Wednesday, 20 March 2013

Just an ordinary life: Overthinking and A good soak


I have a new work colleague, who's also into painting, sketching and other creative activities. She's been telling me about a cartoon class she's taking, and showed me some of her sketches of situations in her life, how she uses those sketchings to process certain situations, fears, challenges, events. I was totally inspired by it, and last night, I took out one of my new sketchbooks with watercolour paper and did a couple of quick sketches. I often use my diary to write in, especially in times when I've got too much on my mind, but I haven't had the energy to sit down and write much lately. This is a perfect alternative to get things out of your system, and an excellent exercise in sketching on top of it.

Life can sometimes feel a bit overwhelming. Especially at 4 o'clock in the morning. And being a notorious overthinker doesn't help either.


A nice cup of tea, and a good soak can fix a lot. The bathwater almost got too cold to qualify as a proper "hot bath" though, as I decided that I had to sketch it too. Of course I couldn't wait till after.


I'm always in a bit of a dilemma when it comes to sketching. Should I just leave the pen sketchings as they are, or should I add some colour? I usually go for the colour option. And in this case, I was using one of my new watercolour sketchbooks, so it seemed a waste not to add any colour. I just like colour. But what I want to work on, though, is to add less colour. Just a bit her and there, and leave white space too. Somehow, I seem to have this deep rooted feeling that a page needs to be covered in paint, and that's what my sketches usually end up like. But I'm working on it. And I hope to keep these "ordinary life" sketches up. We'll see.


3 comments:

  1. I'm in AWE of your sketching... I love them just as they are! And you really are inspiring me to try sketching in a different way :0)

    ReplyDelete
  2. I think you have a terrific sense of, and skills with colour, but I agree that sometime less is more, and selctive colouring really focuses the view for the viewer. And believe me - 4am is the worst time to be thinking because you can't do anything about it. But it should be the best time for dreaming happy dreams.

    ReplyDelete
  3. If you're thinking about it, it's definitely something you should try. I think selective use of color can be very dramatic and have a different sort of impact. I think of flowers on a gray rainy day, something I may try myself. Love both drawings. The scribble bubbles of thought describe worry so well. And the bathtub cure is perfect!

    ReplyDelete