The Sketchbook Circle ii

Back in March I posted about a curious and exciting venture the ‘Sketchbook Circle’.
Six of us embarked on our mark making voyage rather cautiously and coyly to begin with….
To recap the aim of the endeavour was to start a sketchbook and post it to the person on the left of the imaginary circle; they would respond to the work and in turn post it on. This happened on a monthly basis and with 6 sketchbooks revolving; they soon started to take shape. You began to identify a person’s drawing style and interests and had a sneaky peek into their lives.
For me there were moments of awe, envy, inspiration, fear, dread, excitement. It pushed me out of my comfort zone at times, planning a wedding, moving house and getting a puppy in the midst of it all was probably reflected in some of my entries, in fact there may be tiny teeth marks in the corner of someone’s book! Overall I really enjoyed the experience.

Let’s hear from the other members;
Jo Davies says; the sketchbook as a piece of reportage, as a journal of everyday lives, is of interest to me. The circle seemed like a little window into the lives of the participants.
I enjoyed developing a sense of the identities of the other sketchers in the circle and recognising their visual approaches and becoming connected to them over the period of several months, through these glimpses.
When my own sketchbook was returned I felt as though I had received little gifts from each of the members and the drawings seem more poignant and have more value because of this sense of having become acquainted and sharing in this experience and experiment.
Carol Hoy; I’ve really enjoyed the process  but I found it very strange to be drawing in other people’s books. Some are beautiful and I was scared of messing them up.
I guess I preferred the ones that allowed me to be a bit experimental. Sometimes I found it easy to respond to the previous drawings, sometimes nothing came so I just did my own thing. I liked Bryony’s idea of leaving pages and spaces for others to fill in within her drawings but I kept forgetting to do it myself.
My favourite pages in my book are where 2 artists come together on the same spread. The A5 books seemed to work best and felt more lively when they came through, though they need to be strong to survive the journey, I like to keep mine in my bag and draw when I get a spare moment. My book was A4 but I will be buying robust A5 book for the next round.
My book has come back with wonderful drawings, all so different, from neat and finished to wild and experimental. It’s Good to see so many trying things and trying new things, also writing about it which adds to the interest.
There is a vibrancy about it all, an excitement. I admire Andrea’s london drawings, especially the Guards, to mention just one.  I am delighted to have all your work in my book. – Dorothy Flint

Shortly after our group took flight another set of students began a circle, a smaller group of four and by chance both groups concluded at the same time.
Jennifer Wallace has shared her work on the student site via the Collections facility – a useful personal gallery to upload images and words. If you are a student you can view her work here
Bee Skelton a fellow member of the second group joined with the possibility of it providing inspiration for her Personal Project as Part 5 of Drawing 1, she kept a diary of the process in her learning log/blog. Download it here

 
In November we will begin round two, why not get involved? Start your own circle or join ours!