Archive Sketchbooks (part 2)
Here is part 2 of a look back over my sketchbooks from days growing up!
You can see part 1 that I posted here.
In this post I’ve included some stuff I randomly sketched from my university days and beyond. (Most of the stuff I’ve chosen here dates from the late 1990s to 2000 or 2001.)
I was a bad gal, I didn’t always pay attention to the class (well it was Chem ENG!), or do my homework in a professional manner, but sometimes I found it more interesting to draw people than to study pipe flow velocity equations and heat transfer coefficients…… zzzzz….
In short, the course bored me stiff but I am convinced in life we will always gravitate towards what interests us most.
Figures and faces…
Some lecturers I drew. Medium: Biro on lined A4 paper or back of University course notes. (cheap)
Another… this time slightly more caricatured in style…
Negative space line drawings
Negative space drawing of the lecture theatre (M220, perhaps, if memory serves?) – from the back of the class:
Living room sketch from home, vintage tv from the 1990s era:
At this time of negative space-y outline drawings I was quite into surf and ski and boarding labels. I wore a lot of hoodies, and trousers with big zips on them. (Hmm!) Supposed to be doing homework, instead I went home and made this Christmas Card to send to my friends:
Then I would stare out my bedroom window and draw the Glasgow tenements instead.
Joy in repetition…
View from my bedroom window. Medium: pen on course notes.
I suppose I had an almost obsessive-compulsive disorder about doing anything other than the Chem Eng homework.
But you can see why, when you turn over to see what was on the reverse of above:
Some other thing I found in one of my old laboratory books. The view of the skyline was invariably more interesting to study than whatever lab experiment I was supposed to be supervising. Medium: pencil on graph paper.
Finally, I got a grip and decided: ‘I must do a proper drawing!’ – so I decided to draw that great big cathedral near my university, St Mungo’s Cathedral. Story: I remember it took me about 2 days of solid drawing, sitting in the field, to get this right and finished. No photos used. I did it all outdoors. I skipped revision class, lectures, etc and disappeared out of contact for these two whole days while I focused on drawing it. It was fairly engrossing. I sat outside in the blazing May sun on a knoll of grass and watched as the shadows passed infuriatingly around all the various right angles, turning my light to dark and my dark to light. Who gave a SH*T about Chem Eng! I know it’s not perfect but I was only 20 and what a beast to draw.
More Faces…
Random women’s faces… ?? – I can’t remember where these quick doodles came from, maybe a magazine that gripped me more than my Chem Eng notes.
Life drawing
Although this rough little B&W line sketch is titled ‘Girl In Clothing’, I am fairly sure it is a self-portrait. Again probably done in my bedroom-study while supposed to be doing Chem Eng. I don’t remember owning a t-shirt branded ‘LOST GIRL’ but I suppose it is telling that I did.
Dogs at Christmas, lazing in front of the fire and in bed. I love the way the dogs stretch out fully in front of the heat of the log fire, and snuggle up into a ball when bedding down for the night in a quiet corner.
Lazy dog… I saw him lounging in front of the fire at Christmas. Animals aren’t really my thing, but it’s always good to test oneself!
Figures slumped in front of the tv at Christmas:
Second sitting, new people… This was fast (and dare I say it, wine-impaired?) work, so not much of the detail captured, just an ‘impression’. Better than watching the EastEnders OMNIBUS or whatever.
Third sitting. Sitting on the sofa post-Christmas lunch.
So, that ends part 2 of my look back on some of my old sketchbooks, capturing some of the essence of my undergraduate days. Hope you enjoyed it!
*** Stay tuned because there is more to come… I hope you will join me in this trip raking through my old works!
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Annie
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