Wednesday, January 16, 2013

The Sketchbook Project

Yesterday I sent away my sketchbook to go on tour with thousands of other books as part of The Sketchbook Project. As part of a global community of artists, part-time doodlers, painters, illustrators, children, housewives and other creative-types, I spent the past few weeks illustrating my life as a new mother. My black and white doodles (often drawn with one hand while holding a baby in the other) aren't as elaborate as previous sketchbooks I've drawn in, or as bold and beautiful as some of the other participating artists... but it was a wonderful way to keep my creative juices flowing, even when sleep deprived and covered in spit-up. 

The travelling exhibition of sketchbooks begins and ends at the Brooklyn Art Library - where, at the end of the tour, the books become part of the permanent collection. This year, the tour will hit Austin, Atlanta, Toronto, Chicago, Portland, SF and LA. Hopefully this summer we'll be in one of those cities at the time the tour comes to town and we can spend a couple hours thumbing through different books while looking for my own. 

Here's a few pages from my book, if you'd like to see:










My favorite page was the very last one in the book. It was drawn by Didz, and was an illustrated list of the things he loves. He won't let me share it on the blog - so you'll just have to go find my sketchbook while it's on tour at a city near you and see it for yourselves. 



(A big thank you to Allyson for signing me up this year - I wouldn't have gotten around to it otherwise! xo)

6 comments:

  1. I am so so so SO loving all of this! This warms my heart and makes me smile to look at. :D

    I'm so excited for March 1-3 to see in person!!! <3

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    1. Thank you darling... I'm a little rusty with my doodles - but it felt pretty great putting pen on paper again.

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  2. i LOVE this! your drawings are so wonderful! i live right near the brooklyn art library, and i love going in and looking at all the (many) books there!

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    1. Thank you! What an incredible source of inspiration to have at your fingertips... I'd be in there all the time browsing through books if I lived nearby. It seems like a perfect way to beat the winter blues or a good way to pass a rainy afternoon.

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  3. This is so amazing Auste! I loved tracking down, waiting for, and finally seeing your mom's last year. Can't wait to now search through your creativity as well. xx.

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    1. Thank you! This time around you'll have to hunt down both of ours! She submitted one this year, too. That mother of mine is just a constant fountain of creativity and inspiration.

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