Where It All Began
A little about my journey to here plus a new workshop for the winter months which ties in rather well.
For those who do not know I once worked as a graphic designer in the newspaper industry and spent 10 great years at the Scotsman Newspaper by Holyrood Park. I learnt a great deal, met some wonderful people and also began Edinburgh Sketcher on my lunch break walks around the historic Canongate and High Street.Â
I wasn’t a writer (I did try with disastrous results!) but could draw and doodle and my work notes would always have illustrative instructions along side. These scribbles grew and as the sketches took over the page my words became decoration, a border frame of letters or shading a wall of a house with large letters describing the weather or naming the street. I would use words visually but they would still have meaning describing the location or the moments leading up to me drawing the piece.Â
Sketch Diary’s
Like a diary the pages of my sketchbook began to tell the story of my everyday life and I started to share these online. I was keen to begin a daily habit of drawing and so the subjects could be completely random like a chocolate bar and a coffee cup or the autumnal leaves under my feet. But mixed in were more emotional scenes such as one of my earliest drawings (top image), that of my new born child spending time in the Sick Kids hospital. James was critically ill and distracting myself from such a traumatic time and the helplessness I was feeling I drew but I also wrote down what was happening and it is in these details along with the drawn lines that bring that day back so clearly.Â
Text is secondary to the drawing often just filling space as I doodle my way around a page and as such can just be a steam of consciousness, my rambling thoughts but they can seem more real than anything I would write and then rewrite until I am happy with it. A lot like my art really: more instinctive mark making than precise planning!
As my twins grew so did my collection of sketchbooks journalling their lives and mine. Babies in push chairs, small hands holding Lego, sleeping faces in the back of the car. Holidays away would have a few pages, doodles by the sea and us all sat around a cosy fire watching the telly in the highlands. And by sketching quick random objects rather than full watercolour paintings then I can still be in the moment as if doodling while on the phone.
I love to look back through the sketch books now, turning the pages I turned back then and reading the thoughts and happenings I had forgotten is a real privilege and they have become more precious as time goes by.
Work took over
As Edinburgh Sketcher as a business grew and my drawing time became more about commissions and looking for sketches I could create merchandise from. I added my own rambling words less often and looking back I can see this has left those drawings less personal to me.Â
I am fortunate to be able to draw for my living but I would like to rekindle my carefree sketches that capture a day or time in my life and this is what I am hoping to with these new Sketch Journalling workshops with Arienas Collective, and hopefully inspire others to do the same. Below are a few ways I included to use my words in my work sketches, highlighting events and exhibitions in the city.
New Workshops
I often say to look for the beauty in the everyday and to describe what you see with your drawings, picking out the bits you might mention if describing with words. By highlighting the everyday objects in our lives we can build pride in our surroundings and at the same time build a confidence in our artistic ability, giving ourselves well needed time to explore and to be creative in the moment.Â
I will show you how to capture objects quickly and have them lifting off the page with a little watercolour and shadow. We will look at how words can become decoration or add depth to our drawing. I will help bring items together on the page for a pleasing composition creating an illustrative montage of your week, a holiday, a room in your house, or just a walk to the shops!Â
This workshop will be indoors in the wonderfully cosy surroundings of Arienas Collective in the New Town of Edinburgh and run for 3 and a half hours. The cost will be £50 per person and we will provide teas and coffees plus a little snack and all the materials you need to get started on the day, plus a lovely sketching journal book which we will start together and you will take away to continue at home.Â
Below are a few more of my story telling sketches from over the years. It was so nice to look back through them that I thought I would share a few with you. Hopefully I can start a few people creating their own sketched memories through these new workshops. Mark ES
Hi…I really enjoyed reading this and looking at your sketches. Too far south to attend your workshop, alas, though it really appeals, and yes, memories stick if you study something long enough to sketch it 😊
Hi Mark, Good to read, my father used to say to us , ‘sometimes the things you fear the most, end up being the things that save you…’ mebes not a bad mantra to live one’s life with. Hope to join you on a sketching day in the future, keep up the good work! Regards Frank