Sketchbook Drawings: Allowing personal shapes and forms to express themselves

Puzzled by the diversity of my work, people often ask which medium and which genre is my favorite. If I had to chose one tool and one way to express my experience of life, I would chose a pencil and my sketchbook in which to draw orbs and organic shapes in space.

For many years my sketchbooks were filled with the struggle to draw realistically, the struggle to see the world as objects rather than shapes and patterns of light and dark. I rarely used my sketchbook to draw the orbs, ribbons and button-like shapes that automatically come from my pencil when I'm not thinking about drawing. As a child, I filled the pages of the telephone book with these delightful marks. I left these marks behind on napkins and placemats when I traveled. These shapes that move through space have been a part of my consciousness for as long as I can remember. Yet, I never honored these constant companions with a place on a page in a sketchbook or on a canvas. The first time I allowed them to become a painting was during the summer of 2003.

On December 31, 2005 I opened the cover of a new sketchbook, picked up a pencil and was immediately distracted. When I glanced at the marks my pencil had made, I saw the familiar orbs and saucer-like forms drawn faintly on the page. The time had come to embrace these shapes and to follow wherever they might lead. A journal drawing, allowing the drawing itself to inspire each mark, become a daily meditation. Surprisingly, the meditative practice led back to the figure and a serious study of the skeleton to allow the figures to emerge from the paper with movement in space without a model.

Watercolor Painting: Restless by Chris Carter