Hello, been a while, and welcome to the mandatory blog post about my next new wacky project!
Excited? You should be!
Maybe.
No pressure.
This project is called indieVISUAL FYSM which stand for ‘Fill Your Sketchbook Month’ and means very much what you probably think it means; we’re going to try and fill our sketchbooks….in a month…. Colon-zero!!!
It feels odd even trying to further explain it but I’ve never been one to discourage curiosity, so if this sounds like something you’d like to be involved with then read ahead. Also be aware there are other ways to help if you know you won’t be able to produce a sketchbook so…go on….read ahead anyway.
When does it start?!
The official month is January 2011. I’ll be starting on January 1st and hoping to complete by the 31st. It’s a fresh new start and a good idea if you’re stuck for creative resolutions! If you haven’t started by January 1st, read on.
IT’S ALREADY JANUARY AND I HAVEN’T STARTED!
Probably my fault more than anything for not telling you sooner (the new year snuck upon me like a sneaky snake wearing sneakers). I’d like as many people to be finished by January 31st but if you start a little late, it’s fine to finish a little late too. But don’t see that as an excuse. As soon as you buy/own an empty sketchbook; your month starts from there! I’ll be WATCHING*!!!!
*Not really.
How big do our sketchbooks need to be?!
In this project, size does not actually matter. I’m using a fairly thin A5 landscape (that I made by cutting a A4 one in half) sketchbook because I know that’s a realistic size for what I’m going to be able to achieve. If that seems too big or too small to you, by all means use whichever size you think you’ll be able to fill. I think the key is not to be too ambitious and also take into consideration if you’ll want to take your sketchbook around with you, you’ll need to be able to get it out the door. (I’d recommend no bigger than A4)
Is it just sketches?
No no no and….maybe. If you want it to be. Just like the journal challenge last year (drawing once a day, every day, for an entire year) it’s entirely your own ‘indievisual’ choice of what you put in your sketchbook. Hopefully the video will show you some methods if you’re really stuck but just…relax…have fun! Sketchbooks can be all about the ideas rather than the finished product. Don’t try and make every page a masterpiece and just go with the flow, go crazy!…I filled an entire page with pencil sharpenings once but perhaps that story is for another time.
So…do I have to do it like…everyday?
Nope! The beauty of this is that it’ll help you to understand how to work a considerable amount of art into your busy lives. You could –and I know people who do- fill a sketchbook in a day and slack off for the rest of the month. But learning a healthy pattern of when to do art is something only you can know how to do. This is a time to really experiment with a fresh new start to the year.
What do I do with it/Why am I doing this?
Well no one is forcing you to do anything and sadly I haven’t trained a group of singing monkeys to spring from your sketchbook on completion and juggle for you. What you’ll have is a record of a lot of thoughts and feeling in your first month of 2011 and I think that’s exciting enough!!! …I know, I know….I’d prefer the monkeys too…
Hey, how does this fit into the Journal Challenge/Is the Journal Challenge happening this year?
The journal challenge is DEFINITELY happening this year by all means. But I’ll focus on that a little more after January. You can do one and not the other but you can also do both! What I’m hoping will happen is some people will be pleasantly surprised by how much they can achieve within a month and therefore be encouraged to draw a lot more over the next year. If you want to talk to me about your thoughts then I’m easily contactable by email; indievisual@live.co.uk
No idea what I’m talking about? Check the FAQs!
Derp. There’s no way I can do that. How else can I help?
As I’ve said before, sketchbooks are all about ideas! And to fill an entire sketchbook? You need LOTS of ideas. If you’ve got thoughts or ideas on what you want others to be drawing (including me obviously) share them with each other! You can even collaborate with friends to create one whole awesome sketchbook. As long as you fill a sketchbook, the rest is yours to decide.
I hope this helped. If you have any more general questions or suggestions then don’t hesitate to ask me (emailling is good) but this little challenge really isn’t about me. It’s about developing your own skills and making sketchbooks something personal to you.
I wish ye the best of luck with all your creative endeavours!
Oh and Happy New Years and stuff.
-Mx
Excited? You should be!
Maybe.
No pressure.
This project is called indieVISUAL FYSM which stand for ‘Fill Your Sketchbook Month’ and means very much what you probably think it means; we’re going to try and fill our sketchbooks….in a month…. Colon-zero!!!
It feels odd even trying to further explain it but I’ve never been one to discourage curiosity, so if this sounds like something you’d like to be involved with then read ahead. Also be aware there are other ways to help if you know you won’t be able to produce a sketchbook so…go on….read ahead anyway.
When does it start?!
The official month is January 2011. I’ll be starting on January 1st and hoping to complete by the 31st. It’s a fresh new start and a good idea if you’re stuck for creative resolutions! If you haven’t started by January 1st, read on.
IT’S ALREADY JANUARY AND I HAVEN’T STARTED!
Probably my fault more than anything for not telling you sooner (the new year snuck upon me like a sneaky snake wearing sneakers). I’d like as many people to be finished by January 31st but if you start a little late, it’s fine to finish a little late too. But don’t see that as an excuse. As soon as you buy/own an empty sketchbook; your month starts from there! I’ll be WATCHING*!!!!
*Not really.
How big do our sketchbooks need to be?!
In this project, size does not actually matter. I’m using a fairly thin A5 landscape (that I made by cutting a A4 one in half) sketchbook because I know that’s a realistic size for what I’m going to be able to achieve. If that seems too big or too small to you, by all means use whichever size you think you’ll be able to fill. I think the key is not to be too ambitious and also take into consideration if you’ll want to take your sketchbook around with you, you’ll need to be able to get it out the door. (I’d recommend no bigger than A4)
Is it just sketches?
No no no and….maybe. If you want it to be. Just like the journal challenge last year (drawing once a day, every day, for an entire year) it’s entirely your own ‘indievisual’ choice of what you put in your sketchbook. Hopefully the video will show you some methods if you’re really stuck but just…relax…have fun! Sketchbooks can be all about the ideas rather than the finished product. Don’t try and make every page a masterpiece and just go with the flow, go crazy!…I filled an entire page with pencil sharpenings once but perhaps that story is for another time.
So…do I have to do it like…everyday?
Nope! The beauty of this is that it’ll help you to understand how to work a considerable amount of art into your busy lives. You could –and I know people who do- fill a sketchbook in a day and slack off for the rest of the month. But learning a healthy pattern of when to do art is something only you can know how to do. This is a time to really experiment with a fresh new start to the year.
What do I do with it/Why am I doing this?
Well no one is forcing you to do anything and sadly I haven’t trained a group of singing monkeys to spring from your sketchbook on completion and juggle for you. What you’ll have is a record of a lot of thoughts and feeling in your first month of 2011 and I think that’s exciting enough!!! …I know, I know….I’d prefer the monkeys too…
Hey, how does this fit into the Journal Challenge/Is the Journal Challenge happening this year?
The journal challenge is DEFINITELY happening this year by all means. But I’ll focus on that a little more after January. You can do one and not the other but you can also do both! What I’m hoping will happen is some people will be pleasantly surprised by how much they can achieve within a month and therefore be encouraged to draw a lot more over the next year. If you want to talk to me about your thoughts then I’m easily contactable by email; indievisual@live.co.uk
No idea what I’m talking about? Check the FAQs!
Derp. There’s no way I can do that. How else can I help?
As I’ve said before, sketchbooks are all about ideas! And to fill an entire sketchbook? You need LOTS of ideas. If you’ve got thoughts or ideas on what you want others to be drawing (including me obviously) share them with each other! You can even collaborate with friends to create one whole awesome sketchbook. As long as you fill a sketchbook, the rest is yours to decide.
I hope this helped. If you have any more general questions or suggestions then don’t hesitate to ask me (emailling is good) but this little challenge really isn’t about me. It’s about developing your own skills and making sketchbooks something personal to you.
I wish ye the best of luck with all your creative endeavours!
Oh and Happy New Years and stuff.
-Mx
