Summer is upon us. This past weekend, that was made abundantly clear with 90 degree weather. Now that summer is clearly here, it’s time to start thinking about what I’m going to be filling the pages of my sketchbook with. This past weekend I was looking through a book from my library on Joaquin Sorolla and it made me want to get out and draw more landscapes. The drawing that adorns this post was drawn during the past year, and is one of two landscapes that I’ve recently done in my sketchbook. I happen to live in an area where there’s lots of trees and nice landscapes that lend themselves well to being drawn in pen and ink. Lots of people have paid me compliments on my pen and ink work, and I appreciate their enthusiasm for my work, but there’s a lot more that I’d like to do with my drawing. As the saying goes, the best is yet to come.
I’d like to augment my drawing with other things this summer; lately, I’ve been feeling as if I need to go back and deepen my knowledge of things that I love. I feel the need to reconnect with all those things that nourish and inspire my creativity. I’ve got quite a few books that I need to start reading: A life of Picasso by John Richardson (3 volumes), Loving Picasso by Fernande Olivier, Van Gogh: The Life by Steven Naifeh and Gregory White Smith, and this is just a few of the books I’m ready to start. This summer I will also reconnect with music that I love. I’ve been enthralled by flamenco for a very long time, and as time passes my fascination with it continues to deepen. This summer I will endeavor to learn more about it’s origins and discover new voices that I’m unfamiliar with. My taste in music is pretty eclectic and I certainly love lots of different things. Kate Bush is also someone whose catalog I’d like to reexamine over the next few months. I’ve heard her music a thousand times over the past thirty years, and I still continue to discover new things about it. These are only a few of the things that I’d like to reconnect with; there’s documentaries, theatre performances, and other things that will also fill up my time over the coming months. All of these things will nourish my creativity and that will find its way onto the pages of my sketchbook. Summer is already looking good.
