Evading Sketchbook Paralysis

8/16/12 Kuretake Brush Writer, Stillman & Birn sketchbook

When I’m faced with a vast, scenic landscape – the kind that makes film makers drool – as a sketcher, I usually find myself paralyzed. Distilling the detail to a level that I can manage and visually “cropping” a small part of the scene are both daunting tasks. At Gasworks Park, as I gazed at Lake Union’s picture-perfect sailboats, the Space Needle on the horizon (another time when I was sketching at this park, a tourist asked me to point out the houseboat used in Sleepless in Seattle, and I had to shrug; she was disappointed), paralysis was about to set in.

Instead of my favorite Copic Multiliner SP pen, I pulled out a few brush markers. If I attacked the vastness with a brush tip too wide to handle detail or scope, I could evade those challenges and simply try to capture the essence. It was liberating to let go of accuracy and appropriate scale. I ended up enjoying this technique so much that I tried it again later at the mall.

8/16/12 Kuretake Brush Writer, Tombow marker, Stillman & Birn sketchbook