sketchbooks, the essential tool

i've got a couple projects going on, and one of them is going to go on for a lot longer.  the 'cleaning the cellar in the shop' project i should be able to finish up in another 10 or 12 hours of effort, but the 'digitizing the sketchbooks project' will likely go on for another couple years.  so far i have scanned and saved the highlights to this album from three fairly recent ones. 

 you can scroll through the slideshow at this link.

this is maybe a third of it ...

i've been sketching sporadically since 1980 when i bought betty edwards' book 'drawing on the right side of the brain' to learn how to communicate with my clients.  while cleaning the cellar last sunday, i found a fresh box of sketchbooks, likely packed when we moved to dorset from arlington in 1996 containing some drawings from 1988.  the one above is sam's, and he would have been 5 and a half in january 88, the date of one of will's first drawings i found below in the same sketchbook.  will would have been 3 and a half then.  fun ...

i wish i could draw like that now .. i have written on this subject before, and i think it's an important one.  the hand often is a link to the subconscious.  we sometimes don't know what we will draw until we start, and every sketch is not a winner.  some are though, and it is hard to come up with them if you sit down with the intent to 'come up with something new'.  set that pen or pencil free .. see where it goes ..

click the photos to enlarge them ..

this series of sketches and photos below are just a few highlights from the slideshow

'trout desk'

'duck bed'

sometimes new ideas come from existing pieces.  the sideboard and mirror combo are from 1987.  the sketches below from a proposal for a client are from 1988.  

'take an object. do something to it.  do something else to it.' .... jasper johns

 i leave you with a couple more from sam from 1988 ..

yeah, real fun ...

Drawing and Thinking...Thinking and Drawing

Clipping above from my bulletin board ... source unknown.... been there for a while

Having just spent the weekend at the Woodstock Furniture Show, talking to people about what I do and how I do it, the theme of drawing for work and for pleasure came up many times. This is a meaty subject for me. I have been drawing, both for my business and for pleasure now for almost 30 years. A long time. It is probably, one could say, my primary tool. the origin of all things ... and, a distinct and rewarding pleasure in my life. The process mystifies and engages me. At our recent Guild meeting Friday, two items from The Furniture Society ( of which the Guild is now a member) were passed around. The newsletter, Furniture Matters, and the conference catalog, State of the Craft were distributed. Both reminded me of why I belong to both organizations (community and ideas) and why I occasionally still do shows (to talk and think about what I do). A month or so ago I received permission from Ashley to post her essay below on drawing. She catches the essence of the drawing thing. Click it to read it ... Enjoy it ... Get out your pen and keep a sketchbook handy.



Ashley Ericksmoen is a designer, maker and educator in Oakland, California....

A good place to start ... 'Drawing on the Right Side of the Brain'

A collection of my 'for pleasure' drawings I put together earlier this year

The post idea/visualization process


The completed project ... Railing Project

Coffee table with 'secret' compartments ... (unbuilt)

Detail exploration ... The Lutyens Style Desk

Early potential trestle designs for The Claro Walnut Slab Desk ...

Sunrise/Sunset


Sketch over photo ... The Tansu Style Stairs
Concept for pizza oven removable/reusable arched roof form

Cockatoo Table early concept sketches

Recycled Chestnut 'Tub Table'



A John Cedarquist piece in a client's home ... How could this not have started from a drawing??? Get your pen .... Have at it ... More on this subject to follow ...