Pretty much anything I end up painting has its beginning somewhere on a page in one of my sketchbooks; this is generally where my thought processes begin to take shape. Over the years I bet I’ve somehow collected over a hundred of these books filled with drawing and paintings and all sorts of ideas.I still have them from the late seventies!

Today I carry my sketchbook bag with me everywhere. Buried within I’ve got a sketchbook or two, a tool roll with all my current pencils, pens and supplies, a small watercolor kit, some clips to hold the pages, and a few various other things. With my ever present bag, I’m constantly jotting down ideas; sometimes in the form of thoughts or prayers or quotes, and often in the form of compositional ideas or little vignettes of things I find interesting. 

In these pages I’m exploring the thoughts and the ideas and the visual imagery behind the eventual finished pieces. I’m experimenting, trying stuff without a serious regard for the end result. Using a pen or a pencil or a brush, I’m searching and longing and looking for the thing that initially grabbed my attention. I’m interpreting the ever changing three dimensional world around me onto a simple piece of paper. I’ve discovered that if, in the process of discovery I’m also concerned with what you’ll think of me while looking at the initial drawings, then I’m much less likely to take the risks I need to in the exploration stage. My sketchbooks are not the place to “play it safe.”

If you'd like to read more, please sign up for my nearly weekly email! 

https://www.jmichaelgatlin.com/email-newsletter