Sketchbook Study: Tropical Floral

I haven’t maintained a sketchbook practice since 2013 when I was a graduate student at the University of Washington in Seattle. I was recently inspired by Rebecca Green’s Sketchbook Tour videos on her incredibly thoughtful Patreon, The Dessert Club. I can attest that the wisdom and inspiration found there is worth far more than the $5/month she is charging. Anyway, Rebecca has a knack for clearly communicating about her work - the inspiration, process, decision-making, materials, meaning, etc. It reminded me of the value of taking time to digest and reflect on one’s own work.

In school, this self reflection was encouraged daily. My sketchbooks were typically filed with words and very few drawings. They were an 80/20 split. I unfairly judged myself for this, thinking an artist’s journal should be full of images. Of course, that’s silly! Artists can lean towards thinking in pictures, words, or both. Rebecca’s books had a similar theme, which felt validating, as she’s an accomplished illustrator who I admire. I utilized my sketchbooks as a space to think through goals and ideas, to record observations about inspiring daily events or artists I admired, and to play with materials or test out ideas.

A selection of sketchbook pages from 2013-2015

For years, when I was deep into learning about pattern design, I leaned heavily on digital tools like Photoshop and Procreate. I continued to paint alongside my pattern making, but the two didn’t mix very often. Digital tools also offered a more manageable workflow in my life as a new parent. However, over time, I started to miss the physical aspect of art making.

In 2023, I made it a goal to spend a few hours a month playing with materials; making something for fun that wasn’t for an audience or to share in any way. The result of this low stakes practice was falling in love with paint all over again. It rekindled the enjoyment I felt early on in my art education, discovering the art making process for the first time.

In 2024, I want to merge my artist hand with my surface design. I want to continue with the spirit of play and let it overflow into my work. Inspired by a renewed affection for my sketchbook and a desire to make by hand, this tropical floral spread came to life. 

I thought it would be fun to use this blog post as an extension of my sketchbook - to share the process, both for the personal benefit of self reflection and for any of you who may be interested. Let’s dive in, shall we?

Inspiration has felt like a fickle friend lately. Staying home every day with two young children in the dead of winter can feel very… brown. In the past I’ve been most inspired by the novelty of travel and - of course - color. When inspiration does strike, I take note! We traveled to Florida in December and on a warm weather walk through my in-laws neighborhood, I  spied a patch of landscaping whose color palette caught my eye. I snapped a quick photo and added it to a Google Keep note, with a reminder set to pop-up after our return (If I don’t do things like that, the moment will pass, only to be forgotten and left behind forever). Once I was settled back in Minnesota, the note popped up and I was ready to go!

Initially, I thought I’d jump straight to paint on paper (there’s a lovely Skillshare course by Catherine Jennifer Charnock on using watercolor blocks to arrange a repeat pattern by hand that I can’t wait to try out!). 

I decided to play with the flowers’ shapes and hues in my sketchbook first. Once I started, I couldn’t stop! It was too much fun. Colored pencils were one of the first materials I felt a kinship with when learning to draw. I was obsessed with layering colors. Much like pattern making, there’s a puzzling aspect to color mixing that is so satisfying. Does this green need a little more blue? Should this pink be warmer? Which shade or yellow or orange will do the trick? I used 18 different pencils here. 90% of the spread consists of mixed hues. I used a combination of Prismacolor Premier Colored Pencil and Holbein Artists’ Colored Pencils. Here’s the palette:

Holbein Signal Red OP043 / Holbein Magenta OP449 / Holbein Marigold OP142Holbein Bottle Green OP296 / Holbein Rose Pink OP429 / Prismacolor Black PC935 / Prismacolor Hot Pink PC993 / Prismacolor Canary Yellow PC916 / Prismacolor Light Umber PC941 / Prismacolor Mulberry PC995 / Prismacolor Neon Pink PC1038 / Prismacolor Dark Brown PC946 / Prismacolor White PC938 / Prismacolor Dark Purple PC931 / Prismacolor True Blue PC903 / Prismacolor Non-Photo Blue PC919 / Prismacolor True Green PC910 / Prismacolor Colourless PC1077

I found myself in the flow throughout the process. 

Side note: Last year, I started keeping a personal timesheet. It has been so useful for me to see how long different tasks take, especially with all of the admin work that freelancing requires. It provideds a lot of insight into where my (limited) time is going. 

Anyhow, I was surprised to find that this tiny spread took me eight hours to complete. I worked primarily during the kiddos nap/quiet time in the afternoon, typically in 20-45 minute bursts. I work best in the morning, but those hours aren’t guaranteed to me in this current season of life, so I take what I can get. I recently joined the Dining Table Art Studio Club (see image below), so this was made in the middle of our home. I often listen to podcasts while I work (on regular rotation lately: The Sporkful, Ten Percent Happier, Parent Data, and The Illustration Department).

Nothing like working smack dab in the middle of daily life.

At first, I studied the photo closely to translate the shapes of each flower type. I wasn’t aiming to make a hyperrealistic botanical illustration, rather to capture the likeness of each bloom in my own style. I wanted to be consistent within the drawing, so I started building a personal vocabulary for each flower. For example, the red and yellow flowers started as a Canary Yellow blob with uneven edges. I used Signal Red to layer line work on top. I went back in with Canary Yellow to soften the lines. I had a similar process for each flower. Once I became familiar with their general forms, I looked less and less at the photograph and more and more at my own drawing. As the floral spread across the sketchbook pages, it took on a life of its own, separate from the source material. This is the point in the process where I start to feel excited and energized. When I was first learning about art over a decade ago, I thought the only measure of a good piece was how closely it resembles reality. Now, I favor the reflection of a unique point of view.  

Thanks for coming along for the ride! This sketchbook spread was pure FUN to create. I think it’s important to remember to enjoy the process and not always make things that are for sale or for show (talking to myself here). Getting lost in the work every once and a while reminds me of why I enjoy this creative life so much in the first place! 

xx Maria