Capturing the learning in my creative process

With all of the exploring and experimenting I’m doing in my art-making this year, one of my commitments I’ve made is to this sketchbook.

I’m using it for capturing and further developing what I’m loving and wanting to grow in my art. And I’m using it for doing a more rigorous review of my work towards the end of the process of a painting or when I feel a bit stuck and want to figure out what edits I need to make.

I take photos of my work, print them out, and stick them in the sketchbook. And then I have a set of questions I’ve created that I go through, checking on various design elements, and reflecting on the artwork against my intended vision for the work.

I type most of my notes because my vision is too bad to read my own handwriting. But I really love the look and feel of handwritten notes, and I want this sketchbook to feel alive and delicious to look back on. So I make a few handwritten notes alongside the picture of the painting, to record my ideas for specific edits I need to make. They’re brief and I can always use my phone to take a photo and zoom in on my writing if I can’t read it with my reading glasses afterwards!