Nightmare : The Sketchbook Project

I recently completed my submission for The 2011 Sketchbook Project, which will be touring the US shortly. I've never worked in this sort of moleskine before and it was very definitely a learning experience; certain brands and even colors of mediums took to the paper differently. Getting the vibrancy and style I wanted on some pages was a real trial, especially where ink was involved.

At the end of the project though, I can say that I am proud of my submission. Putting it in the envelope to send to Brooklyn, NY knowing full well that the little monster won't be coming home ever again was the most challenging part of the project for me. But, I did it.

Here is a sampling of pages from my book, which follows the progression of nightmares as your periods of dreaming begin vague and short and grow longer and more vivid as morning draws near.

Nightmare
Nahyt-mair
-Noun
- A frightening of Distressing Dream.

There are 43 pages that span the course of 4 periods of dreaming. To see all of them check out the set on Flickr.

P.S. I feel the need to point out that most of the fears highlighted in this book are not ones that I actually have. I rather like birds, the ocean, Baba Yaga, forests and squids. However, clowns give me the serious heebie-jeebies and I am afraid of heights and falling. That last sequence creeped me out a bit as I drew it. Ick.

Work in Progress Wednesday - A Day Late!

I swallowed a huge chunk of fear and summoned up my courage to join in the 2011 Sketchbook Project. When my sketchbook is complete, I'll mail it back to the Art House Co-op and it will go on a tour of art galleries around the country with thousands of other sketchbooks before being put on permanent display in the Brooklyn art library.

I tend to have a hard time letting go of artwork that I put a lot of myself into and I know when the time comes to let this book go, it will be hard. So, I picked a theme I wouldn't necessarily long to horde and one I am all too familiar with, nightmares.

I've worked on 5 pages of the book so far and thought I would share my progress. My idea is to model the book after one of my somewhat frequently nightmare plagued nights. I often wake myself from one nightmare only to fall asleep and find myself falling into a different nightmare. I'm hoping to work the book in a similar fashion, running though a few different nightmare sequences. I'll also be working in different styles and mediums throughout the book.