Artist's Life |
The Drawing Beneath My Kayak Aquascape Journal: Notes, Sketches & Designs 53 pages USD $2.99 Among fifty pages of aquascape sketches and designs, artist/author Chris Hammond incorporates soul-searching journal entries that aim to connect the dots between the creative process, appreciating nature, and maintaining a strong sense of personal well-being. |
How can everyday creative journaling become the foundation beneath your studio work? Here is the third post in a five part series.
Here's the thing about people who do creative work on a daily basis: They don't wait to be inspired. It's a practice. It's a habit. It's a ritual. If you play the piano or go to the gym, chances are you start off your session with some warm-up exercises. And when it comes to journaling, I start my warm-up ritual with swirlies.
Swirlies. (See video below.) Yes, I draw swirlies. It's part of the same studio warm-up routine that I learned in design school more than forty years ago. Swirlies are a great gesture drawing exercise to sort of calibrate the eye/mind/body. But that's not the point.
Here's the thing about people who do creative work on a daily basis: They don't wait to be inspired. It's a practice. It's a habit. It's a ritual. If you play the piano or go to the gym, chances are you start off your session with some warm-up exercises. And when it comes to journaling, I start my warm-up ritual with swirlies.
Swirlies. (See video below.) Yes, I draw swirlies. It's part of the same studio warm-up routine that I learned in design school more than forty years ago. Swirlies are a great gesture drawing exercise to sort of calibrate the eye/mind/body. But that's not the point.
The point is: Start off your everyday journal session with a warm-up routine. Swirlies are good. Or, practice drawing perfect circles. Or straight lines. Make a bunch of little compositions with just squares, triangles, and circles. There's all sorts of little practice exercises. Pick one.
And here's secret #3: One thing leads to another. The act of putting marks on paper will activate your mind, stir up memories, and churn thoughts and ideas. You will find yourself making a natural transition to sketching more complex designs. Now that your imagination is awake, all sorts of things begin to emerge on paper. And so it goes. You're off to having an inspired, creative journaling session.
And here's secret #3: One thing leads to another. The act of putting marks on paper will activate your mind, stir up memories, and churn thoughts and ideas. You will find yourself making a natural transition to sketching more complex designs. Now that your imagination is awake, all sorts of things begin to emerge on paper. And so it goes. You're off to having an inspired, creative journaling session.
Here is the second installment of a five part series: How daily creative journaling can be the foundation for advancing your studio work.
Recently, I watched the 2018 documentary, Never-Ending Man: Hayao Miyazaki, by Kaku Arakawa. The film, of course, is about Miyazaki, the Japanese master animation director. His work has earned prestigious awards at international animation and film festivals for five decades. (See the trailer for this film here.)
Recently, I watched the 2018 documentary, Never-Ending Man: Hayao Miyazaki, by Kaku Arakawa. The film, of course, is about Miyazaki, the Japanese master animation director. His work has earned prestigious awards at international animation and film festivals for five decades. (See the trailer for this film here.)
At one point in Never-Ending Man, there is a shot of a large cardboard box (see photo below) next to Miyazaki's work table. Obviously, the box contains dozens and dozens of discarded drawings and storyboard pages. Not trash. Not mistakes. These are outtakes (to be carefully filed away at some point).
As animation director at Studio Ghibli, Miyazaki needs to do a lot of experimentation. He needs to try things out. A lot of stuff does not work very well. This is normal. Even for the master. It's simply the nature of ideas, imagination, and drawing. There are a lot of outtakes.
The martial arts film actor, Jackie Chan, shows us outtakes that are quite different. He shows them to us because they are dangerous stunts that nobody should try.
Let's face it. Drawing in a journal or sketchbook isn't so risky. What's at stake? Realistically, it's just a sheet of paper.
So here is secret #2:
Don't use a bound journal or sketchbook. I recommend using what we might call a loose-leaf journal. In other words, cheap copy paper (See below). Why? It is so easy to discard outtakes. It makes journaling feel very safe. I believe you will be more apt to try stuff and experiment. Because it's just a sheet of paper.
The martial arts film actor, Jackie Chan, shows us outtakes that are quite different. He shows them to us because they are dangerous stunts that nobody should try.
Let's face it. Drawing in a journal or sketchbook isn't so risky. What's at stake? Realistically, it's just a sheet of paper.
So here is secret #2:
Don't use a bound journal or sketchbook. I recommend using what we might call a loose-leaf journal. In other words, cheap copy paper (See below). Why? It is so easy to discard outtakes. It makes journaling feel very safe. I believe you will be more apt to try stuff and experiment. Because it's just a sheet of paper.
Because it's just a sheet of paper.
ARTIST'S KAYAK
HEALING JOURNEY
HEALING JOURNEY
Hi, Chris here. I’m the author of the Artist's Kayak blog. Besides Artist's Kayak, I have several other authoring and publishing ventures going. To see what other things I'm up to, check out my hub site here.
Enjoy some of the most relaxing and inspiring bicycling, hiking, and kayaking on easy-going waterways and trails.
Artist's Books
Step into your kayak and push off. Breath. Let go. Reawaken into the moment. Appreciate. Reconnect. Revitalize. Mind. Body. Spirit. Rediscover your sense of touch. This is your healing journey.
Step into your kayak and push off. Breath. Let go. Reawaken into the moment. Appreciate. Reconnect. Revitalize. Mind. Body. Spirit. Rediscover your sense of touch. This is your healing journey.
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