Artist Sketchbooks Show and Tell

Hey all! A new week has started. To me, it's usually a good time to sit down and organize my weekly work agenda, setting priorities and goals so I can pretty much work less chaotically. Believe me, when you have three kids and a heap of deadlines to finish, this is quite crucial. Other than that, I also like to flip through the ideas I've gathered over the previous week and see if I could hopefully get some extra time to work on them. Now, I don't know about you, but I always find it interesting to see the raw ideas that artists come up with and put down in their sketchbooks. It's amazing to see how an idea is born and later on transformed into a piece of art through their thought process.

So to inspire you, here are some of my wonderful artist friends, showing us peeks into their sketchbooks and sharing a little bit about how it all begins...

"OK the first image is a little fairy that I did last year. This was a sketch done after taking a pic of my daughter... & just too cute I had to add wings :) I've always been so afraid of color. This piece was (or perhaps may be) one of my very first plays with watercolor. I've always enjoyed drawing the sweet & innocent.. I suppose this explains my art taking off shortly after having my daughter ;) She's a huge inspiration :)

The second image, is a work in progress & my most current piece. I've obviously become obsessed now with color after being afraid of it for my whole life! I've yet to do a girl using watercolor in the eyes. I've always felt that I could just get so much more detail using pencils. So I don't know if I've achieved perfection here, but wanted to give it go." :) ~ Joanna Haber, A Bit of Whimsy

"Generally my paintings are done on the fly without any forward planning but I have so many ideas in my head at any one time that I keep a little doodle book for over-spill ideas which I use in those awkward times when my brain flow is running flat. The 2 pages here are a basic idea of how I doodle, a general idea of a character and a few words to jog my memory when painting time comes, nothing fancy just a bit of fun." ~ Micki Wilde, The Secret Hermit

"I love drawing in my sketchbook, it's where my ideas start to grow with just a few lines of a pen and a sprinkle of imagination. In these pages I am exploring characters and through sketching and have a play around on paper the characters come to life." ~ Heidi M. McDonald, Little Nore

"I do have a strange practice of reaching for the nearest piece of paper to doodle down my ideas. I don't regularly sketch, in fact, I usually just sketch right on the paper or canvas....but, every now and then, when I want to get down a concept or idea, I grab the closest paper at hand and draw a quickie sketch. I have saved these...all loose and haphazard...a bit like me...haha!" ~ Cameron S. Reutzel, Paint Myself Pretty

"Sketching is a wonderful way to let my imagination flow and express the spirit of life. Recently I find pleasure in exploring characters in playful stances, almost dancing, telling some sort of story." ~ Tammie Lee, Beauty Flows

I hope you're feeling inspired and all ready to create! Have an awesome Monday, everyone...Here's to plenty of good vibes for the week ahead! :)

Hugs,