The Sketchbook Project

I recently completed The 2012 Sketchbook Project, which is a traveling show of thousands sketchbooks. You purchase a book through the Art House Co-op fill it based on a theme you chose from a preset list (My theme was "Sandwich). Then you mail the book back and it travels with other sketchbooks from city to city and is shown in local galleries. You can see more info on the project and where the shows will be on the Art House Co-op website http://www.arthousecoop.com/

Below are images from my sketchbook and below that I'll write a little on the experience and the thought process behind what I've sketched. Enjoy.

This project was a lot of fun and really exercised my creativity. I began by free form sketching whatever came to my mind when thinking of the theme sandwich. When doodling I've always been a fan of repetition so for the next spread I repeated pickles as a sandwich topping and decided from there that I'd do a topping every other spread. This was great because it allowed me to have a break in between repeating an element over and over. In between the toppings are fun little scenes having to do in one way or another with sandwiches. Each element has a little bit of humor in it, which was a lot of fun because I am very much the type who will laugh at their own jokes.

I would definetly recommend this project to anyone. Whether you're the next Leonardo or you just draw stick figures on post-it notes, sketching can be a very powerful thing that helps you explore your own mind. My only regret was that I didn't learn about the project sooner. All the sketches you see were done in a month. I learned about the project only a few days before the deadline to sign up. Next time I'll be sure to sign up extra early to give myself time to enjoy it even more.