hello

I just loved Melissa's drawing. I am having trouble posting my images. Looking forward to seeing everybody's work tomorrow.

This drawing was totally unplanned. One of the leaves fell off my indoor plant. I was fascinated by the vitality of the yellow and green pattern on that one leaf. I drew a miniature black and white imaginary tree in front of it to juxtapose against the intensity of the leaf. I did all this with a mechanical pencil on fairly thin white paper and then colored it in with markers while erasing out the pencil. I was afraid to continue after that. Now it seems funny that the leaf is as big as the tree, but it still somehow pleases me.

Welcome!

The artist's sketchbook is an elusive conundrum. What is it for? What does it do for an artist? Is it precious? Ephemeral? Cathartic? How do we quantify and qualify the work that goes into the sketchbook?

Sketchbooks are often private conversations between the artist and, well, themselves. We each have our own goals for our sketchbooks and sometimes we fall short of those goals. This blog is a way of thinking out loud and making parts of that conversation public and part of the community.

Current contributors to this blog are students on the course "The Artist's Sketchbook" at the School of the the Museum of Fine Arts in Boston, from January - May 2009. They will share their experiences in strengthening their practice of keeping a sketchbook, what a sketchbook means for them, how they use a sketchbook, thoughts on drawing, reviews of drawing exhibits, conversations about other artists, and more.

Tune in, check back often and join in the conversation!