ART REFERENCE
“We are in such a hurry …We twitter a few dozen words. We text with ridiculous abbreviations and flash off e-mail and post quick quips on Facebook. A drawing makes me settle down and center and observe. Life and art are both richer with focus and concentration.”
Sketchbook ke Confidential
– Joe Anna Arnett
More secrets from the private sketches of 38 master artists The idea may be derived from anything, really—a flash of sunlight, the tilt of a head, a glass on the table … but the sketch is where it all begins, the point where inspiration meets artist. Gloriously free of the need to get it right, the sketch is where possibilities are explored, compositions are found and visions come to life. A brilliant follow-up to the first Sketchbook Confidential, this book grants you access to 38 of art’s most creative minds via their sketchbooks.Whether created in studios, subways or the middle of a farmyard, these sketches represent art in its raw form. Up until now, this work has been tucked inside drawers or on studio bookshelves. Now the artists lay it out for all to see, along with intimate musings on the art of sketching and how it helps them commune with a subject, find their path to a finished piece or discover even greater rewards in the journey itself.
sketches from 38 artists
A B O U T T H E E D I TO R S Pamela Wissman is Senior Content Director for North Light and IMPACT Books, imprints of F+W Media, where she has worked on hundreds of titles over the course of her eighteen-year career there. She has been working in the arts for over thirty years in various capacities, with a Master of Arts in Arts Administration and a Bachelor of Fine Art from the University of Cincinnati.
More secrets from the private sketches of 38 master artists
US $24.99 W4467
(CAN $25.99)
ISBN-13: 978-1-4403-1695-1 ISBN-10: 1-4403-1695-3
“Sometimes I can feel that the ideas are there, but just on the other side of a wall. I use sketching to reach over and get at them.”
W4467_CM_SKETCHBOOKCON2.indd 1
– Ian Roberts, artist and teacher
EAN
35313 65398
8
9
01 02 03 04 FnL1 JUYrVyBQdWJsaWNhdGlvbnMsIEluYyAo SW9sYSBkaXZpc2lvbikPR3JlZ29yeSBL cnVlZ2VyAE6eowYEMTAuNAI4MAExBkVB Ti0xMw05NzgxNDQwMzE2OTUxAA== 04 0124
UPC
0
01 02 03 04 FnL1 JUYrVyBQdWJsaWNhdGlvbnMsIEluYyAo SW9sYSBkaXZpc2lvbikPR3JlZ29yeSBL cnVlZ2VyAE6W5TICMTMDMTAwATEFVVBD LUEMMDM1MzEzNjUzOTg4HA== 04 0120
– Kate Sammons
52499
“Sketching is exploratory and I am nonjudgmental while doing it. In a sense, it’s cheap.There’s nothing to lose in trying out a new idea. In that way, sketching feels directly connected to awareness or consciousness. Since art is ultimately about consciousness, sketching often gives ideas their most immediate and lively form. Largely unfiltered, it’s all vision, all potentiality. Refreshing, free and simple. Some things need more finish, of course. Everyone knows the problem of holding on to the liveliness of a sketch in a finished painting.This piece needs adjusting.That should be cleaned up until everything is perfect. And dead. The daring and varied sketch goes through some strange ‘artistic corrections,’ and the finished work becomes a pale reflection of the fire that passed through my imagination. Right there is the value I see in sketching: melting the difference between ‘official’ work and personal work. How and why does such a distinction exist? Sketching can reveal that distinction more clearly, breach that barrier. Life’s too short to be safe, responsible and boring.”
Wissman
Stefanie Laufersweiler is a freelance editor and writer living in Cincinnati, Ohio. She was a senior editor for North Light Books and IMPACT Books before becoming a freelancer, and she has spent over twelve years editing nearly seventy-five titles specializing in fine art, comics and crafts.
Refreshing, free and simple.
781440 316951
Edited byy Pamela Wissman andd Stefanie Laufersweiler
2/15/12 2:20:18 PM
Table of
Contents
INTRODUCTION . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4
Joe Anna Arnett . . . . Marla Baggetta . . . . Jim Beckner . . . . . Robert Louis Caldwell Lindsay Cibos . . . . . Elaine G. Coffee . . . Lisa L. Cyr . . . . . . Michelle Dunaway . . Sterling Edwards . . . Irene Flores . . . . . . Grant Fuller . . . . . Molly Hashimoto . . . Carlynne Hershberger Jared Hodges . . . . . Russell Jewell . . . . . Dory Kanter . . . . . David N. Kitler . . . .
001-005_W4467.indd 2
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
. .6 . 10 . 16 . 20 . 24 . 28 . 32 . 36 . 40 . 44 . 48 . 52 . 56 . 60 . 66 . 70 . 76
Nita Leland . . . . Victoria Lisi. . . . Laurin McCracken Sydney McGinley . Mark E. Mehaffey . Virgil Ortiz . . . . Santiago Pérez . . Robin Poteet . . . Jonathan Queen . . Ian Roberts . . . . Merle Rosen . . . Kate Sammons . . Angela R. Sasser . David Savellano . . Jeanne Filler Scott. Michael Steirnagle Kyle Stuckey . . .
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
. 82 . 86 . 90 . 94 . 98 102 106 110 116 120 124 128 132 136 140 144 150
2/2/12 9:53 AM
Bill Teitsworth . . Joy Thomas . . . . Aaron Westerberg . Lian Quan Zhen. .
. . . .
. . . .
. . . .
. . . .
. . . .
. . . .
. . . .
154 158 162 166
M O R E O N T H E A R T I S T S . . . . . . 170 I N D E X . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 172 A B O U T T H E E D I TO R S . . . . . . . 174
001-005_W4467.indd 3
2/2/12 9:53 AM
001-005_W4467.indd 4
2/2/12 9:54 AM
Introduction Welcome! On these pages, you’ll see creative minds and hearts, pulsing the workings of some of art’s most Just like the first SKETCHBOOK CONFID with ideas, energy and inspiration. personal worlds of a wide variety ofENTIAL, this book takes you inside the allowing you to take a sneak peek intdiverse artists through their sketches, process. Some of these artists sketch o this seldom-seen step in the creative als, others use paint or collage, som with traditional drawing matericomplex, but in the end, each sketche are very loose, and others are more get down a creative idea and perha is a unique brainstorm—a way to sketches are fine as they are, havin ps work through it (or not—some always, whatever form they come in,g no need for further development). As of the artists and shed light on the they reveal something about the lives rest of their work. artists preg in z a m a e th f o ll Thank you to allticipated in this project, as we sented who par fersweiler, Kathy Kipp, Guy at as Stefanie Laue editors and production staff Kelly and all thou’re a joy to work with. F+W Media. Y
Director Senior Content ht Books North Lig
5 001-005_W4467.indd 5
2/16/12 1:40 PM
10 006-015_W4467.indd 10
2/2/12 9:59 AM
Robert Louis Caldwell
Robert Louis Caldwell is an award-winning artist nationally renowned for his wildlife and architectural oil painting has appeared in numerous national and internation s. His work including the Society of Animal Artists’ ART AND THE Aal exhibitions, the Leigh Yawkey Woodson Art Museum’s BIRDS IN A NIMAL and graduate of Virginia Commonwealth University, CalRT. A BFA hiking and mountain biking when not in his Virginiadwell enjoys adventures outside are what usually inspire me to get studio. “These studio, pull out the sketchbook and capture an idea thaback to the t I had while out having fun.”
21 016-027_W4467.indd 21
2/2/12 10:04 AM
Lisa L. Cyr
L. Cyr have been The fantasy-inspired mixed-media creations of Lisa ltisensual.” Cyr described as “not only multidimensional, but also muthe best-selling ART has penned seven books on art and design, includingartist member of the REVOLUTION and EXPERIMENTAL PAINTING, and she is an tional Society of Society of Illustrators in New York City and the Internaed in a number of Experimental Artists. She has written for and appearTHE BEST IN CONTEMPOmagazines and books, including the series SPECTRUM: permanent collection is included in the RARY FANTASTIC ART, and her artwork of the Museum of American Illustration.
Working in a spontaneous, stream-of-consciousness way allows me to explore avenues that I may not have otherwise thought of.
32 028-035_W4467.indd 32
2/2/12 10:09 AM
Chances are, if there’s a paper lying around my studio, it has a sketch on it. Drawing is the foundation of painting, and I make it a point to draw and sketch from life as much as possible. It’s so essential; it trains the eye to the nuances of light, rhythms, form and color temperature. When sketching, I think about movement, light, emotion and accuracy of form. Creating a rhythm with values and edges to convey emotional content is most important to me.
What inspires me to sketch, write and paint is the idea of capturing the essence of a moment and remembering it visually. Sketching is so immediate. I tend to use vine charcoal, as I can put down a few gesture lines and tonal keys that will visually remind me of my initial inspiration. If I have time to do a longer sketch—say, at a museum, in nature or with a model—then I focus on problem solving and capturing a sense of light, form and accurate color from life.
Sketches, paintings and drawings are visual records of what you are paying attention to in life.
38 036-047_W4467.indd 38
2/2/12 10:15 AM
43 036-047_W4467.indd 43
2/2/12 10:16 AM
are hard to justify in a full-scale drawing or painting. Since sketching is practice and often private, it gives me license to try new things (like working in an unfamiliar style or reproducing a photo). My sketches are the early draft, notes, and scaffolding for the finished work.They contain the germ that sprouts and grows and becomes the final art.Where I can see the potential in a rough sketch, it may take several passes before the image is refined enough to communicate its meaning to others. In that way, sketches are the raw essence of art.
65 060-075_W4467.indd 65
2/16/12 1:48 PM
Dory Kanter
al storyChronicling “impressions with quick sketches and visu best-selling telling” is an everyday practice for Dory Kanter, whoseions for artbook ART ESCAPES provides daily exercises and inspirat y. A resident ists, to help them build confidence and cultivate creativit naling workof the Pacific Northwest, she leads painting and jour . With grant shops and is a passionate advocate of art in the schools acy curricula funding, Kanter has developed innovative art and literUniversity for high school students, and she has lectured at Yale about the importance of creativity.
70 060-075_W4467.indd 70
2/2/12 10:39 AM
77 076-089_W4467.indd 77
2/2/12 10:45 AM
Victoria Lisi C
T HILVictoria Lisi is the author of VIBRAN HAIR AND G BEAUTIFUL DREN’S PORTRAITS: PAINTIN ated SKIN TONES with Oils, and has illustr s book children’s picture books and numerouing covers. She teaches watercolor, paintCollege and drawing at Aims Community taught in Loveland, Colorado, and she also Conillustration for six years at Western mes necticut State University. She someti , a collaborates with her husband, Juliusfrom portrait and landscape artist. Asideaphy, creative projects, Lisi enjoys photogr hiking, reading and swimming.
Trying to draw or sketch something helps you appreciate the incredible complexity and subtle nuances of a subject.
86 076-089_W4467.indd 86
2/2/12 10:47 AM
105 102-115_W4467.indd 105
2/2/12 11:56 AM
necessarily make detailed drawings in my final paintings, but I do want my perspective and proportions to be accurate, and the practice of sketching makes that easier. Cameras are wonderful, but they remove us a step from what’s around us.With a film camera, I was at least pausing, thinking and composing my shots.When I switched to digital I began clicking away, then at one point realized I was missing out on the actual experience of the scene. Sketching on location gives me that reality check. I can open any page from my travel books and instantly recall the mood, temperature and flavor of the scene—something I’m just not able to do with photos. That’s not to say I don’t still overload the memory card, but I do recognize there’s no substitute for what sketching brings to my overall work.
There’s nothing glossy about what I sketch and paint. The most interesting people have sags and bags and are just going about their daily lives.The buildings I’m drawn to also sag a bit, and show some rust and wear and tear. I prefer things that are overgrown and a bit chaotic. I like to think we artists are less judgmental than most people and simply appreciate things just as they are. I think of sketching as an “anything goes” process. It’s sometimes my way of expressing a thought in a visual way. Other times it’s just letting the pencil guide my hand.There’s no finished product to fret over, and that provides a lot of freedom. Up until now, these sketches have mostly been tucked inside drawers or sitting in sketchbooks on my bookcase.They’re just a part of what I do to create art.
114 102-115_W4467.indd 114
2/2/12 11:57 AM
138 128-169_W4467.indd 138
2/2/12 12:18 PM
A B O U T T H E E D I TO R S
Sketchbook Confidential 2. Copyright © 2012 by F+W Media. Manufactured in China. All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any electronic or mechanical means including information storage and retrieval systems without permission in writing from the publisher, except by a reviewer who may quote brief passages in a review. Published by North Light Books, an imprint of F+W Media, Inc., 10151 Carver Road, Suite 200, Blue Ash, Ohio, 45242. (800) 289-0963. First edition. Other fine North Light books are available from your favorite bookstore, art supply store or online supplier. Visit our website at www.fwmedia.com. 16 15 14 13 12
Pamela Wissman is Senior Content Director for North Light Books, IMPACT Books and ArtistsNetwork.TV, all imprints of F+W Media, where she has worked on hundreds of titles over the course of her eighteen-year career there. She has been working in the arts for over thirty years in various capacities, with a Master of Arts in Arts Administration and a Bachelor of Fine Arts from the University of Cincinnati. Stefanie Laufersweiler is a freelance editor and writer living in Cincinnati, Ohio. She was a senior editor for North Light Books and IMPACT Books before becoming a freelancer, and she has spent over thirteen years editing nearly seventy-five titles specializing in fine art, comics and crafts.
5 4 3 2 1
DISTRIBUTED IN CANADA BY FRASER DIRECT 100 Armstrong Avenue Georgetown, ON, Canada L7G 5S4 Tel: (905) 877-4411 DISTRIBUTED IN THE U.K. AND EUROPE BY F&W MEDIA INTERNATIONAL, LTD Brunel House, Forde Close, Newton Abbot, TQ12 4PU, UK Tel: (+44) 1626 323200, Fax: (+44) 1626 323319 Email:
[email protected] DISTRIBUTED IN AUSTRALIA BY CAPRICORN LINK P.O. Box 704, S. Windsor NSW, 2756 Australia Tel: (02) 4577-3555 Art edited by Pamela Wissman Content edited by Stefanie Laufersweiler Production edited by Vanessa Wieland Designed by Guy Kelly Production coordinated by Mark Griffin
T M E T R I C CO N V E R S I O N C H A R To convert Inches Centimeters Feet Centimeters Yards Meters
to Centimeters Inches Centimeters Feet Meters Yards
multiply by 2.54 0.4 30.5 0.03 0.9 1.1
174 170-176_W4467.indd 174
2/2/12 12:25 PM
ART REFERENCE
“We are in such a hurry …We twitter a few dozen words. We text with ridiculous abbreviations and flash off e-mail and post quick quips on Facebook. A drawing makes me settle down and center and observe. Life and art are both richer with focus and concentration.”
Sketchbook ke Confidential
– Joe Anna Arnett
More secrets from the private sketches of 38 master artists The idea may be derived from anything, really—a flash of sunlight, the tilt of a head, a glass on the table … but the sketch is where it all begins, the point where inspiration meets artist. Gloriously free of the need to get it right, the sketch is where possibilities are explored, compositions are found and visions come to life. A brilliant follow-up to the first Sketchbook Confidential, this book grants you access to 38 of art’s most creative minds via their sketchbooks.Whether created in studios, subways or the middle of a farmyard, these sketches represent art in its raw form. Up until now, this work has been tucked inside drawers or on studio bookshelves. Now the artists lay it out for all to see, along with intimate musings on the art of sketching and how it helps them commune with a subject, find their path to a finished piece or discover even greater rewards in the journey itself.
sketches from 38 artists
A B O U T T H E E D I TO R S Pamela Wissman is Senior Content Director for North Light and IMPACT Books, imprints of F+W Media, where she has worked on hundreds of titles over the course of her eighteen-year career there. She has been working in the arts for over thirty years in various capacities, with a Master of Arts in Arts Administration and a Bachelor of Fine Art from the University of Cincinnati.
More secrets from the private sketches of 38 master artists
US $24.99 W4467
(CAN $25.99)
ISBN-13: 978-1-4403-1695-1 ISBN-10: 1-4403-1695-3
“Sometimes I can feel that the ideas are there, but just on the other side of a wall. I use sketching to reach over and get at them.”
W4467_CM_SKETCHBOOKCON2.indd 1
– Ian Roberts, artist and teacher
EAN
35313 65398
8
9
01 02 03 04 FnL1 JUYrVyBQdWJsaWNhdGlvbnMsIEluYyAo SW9sYSBkaXZpc2lvbikPR3JlZ29yeSBL cnVlZ2VyAE6eowYEMTAuNAI4MAExBkVB Ti0xMw05NzgxNDQwMzE2OTUxAA== 04 0124
UPC
0
01 02 03 04 FnL1 JUYrVyBQdWJsaWNhdGlvbnMsIEluYyAo SW9sYSBkaXZpc2lvbikPR3JlZ29yeSBL cnVlZ2VyAE6W5TICMTMDMTAwATEFVVBD LUEMMDM1MzEzNjUzOTg4HA== 04 0120
– Kate Sammons
52499
“Sketching is exploratory and I am nonjudgmental while doing it. In a sense, it’s cheap.There’s nothing to lose in trying out a new idea. In that way, sketching feels directly connected to awareness or consciousness. Since art is ultimately about consciousness, sketching often gives ideas their most immediate and lively form. Largely unfiltered, it’s all vision, all potentiality. Refreshing, free and simple. Some things need more finish, of course. Everyone knows the problem of holding on to the liveliness of a sketch in a finished painting.This piece needs adjusting.That should be cleaned up until everything is perfect. And dead. The daring and varied sketch goes through some strange ‘artistic corrections,’ and the finished work becomes a pale reflection of the fire that passed through my imagination. Right there is the value I see in sketching: melting the difference between ‘official’ work and personal work. How and why does such a distinction exist? Sketching can reveal that distinction more clearly, breach that barrier. Life’s too short to be safe, responsible and boring.”
Wissman
Stefanie Laufersweiler is a freelance editor and writer living in Cincinnati, Ohio. She was a senior editor for North Light Books and IMPACT Books before becoming a freelancer, and she has spent over twelve years editing nearly seventy-five titles specializing in fine art, comics and crafts.
Refreshing, free and simple.
781440 316951
Edited byy Pamela Wissman andd Stefanie Laufersweiler
2/15/12 2:20:18 PM
