The Sketchbook Project 2012

This morning, I received an email from The Art House Librarian Robot (hihi... cute, rite?) that made me so relieved that I can finally blog about this project that we've been working on.

All 5 of us had been on the edge of our seats since we sent out our labour of love.  Now, I could totally comprehend the agony parents had to deal with parting with their children when they go away to venture the world.  And this was what our Sketchbooks were supposed to do ... to go on The Sketchbook Project 2012 World Tour (hopefully) and be on display at the Brooklyn Art Library.

Sketchbook Project 2012 by the Art House Co-op in Brooklyn, NY.  "The Sketchbook Project is a traveling library that archives thousands of artists' sketchbooks from across the globe and shares them with the public. This is where we share all of the incredible work from the shelves." ~http://blog.sketchbookproject.com/

I signed up for the theme "Life Underground" and toyed around with a couple of ideas on how to express myself through the theme on the sketchbook.
 I decided on a visual storybook, but no idea on what kind of media I'm going to use.  So it was a work in progress.  People around me kept inspiring me with feedback & ideas when I shared my drafts with them.

I started with pencil sketching and drafting the layout for the pages, and stayed with just 6 spreads (12 pages).  I didn't use the sketchbook that was provided in the end because I need the paper thickness that only watercolor paper could give me.  I intended it to be textured & layered.

After I inked it with details, I applied watercolor from Sakura Koi Watercolor set.  At first the colors were on the section cut of the ground.  Not wanting to dilute the details of the interior spaces, I opted to not color the interior but shaded in shadows to give it some layering and defining forms.

Here are 5 sketchbooks from our little group here in Kuching, with our chosen themes (from a list of themes provided by The Sketchbook Project):

Peggy Wong "Life Underground";

Chen LiLi "Hope"

Azie Morni "In 10 Minutes"

Soh Zu An "Companion Book"

Soh Zu Yi "Heroes & Villians"