The Sketchbook Project Progress Report

I’ve been participating in The Sketchbook Project lately. It’s a pretty neat concept – for a fee, you get a small, thin Moleskine cahier-style sketchbook that I can add other paper to if you wish, as long as the spine doesn’t get any thicker than 1 inch. When I’m finished with the sketchbook, I’ll mail it to the Brooklyn Art Library and some librarians will archive and digitize my book forever, placing it in a sketchbook collection available for the public to browse as they wish. In 2012, that year’s submissions will be exhibited around the country on a “tour.” Here’s what I have so far! Plenty of worthy stuff to draw right around my town.

Ocean City, NJ

I add these little color notes sometimes in case I want to ink the drawing later or turn it into a painting.

Rittenhouse Square, Philadelphia, PA

Love Park (JFK Plaza), Philadelphia, PA

I soon discovered that the original sketchbook’s pages don’t take ink wash very well (you’ll see evidence of that shortly), so I traced this sketch to convert it into a proper ink drawing. I was planning to add the drawing back into the sketchbook, but I liked it so much it’s now hanging on my wall. Yeah, I get kind of attached to my work when I first draw it, then in a few years it’s so embarrassing to look at that I can’t bear to sell nor give it to anyone else. Great business sense, huh?

Central Park, NYC, NY

A college friend invited me to spend the afternoon with her sketching in NYC, where she lives. If you live in the Philly area and are interested in a fun little day trip, take the Chinatown bus to NYC, draw people in the parks and on the subways and eat dumplings for lunch in Chinatown. The complete trip, including transportation and food, cost less than 30 bucks.

Haddon Township, NJ

And now we’re back in my immediate area. For a change of pace, here are some vaguely creepy tonal drawings. Some say they contain hidden images!

Thanks for lookin’! If you’re interested in joining the Sketchbook Project, there’s still plenty of time to sign up! Registration ends in October.