Metasketching

4/11/12, Copic Multiliner SP pen, Akashiya watercolors

Years ago, someone introduced me to the term metacommunication, which means communicating about communication.

In images I’ve seen published in books and on the Internet, I’ve noticed that some artists like to sketch their art materials. An Australian artist I admire, Liz Steel, has made it a ritual of her sketching practice to draw and paint her watercolor paint box on the first page of every sketchbook she begins.

I’ve decided that this practice – sketching the art materials that one uses to sketch with – is metasketching. (I was hoping to coin this term, but a Google search indicates that the term already exists, though it seems to have something to do with computer-aided drawing or some such. Drat. You have to get up awfully early if you want to coin a term.)

4/11/12, Copic Multiliner SP pen, Akashiya watercolors