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June 6, 2005

Sketching as Therapy

It's been a while since I've posted sketches here, so I felt it was about time to remedy the situation. The sketches you see here were created at different times, but follow similar approaches — they are intended to be very dense and have no specific theme other than whatever captured my attention while sketching. Sketch Therapy.

Page 1
The left-hand sketch was done while watching TV one evening. I quite liked the density I'd achieved with my Jazz sketches and wanted to play a bit with that dense crosshatching line quality. I'd see something on TV or in the living room, or even some idea which popped into my head and would sketch it quickly. So, you see some old metal type, a clock, a strange made up word "Uibioz" and a funky asian looking letter-form. I also explored shading a little bit, trying to achieve some different levels of shade by use of crosshatching.

Page 2
This sketch was created on my plane ride home from PalmSource DevCon, May 27th. I had a little time to kill between takeoff and reaching cruising altitude, so I pulled out my pen and scribbled whatever I saw or came into my head. You'll notice the abstract circle on the left representing a radar sweep, a tea cup recalled from Sushi restaurant I visited the night before, the Holy Grail (no idea why that popped into my head), a man seated a few rows ahead, the seat back lock, text and arrows from signage, and my pen cap. I also explored line hatching on this one, though I intentionally worked in a little bit looser way.

I like this loose exploration now and then, as I'm not so forced into any theme or subject. It's a very relaxing exercise, because I'm free to scribble anything I see or think of — something like working in a zen rock garden. If you want to sketch but have no subject or even feel your artistic skills are not the best, try using sketching as a therapeutic exercise. It works!

June 6, 2005 5:15 PM | Sketches | add to del.icio.us

Comments

Hi Mike

_So_ nice to see you post some more of your sketches! As you know, I'm a big fan. I like these a lot -- especially Page 1. The different levels of shading work really well, and although there may be no theme as such, the way the various elements are composed is interesting (they kind of come together in what to me looks like a big C shape). Makes me wish I wasn't sat at work right now ... of for a pen and a few minutes.

Posted by: Neal at June 7, 2005 3:45 AM

Neal, thanks for the kind words. While at DevCon a few people told me to scan and share some of my previously unpublished scribbles, so I thought I would. Glad you like the result.

so often I do a sketch but wonder if it's worthy of posting or not — maybe I should post first and ask questions later. :-)

Keep on sketching!

Posted by: Mike Rohde at June 7, 2005 12:59 PM