...I have been thinking quite a lot at how I tend to use this blog as a bit of a visual sketch-book....charting what I am working on and linking it to what I have been looking at, feeling inspired by etc. Now, I know that this is what many artists and designers use their blogs for, but I have been wondering to what extent it has replaced 'real' sketch-books, or a portion of them. I wonder, is it more or less real....more or less permanent? How much of your creative life inevitably shifts online...to being almost wholly computer based.I know for me, it has quite a bit....with digital photography [rather than film, on a day-to-day basis]...it is very rare that I print photos out now, print scans of 'inspiration' etc, or take photocopies from books [I can find almost everything , image wise, I need online!]. How wonderfully Green of us all, in a way - but I was looking back at sketchbooks from 2 years ago, and noticed, even then how many more 'real' bits and pieces of inspiration I had [lying around] to be utilised...how much more I created on paper. It is now all neatly [or not, depending] filed in folders on the PC - flowers, leaves, pattern design, bench and work shots, artists [favourite link lists, even] - etc etc.
I mean, we all know...there is nothing nicer than a beautiful book, an artists sketch-book, a magazine - something tangible. But it made me stop and think today just how fast things change in a year or two...Nice, and Not, at the same time.
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Ernst Haekel : Art Forms in Nature is something I would dearly like to get a copy of one day soon.
Odorantes is a flower shop in Paris, specialising in old, rare and particularly fragrant varieties of Rose....I can't wait to stop by when I am in Paris in the summer. [I remembered it had been mentioned in an article with Sofia Coppola a while back, hence this link]....
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Happy Monday everyone..hope your week is off to a good start.
xox
13 comments:
I really loved that article by Sofia Coppola, I have yet to see Marie Antoinette but she was the one with Lost in Translation that gave me my longing to visit Japan. Also her boyfriend being the leadsinger of Phoenix would explain them being heavily featured on that brilliant soundtrack. I would love to go back to Paris, after reading that, it all sounds so wonderfully, visually romantic! Finally I too am slightly sad about the transition from sketchbook to computer, I miss photocopying at the library but oh so much greener now. Happy monday back x
i love this post. it really does make me think about using the computer as inspiration. i often find myself printing images and even articles{using recycled paper} because i like to touch and feel things, rather than just staring at them on a sterile computer screen. you have inspired me to make an actual to keep these things in to look back on, like i used to. thanks, abigail. oh, and your photo and drawing today are beautiful! i must print them out right now for a closer look.
so with you on this. i am amazed by what is at our fingertips, but also still need certain things to look/touch/hold. nothing can "replace" a true sketchbook.... [i still have a photocopier!!!]
I love the computer for collecting and connecting inspirations, but I'm really craving the scratch of the pencil on paper lately. Digital seems better for mental note taking and organizing, but the meditation of a good long draw is something else. Love that second image, it seems like a lovely wallpaper print in the making....
As always I beautiful image to go with this post!
I think you make a great point about being a little more eco-conscience about generating new print-outs but nothing beats putting pencil to paper.
It is a unique way of expressing yourself. I am a big fan of scrap books and have tons of pages ripped out of magazines, a huge library and take far too many photos.
However, for me every time I draw I feel that I am improving my drawing skills and learning something new.
BTW thanks for the link about the flower shop - I will go and check it out..
Abigail, help, im so completely lost, lol!And whats with all this word verification,ha!xx
nothing would please me more than to meet you at that parisian flower shop. this was such a great post. the topic is something i think about alot. i also don't print out many of my photos and have a tendency to save inspiration in the form of links on my computer. nice to have it all in one place but i do think we are missing out on something. some of my biggest inspiration is found outside and nature. walking out into our garden is an essential part of my daily routine. love the images here. xoxo
Well, I agree with you, but on the other hand I love being able to edit again and again my pictures on Photoshop and still have the original pic. I usually keep a lot of magazines but I never cut them cos I'm afraid I might have a better idea later, and the picture would be lost... That's why I love so much my digital camera :)
Interesting notion and so true! Although I am not an artist, I definitely use my blog for inspirational links more for myself. The internet is great for information at your fingertips, even access to little known talents out there, but to have paper journals and books in hand is so different. I love your sketches, hope the digital age is not stopping you from doing more...
It's very interesting to read you as I'm still unsatisfied about my blog. I'm somehow still hidden... because I don't like to tell about myself and I'm bad to talk about my work. at first, I thought the pictures were the only interest but I realize when I read artists blogs such as yours that's not enough... Your words are always inspiring and I like to discover the creative process of your jewelery artwork.
Even behind my cold screen I can feel the rich hues of your drawings and the quality of your precious work. I love your vision of nature and your very own interpretation. I find myself so many inspiration through my computer and its infinite connexions... I've got a file where I keep all my treasures I've found from my peregrinations and that's good to know I can find them easily. I don't print so much. Yes, it's a new way to keep things in mind, it complements the pleasure of turning over the pages of a book or. as visiting a huge permanent exhibition or library where you can stroll as long as you want.
I don't know that flowershop, i've got to visit it before I leave Paris...
Being a Librarian I have this debate all the time with my colleagues "will the internet take over from books...etc" i don't think so. There are undoubtedly things that are much better when stored electronically, however when looking at textures, or when you don't have your camera then collecting is fine. I think that you shouldn't worry, use whatever resources you have at your disposal and lets face it, you are and we can all see how brilliant your work is!
I think the process of keeping sketchbooks as an artist is really a very valuable discipline and one that I have had to try and get back into in recent times as I had definitely let it slip. I only really realised how important it was when I looked at a stash of old sketchbooks from college that I hadn't looked at in years - it was amazing how much I had forgotten about and just how much unexplored material there was in those books, and to be able to sit and look through them, turning the pages and being inspired again was wonderful. I don't know if that will ever be able to happen with my blog, because I have no idea if it will still exist in ten years time. A sketchbook, by being an object that you can carry with you that requires no energy to make it work, has so many advantages over the computer I think, and by being so low tech is possibly even greener (although I really don't know). But really what we have at the moment is this marvellous situation where we can have both and I think any artist would be missing out if they didn't take advantage of that.
I have the Ernst Haeckel book you linked to, it really is fantastic!
Are you coming through to Edinburgh soon? It would be so nice to see you!
S x
i love love love love this post. that's all i seem to be able to say right now :-) lol
it makes me a bit quiet.
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