Daphne Cote, Artist: August 2012

Laying Female Nude

Sketchbook graphite drawing

Summer 2012

I have always had a sketchbook. I don't really remember a time in my life when I didn't have one. I think the first 'real' sketchbook I received when I was about 9. Well I think it was my 9th birthday when my parents gave me a pink hard plastic briefcase full of 'real' art supplies. There was nothing with Crayola on it. There were 'real' brushes, a 'real' pencil set, 'real' paint, 'real' artist paper, and a 'real' sketchbook. Before that I had little notepads that I jotted down drawings and ideas or practiced my writing skills. I started keeping a sketchbook long before I had any titled art classes.
Recently, I have been reading the 'Ramona' series of books by Beverly Cleary to my young children. I remember reading them myself as a child. No wonder I loved them and felt liked I connected to the Ramona character. I was not boisterous and I never got in trouble at school but I did feel the same passion for art as Ramona did. I loved her commitment to originality and self expression. Like Ramona I was fortunate to have parents that encouraged my need for self expression and made sure I could seize every creative opportunity that came my way.
I have filled so many sketchbooks over the years that I have lost count of how many I have. I have also gone through a variety of types and sizes over the years. I am greatful to my parents for funding and providing me with so many sketchbooks. I don't know how I would live without a sketchbook. I would probably write on various pieces of paper and staple them together. I have in the past been without a sketchbook and then find any scrap of paper, napkin, kleenex, or anything that I can draw on and later attach it into my sketchbook.
Now I work in three sketchbooks. I have a small sketchbook that fits into all my bags easily (the drawings shown here are from this small sketchbook). The small one I take with me everywhere, it holds all my random ideas, quick sketches, names of artists I need to look up. It also documents inspiring experiences I have had that fuel my work. I have a medium sized bound sketchbook that I take with me when I know I will have time to draw. I take it on vacations, pull it out to study various still lives, I take it when I know I may have a chance to do at least 5 drawings. Then I have a large, higher quality paper sketchpad of paper that I can easily remove the sheets from. I use this for longer model sessions, extended drawings, softer pencils, or preliminary sketches for large paintings.
I have been teaching and painting so much that I have found, when looking back, that I started putting more notes in my sketchbook than actual sketches. This summer has been full of family and kids so while I am working on a commissioned piece (that I can't share yet as it's a surprise for the client's spouse), I can share this little project I've been working on. I have been making time to sketch. I have been trying to draw more often to exercise my skills of seeing. I have been looking at other artists drawings and copying them in order to learn from them.

(Included are images of drawings of myself and my significant other -the cheap models, the rest are studies I drew of artwork done by other artists - Daniel Graves, Steven Assael, Juliette Sristides, Pierre-Paul Prud'hon.)