The sketchbook project is great–thanks for the link, i didn’t realise it was back on. I signed up late last year and didn’t give myself enough time to complete my sketchbook. I’ll have to give it another go. I love your idea about having a post card or extra notebook handy to slap paint on. a great way to avoid waste and also to get something random down that can help spark something later on.

Hi Maryann,

Thanks for reading, I was a little shocked when I was writing this post and saw that that sketch was five years old! Time flies when you’ve got your head stuck in your sketchbook

I jot down ideas throughout my day (in a tiny moleskine!) and when I get home, I often have just an image/object/word in my head and I start from there. I also keep folders with images I’ve clipped and saved. Twyla Tharp calls it “scratching” (how you find ideas) and I may stumble across a technique I want to try or maybe just a song stuck in my head has me doodling something. I paint and hate to waste paint, so I always have postcards or an extra notebook handy to slap paint upon and those tend to be the most creative pieces as they just emerge and are very spontaneous and fanciful.

Thanks for the cup of inspiration chai!

xo Lis (coming over from CED)