The Sketchbook Challenge 2011

Okay--I can't resist this challenge. My own blog is called Sweet Leaf Notebook, named after my sketchbooks. Sue Blewiess and Friends are hosting The Sketchbook Challenge in 2011.

This project is a rare opportunity to peer into the sketchbooks of real artists. It's not about finished and beautiful works of art, it's about how ideas develop and grow. My own notebooks are a place to store/stash ideas until I have time and the gumption to really flesh them out and make them real (if at all). If I get those ideas down on paper, I don't have to worry about forgetting it--quilts I want to make, color choices, fabric samples, even quilting designs and motifs. My notebooks act as my "ectopic brain," my memory. Not everything will end in a finished piece. This project is about learning new techniques, developing a style that works for me. Will it be drawing? Will it be collage or photography? Words? Will it be a mix of all sorts of things? Probably! Stay Tuned ...

Already, I am interested to try the Stacked Words technique by Judy Hurwitt
and Carole Sloane's Grid Technique.
I'm sure there will be many more prompts and techniques I want to try before the project is through!

Sue Bleweiss is a wonderful artist and teacher in her own right. She has been full of encouragement and inspiration ever since I took one of her online classes years ago at Joggles.com. She has some advice to begin the project. It's ok if you've never done some of this stuff before. There is a link to Tutorials at the top of the Sketchbook Challenge blog. She even explains how to add the Sketchbook Challenge badge to your own blog, along with a tutorial on using Flickr. Ok, I'll admit--that part will be new for me. I'm a Picassa girl. So I'll definitely be learning new things with this challenge, starting with Flickr.

Here's from a 2007 post on sketchbooks and visual journals :


This was one of my first sketchbooks. Not much to look at from the outside ... but bursting with ideas. That's why I had to start the notebook / sketchbook : I had many more ideas than I could possibly bring to life before forgetting the details. Now the Notebook is sort of a holding-place for those ideas until I do get around to bringing them to life. I keep a pencil tied to it, so I always have something to write with it. It's a spiral notebook so that if I wind up drawing something really awful, I can rip it out and not ruin the rest of the notebook. I haven't been able to bring myself to writing anything into one of those nive hardbound artist's sketchbooks ... They just seem too nice. Too permanent.

[...]

From time to time, I will continue to post a Page from My Notebook. I think it is very interesting to trace how the spark of an idea begins and grows and how close or how far the end product meets or diverges. Some projects take on lives of their own. Sometimes--it's what they want to be--not what I was intending. Usually, that turns out okay.

So what's in The Sweet Leaf Notebook, you ask? Wouldn't you like to know? At present, I have sections and drawings for the following :

• quilt blocks and wall-hangings I am working out designs for
• possible titles for quilts I'll someday make
• layouts for samplar quilts
• ideas for journal quilts
• instructions and steps for quilts
• dye and discharge project and design ideas
• swatches of fabrics that might be good for kaliedescope or 4-patch posey quilts
• machine quilting patterns I want to try (good to practice on paper first)
• Instructions for potholders (developed by me)
• Ideas that seem to translate well to visual images
• I Remember Mama (or Gramma)
• dye color combinations I like and want to try together
  
• Websites for inspiration
• Dye methods to try with notes on how it went
• fabric painting experiments to try
• Images to print on fabric
• Ideas for the Sweet Leaf Website I have yet to build
• Blog This section (though this section has moved into it's own Blog This notebook)
• Quilting Classes I've taken, dates, or want to take someday
  
• Who knows, I might want to become a quilt judge someday, and I might need to keep a record of all this stuff ...
• Notes on favorite suppliers (and problem suppliers)
• Mind-mapping experiments (lack of ideas hasn't really been a problem for me, but it was useful to learn the technique)
• Leaf rubbings to use for patterns later
• Ideas for fabric postcards
• Sketches and drawing of architectural details (sometimes found on a candybar, or a bank railing in France ... ideas can come from anywhere!)
• clippings from magazines glues in for inspiration
• techniques I want to try
• snippents of poetry and songs that inspire
  
• The list goes on and on ...
  

I used to love going to office supply stores. I loved the paper aisles--all that blank paper--all that potential just waiting to be written on! Just waiting to become something else!

A sketchbook is yours to fill up as you see fit! You don't even have to show it to anyone if you don't want to do so. I hope some of you do start a sketchbook soon ... It's amazing to see how ideas start to build. Pretty soon, you'll have a whole library to draw on!