There is a particular type of format that I like to paint, and it consists of a somewhat panoramic view, long/tall spaces. Speedball makes these excellent watercolor journals that are about 3"x8" where both sides of the paper can be painted on without getting jacked up, warped paper. It's frankly amazing and I can't tell you how much I love these. I do not get paid to endorse the product or anything, I just get excited about supplies that work for me.
I have been sketching, painting, and drawing for over 20 years. I can say that during that entire time I did not appreciate some of the value of what can be captured in a journal or sketchbook. I developed a completely different view of these things in 2022 when I had the pleasure to attend a gallery opening for Garth Claasen's Nothing to See Here. I had the great fortune to be Garth's student at College of Idaho. His work was always fun and inspiring, yet he put up with a lot from me and others like me! The show itself was powerful and provided a large pieces of commentary about the world's recent shift in how reality was being perceived and shared to the masses. This show, however, had a table with dozens of sketchbooks for attendees to flip through. My mind was blown, yet again by his work. The sketchbooks, told a much more personal story of Garth's progression and travels. He dated them and would write notes of where he traveled. Sketches from all over the world in a variety of spaces, early exploration of shapes, forms, and themes that I got to see as a student but had been rolling around in his creative brainspace for decades. It was inspiring to see how beautiful and interesting the world was through his sketches depicting people, places, shapes, ideas, and working through problems. It was humbling, too. It was like looking into his life experience, considerations, and internal conflicts that must exist by being both an artist and a teacher. Once again, Garth had shifted my worldview to challenge my assumptions born out of small-town-nincompoopery.
I now date and sometimes note the location of sketches and paintings in my journals/sketchbooks. This journal, now complete, captures my paintings from April 2023 through the end of September 2023 in the Madison, WI area as well as the Reno/Carson City area of Nevada. What is also exciting is that instagram's free music clips on this particular day included one of my all-time favorite bands, Gunship. It's rare to find two things in the world that I get to enjoy together in a social media space. I hope you can enjoy it too. #Speedballart #gunship
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