QUICK
SKETCHES
All my work starts as a scribble in a sketchbook or a quick 3D sketch in wax; I always have wax and a sketchbook in my pocket. These sketches are the furthest thing from a work of art imaginable. Most often, they are demented scrawls of contorted stick people, pierced with arrows and surrounded by incoherent scribbles, that annotate the thought process. Inspiration often arrives inconveniently and passes fleetingly.
Over the years, I have learned that perfect sketches are un-necessary. Quick energetic line drawings or 3D wax sketches, with brief scribbled notes, serve to capture the energy of the emotion as it escapes my thoughts. When the time comes to develop these ideas more closely, these explosive scribbles provide me with something close to the vibrant nature of the original inspiration.
The ideas, thoughts and emotions can effervesce anywhere; up a mountain, suspended from a rope; 2km into a 5km swim; 20metres into a 30metre dive…anywhere. Inspiration doesn’t arrive conveniently but when it does arrive, I itch and fidget to free the ideas from my head. That is why there are about 10 live sketchbooks scattered all over my life and little blobs of wax in every jacket pocket. This way I am always within arm’s reach of setting them free. I even have a waterproof sketchbook in the bath.
From the thought exploding to closing the sketchbook, can take as little as 45 seconds; I revisit it when I have time. They generally look awful, but it is enough. My smallest sketchbook is 2cm x 4cm, so it can fit in my pocket when I’m up that mountain suspended from that rope.