Sketches

During this residency here at pvi collective studios, I have been sketching in my notebook.

I studied a creative writing unit during my degree, and received some great advice, that I have tried to apply to as many situations as possible. The advice from the lecturer was this:

You need a notebook for this class, one to write in. Don't buy a Moleskine journal or a Rhodia pad, don't buy anything beautiful or expensive. At the grocery store, buy the cheapest, plainest notebook or pad you can find - don't think about it at all. And use that book to scribble poetry and writings, but also use it to jot down phone numbers and shopping lists and random thoughts. Use and abuse it. Being creative and putting ideas down on paper is terrifying enough as it is, don't let the blank page have any power over you. Don't let yourself feel pressured to write your masterpiece because it was a $40 notebook.

So I try to use this advice whenever I can. I stopped buying fancy notebooks (for the most part), and I try to be as non-precious as possible. Most of these sketches were done haphazardly in less than 5 minutes, and they represent an interesting side of my process. In my experience, when I just put pen to paper and start writing or drawing with as little intellectual interruption as possible, what comes out is often linked to my ideas in much more creative ways than if I were to actively attempt to illustrate them.