are many.

It’s Inconvenient to Carry  A Sketchbook:

The first barrier is the Tome of Sketchy Inconvenience. You might be well acquainted with its immense spiral-bound girth or its dual purpose as a parasail. It’s too big! I have found much success with smaller sizes of sketch books in fact, the smaller the better (I have yet to test this past the six inch Moleskine I own… ). I find myself pulling out the smallest book I have to record daily events and sketch ideas for logos. I also just draw random junk that floats up on the shore of the turbid pool of my mind.

The smaller size allows me to bring the book anywhere. I also adore using mundane writing instruments such as ballpoint pens, sharpies, crayons etc. in the book. These media make my life easier because I don’t relish the idea of carrying a boatload of conte crayons and a spray can of fixative around in a satchel. Call it creative expectation reduction and rationalization.

They lack Inspiration:

Another barrier to constant illustrative practice is the notion that whatever we draw in our books is not good enough… it is a matter of inspiration. The freedom to scribble and scrawl what we want is somehow inhibited by our audience.

But who is our audience? I submit that it is only ourselves. In this realization we are one step closer to being able to create whatever the heck we want!

I also employ another method that will certainly freak out the classic book lovers out there… I once heard that, in a creative rut, an illustrator I respect would draw on paper that was already printed upon. Not willing to be outdone, I got a copy of a really old book with a low reputation (subjective, I know) and I began drawing all over the pages.  A scribble here, a doodle there – I would cut certain pages creatively and draw inspiration from a word or two… To this day I find it a truly freeing experience and have filled two REALLY lousy books with art that I truly love.

They will probably give up sketching some day:

The practice of carrying and using a sketchbook on a regular basis is cumbersome and “weirds out” the natives. It’s tough to be taken seriously when you whip out a goofy book full of coloring in a networking meeting or start scribbling in a tome during a client meeting. There has to some practical reason to maintain this vital and misunderstood practice.

Keepsake Shmeepsake

ThoughI am a creative creature, I never wanted to seem wimpy or whimsical. I never wanted to look longingly at my bookshelf and see row after row of old books into which I poured my teenage angst, my collegiate optimism and my mid-life depression. I needed a real reason to hold on to my old art. I believe I have found it. I keep notes from client meetings and write down mileages in my sketchbooks. I make important notes and jot down lists for shopping.

One of my illustrations...

After I fill the darn things to the brim with frivolous creation and mundane recollections as well as inspired artwork, I write the date on the spine and ram them into the book case. That way, if I ever get called into court or lose my ever-loving mind, I can recall things that happened long ago! This frees up hard drive space for more important things like recalling lines to old movies and remembering the lyrics to every 90′s song ever written.

Also, I like to cut (or rip) out interesting things that I see in advertisements and paste them into my books. This makes for a great repository of inspiration for later. I look back (not whimsically mind you) at all of the things that struck my fancy and find more ideas.

The sketchbook is one of my most important tools in my toolbox of illustration. Do you agree with me? Do you violently disagree? Do you want to tar and feather me for writing in mediocre works of fiction? I welcome your feedback.