SKETCHBOOK RETROSPECTIVE
/ROY T./ ROOSTER/ KELLI/ COAL MINER/ GOURDS/ LEONAVELLE TRIVETTE/ COAL MINER IN THE DARK/ MAL GIBSON/ GOURD/
/DELADIS DRAWING/ FIDDLE/ HORSE/
Our own alphabet is the end result of years of evolution, where images eventually became letters that represent
sounds instead of pictures that represent objects. Although handwriting skills and penmanship are slowly becoming
a way of the past, we still place value on the look of our letters. Everyone draws to an extent.
The most common reason for drawing is to plan. An architect creates blueprints that are drawings of structures
and buildings that are to be built. Before a road is built, it must be drawn out on a map to serve as a guide for the
finished product. In sports, plays are drawn into playbooks that designate positions and movements of the players.
A sculptor plans out the finished product with a drawing, as does the painter.
The general public doesn’t get to see these drawings, blueprints, and playbooks. At most we get to see the finished
building, drive on the new road, watch our favorite team run a defensive blitz, and look in awe at a grand sculpture
or colorful painting. As a result, we sometimes take for granted the process of creation, and the seeing through of
ideas into finished products.
As a painter of Appalachian narratives, it has been my job to create two dimensional planes that are windows into
the lives of mountain folks. The act of arranging and composing the 2-D plane is much more involved than coming
up with a “good idea for a painting.” As an artist working and relying on representation, I must be a keen observer.
The sketchbook is my constant companion and friend. It is where I record my observations, and plan my paintings.
It is also where I exorcise my skills in the way that a musician must practice his or her instrument. Sometimes to
draw is to draw. It is a way of understanding the physical world, so that when it is time to compose a painting, many
of the problems have been worked out in a simpler, more intimate setting. This not only saves time and frustration
when working on a painting, but the simple act of drawing can result in inspiration. When asked where ideas come
from, I can only answer that they come from drawing. An artist can’t just sit and wait for divine inspiration, but
must channel it through the art of doing. Although it is usually the paintings and finished artwork that we use to
understand the lives and minds of artists, the sketchbook offers a much more realistic glimpse into the artist’s life. It
is like reading your sister’s diary. Thoughts and images are recorded that may never make their way into a finished
artwork, but all contribute significantly to the work that is created for the public eye.
PROCESS
This group of ink drawings is a way of bringing the privacy of the sketchbook to the general public. Some drawings
can be found used in complete paintings, while others will forever just be recordings of my world. These drawings
are transferred directly out of my sketchbook using tracing paper and a hand transfer method where the opposing
side of the paper is covered with graphite. The tracing paper is then taped to a heavy watercolor paper where it is
traced again. The graphite on the back creates a light transfer of the drawing onto the watercolor paper. Once the
general transfer is made the image is then inked with a pen and brush. As a result, these inked drawings are simple
representations of complex observations that are usually done from life or photograph. The result is a body of work
that reflects the greater process that goes into the creation of much more complex and colorful oil paintings.
/BACK TO NEWS/