Everywhere we turn, in magazines, stores, galleries, websites, buildings, and movies, we see finished products but not the process of getting there. It is often that much easier to forget that there was a struggled process to arrive at that finished piece, and we tend to believe that somehow the end product magically appeared from the tip of a magic wand as it swooped. The sketchbooks of creation are the testament to the endeavor that goes into creating something. There is that initial spark of idea conceived from an absentminded doodling, then developing the inspired idea into something more solid, then the evolution and morphing of its looks, then failures and retreats at times, until it gets to a final look that will then go into the actual creation process. I find this process of creation so much more interesting than the final product. Going through these sketchbooks was like going into the artist’s brain. “Ideas come from just creating, the action of taking a picture, seeing the image, and then reworking it into something completely different,” says photographer Robert Parke Harrison. From the physical act of drawing in a sketchbook artists can derive a new creation.
In other words, this is the section where architects, designers, filmmakers, and any other kind of artists use their sketchbook as “behind-the-scenes” notes to their work, and not for hobby or self-reflection.
Freelance editorial illustrator Hal Mayforth gives credit to his sketchbook for being what his "entire career is predicated on." He says, "My style of cartooning evolved gradually over years of expressing myself in my books. I try out stuff, keep some of it and reject a whole lot of it." Like Mayforth explained, sketchbook, to these artists, is an archive of their trials and failures from which they can pull out ideas to use for their professional work. Artist Paul Madonna says he carries his sketchbook with him "always, always, always." A creator does not know when an idea will pop up and is prepared to store it in his sketchbook anytime, anywhere.
In other words, this is the section where architects, designers, filmmakers, and any other kind of artists use their sketchbook as “behind-the-scenes” notes to their work, and not for hobby or self-reflection.
Freelance editorial illustrator Hal Mayforth gives credit to his sketchbook for being what his "entire career is predicated on." He says, "My style of cartooning evolved gradually over years of expressing myself in my books. I try out stuff, keep some of it and reject a whole lot of it." Like Mayforth explained, sketchbook, to these artists, is an archive of their trials and failures from which they can pull out ideas to use for their professional work. Artist Paul Madonna says he carries his sketchbook with him "always, always, always." A creator does not know when an idea will pop up and is prepared to store it in his sketchbook anytime, anywhere.
Hal Mayforth -
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