My new epiphany for travelling with art supplies is to pack as light as I can bare to, because it means I’m more likely to carry my sketchbook every day and therefor be at the ready whenever inspiration strikes.
With me this trip I brought my trusty Leuchtturm1917 plain paper sketchbook and the Oliver Jeffers x Caran d’Ache pencil set. Inevitably I picked up a couple more things onduringmy trip - a miniature swiss army knife (with scissors) from a flea market, a glue stick from a stationery store and a calaligraphy pen from 7eleven. The following spreads are the result!
I’m thinking of trying to find a super thin and light sketchbook for my travels in future as the 280ish page Leuchtturm hardcover notebooks are pretty heavy, and I usually only get out a dozen or so pages per couple of weeks of travel anyway. If you have any suggestions please let me know below!
We were in Tokyo because my solo show MIDNIGHT PICNIC with SH Gallery was opening in Harajuku. You can see the opening night in this vlog:
I also visited the Kamihaku Paper Expo which is a huge stationery trade show with artists/illustrators/designers/brands boothing from all over Asia. See all the fun here:
If you follow my work and musings anywhere else, you’ll already know this but I’ve been burnt the heck out. Lately I’ve felt making anything meaningful is SUCH a task. Part of that is not having allowed myself true creative play for a long while - I’ve romanticised what it is to have that time, and therefor feel like the grounds for creativity need to feel a specific way in order to create something worthwhile. That pressure made me subconsciously feel it was never the right time to make anything - even when I’ve found myself with time.
I decided it was time to actively combat that, or at least see if that theory of there being a perfect time to create was true or not. Instead of waiting for fertile grounds for painting, I decided I would foster the right environment in preparation for the feeling of wanting to paint. I was in the city and I decided to buy a large canvas (side note: I didn’t know good canvases were so expensive - I don’t think I’ve ever worked on canvas in my personal work before). I decided to take out my Holbein Acryla Gouache (old tubes and the new tubes I recently bought on our trip to Japan), throw out a drop sheet and prepare my wet palette.
When I felt ready, my studio would be ready... Could I will myself into being ready now? I sat down in my sketchbook and sketched out some thumbnails. I took two of the thumbnails and did a quick colour study and honestly didn’t love them. I resisted the urge to do more colour studies, and to rework and blow up the thumbnails to scaled sketches - this obsessive process has sent me into burnout before and I also know it causes my work to lose looseneds - something I’ve been trying to retain in all parts of my process. Instead I took the canvas, decided to trust a process I’m unfamiliar with and scale up directly on the canvas. I didn’t transfer the thumbnail perfectly, but I still liked it. Then I decided to trust myself to go straight in with the gouache without hesitation.
I wavered between loving not fully knowing what I was doing and feigning confidence to feeling like this was all a big mistake constantly throughout this process. When I finished there were some parts I appreciated, but many that I wished I could have done better. I decided not to go back in and rework for the sake of my future sane self - my main priority with this piece was proving that art-making can be quick, carefree and fun again - and stopping where I did achieved that. The painting sat in my studio for about a week and half before I brought it home - enough time for me to pick parts about it that I didn’t like. By the time I was ready to hang, I didn’t love the piece even though I liked the process.
But then I hung it up in my bedroom. And like magic I suddenly liked it, at least in my space. It looked a little amateur because it is - I’m not used to working on canvas, entirely with gouache, at this scale and void of something with a cute face on it. I’m actively deciding that’s okay!
I still feel kind of down in the dumps but I’m proud of this piece and the journey it took me on. I’m happy I did it! I wanna do it again!
Speak soon okay?
Sha’an
P.S. This last part is a sidenote: but we’ve been living in our apartment for 6 months and I still love it. It is truly my happy place. I love our garden and feel so lucky to be able to visit it whenever I like. We made the most wonderful discovery a week or so ago - there are three apple or crabapple trees outside of our bedroom window - maybe getting this place was meant to be! I mean it feels right but is this a sign? Hahah, eagerly awaiting them to ripen up so I can taste our very own garden-grown apple! Fingers crossed the birds and possums don’t get it first!
Hello sweet things! I wanted to share a recent and much needed staycation with you all.
We rented in this adorable, baby-blue home parallel to Callala Beach in Jervis Bay which was perfect for Rocket, Tonka and I. I think I really needed some physical separation from work - to be somewhere unfamiliar where the only thing left to do is relax. I paint nature so often, but so infrequently find myself there which is something I’d like to change. It is so rejuvenating and I’m so grateful to be able to take time away especially after years of not travelling.
As you’ll see we packed a lot into 3 days and 2 nights. All of these photos are taken on 35mm film. Dumping them all here really gives me Tumblr era vibes and I know some of you will appreciate that as much as I do!
Anyway, remember that downtime is an important part of the creative practice - so make time for it (I say this so much that at this point it is almost purely just a note-to-self).
If you’re here because you just watched my video on how I stay productive - yay! You’ll already know how to use this template. And if not, I got you! Check it out below:
I hope that sharing my system of to-do lists helps you get stuff done - thanks for stopping by angels! x
