I absolutely LOVE photography, but recently found myself wanting to get more creative with my art. Last Fall, I found myself searching the Internet for motivation, when I stumbled upon The Sketchbook Project of the Brooklyn Art Library in New York.

What is the Sketchbook Project? It is a creative platform that encourages people from around the globe to create and to share their work together through the Brooklyn Art Library. Participants fund the project and, in turn, are sent a blank 5x7" sketchbook. Anyone can participate; professionals or amateurs. Participants simply choose a theme, then fill their sketchbooks with writings, drawings, paintings, photographs, or any media that fits within the guidelines of the paper sketchbook. Upon completion, sketchbooks are returned to the Brooklyn Art Library where they are catalogued and shelved for visitors to view. The library also schedules tour dates where collections of sketchbooks are sent out in a bookmobile to reach a wider audience. The 2019 Bookmobile is scheduled to visit Brooklyn, Paris, London, Los Angeles and Venice Beach. Of course, there are so many more people in the world to reach! So, participants also have the option to digitize their sketchbooks for online viewing worldwide. 

This sounded like just the motivation I was looking for! No, I'm not a sketch artist. I have no training in the field, but I love any creative challenge. I decided to give it a try. My plan was to merge my photography with sketches. I began by choosing and printing some favorite photos. I thought about why they were my favorites and how they fit together. I finally had a theme. I organized and pasted them into the sketchbook, then used pencils, pastels and fine-point markers to get creative. My sketchbook took about three months to complete, but I managed to return it to the Brooklyn Art Library in time to be included in Volume 14 of the Sketchbook Project. As much fun as it was to create, it took quite a bit of time. I decided to pay the extra to have the book digitized.

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Given that the overall mission of this project is to create and share with a global community, I thought I'd share it here as well. I don't know how artistic my sketchbook truly is, but perhaps it will inspire someone else looking to get creative!

In case you missed the link above, here is the link to my full sketchbook: Explore. Observe. Photograph. Create.