Sketchbooking has always been an important part of my routine as an artist and illustrator. I use sketchbooks in many ways: to explore ideas, colours, patterns, styles and tools. And other times it’s just something fun and relaxing to do. It keeps up my creativity whenever I’m not working on bigger projects.
Last autumn I fell ill, and recovery has taken several months. I spent a lot of that time trying to relax and rest, not being able to go out much and not having enough energy to work on complicated art projects.
Around that time I started listening to audiobooks. I used to be a bookworm, but never explored audiobooks before. At first when I tried to listen I felt vaguely frustrated, and soon my mind started wandering until I noticed I had no idea what I was listening to.
However, I remembered tricks that used to help me focus. Back when I studied philosophy at uni, I attended several hour long lectures each day. Now, I absolutely loved philosophy, but focusing on continuous listening can be a struggle sometimes. There were rarely any visual aid or active tasks involved in the lectures, so I ended up using two techniques to keep my attention focused. The first and quite obvious one was to actively take a lot of notes – and the second option was simply to doodle drawings in my notebook.
The problem with random doodling is that it doesn’t really keep me stimulated for long periods of time (not outside the auditorium at least). During my sick leave I wanted something engaging enough to keep my mind from negative thought patterns around the illness, but I didn’t have enough spoons for working on my usual full-fledged illustrations, either.
My go-to compromise used to be drawing small black and white drawings in my sketchbooks, I loved doing those in between paintings and other projects. However, after making hundreds of black and white sketches over the years, I suddenly didn’t feel like it anymore. I knew I wanted to draw, but had no ideas or inspiration left in me. Whenever I started drawing something in my sketchbook, it felt like I had already done it a thousand times before. I tried all my usual art tools, but nothing seemed to click.
Then, last year, I suddenly discovered gel pens. What a cute, simple art tool! Not too serious, not too overwhelming. I just needed something comforting and colourful to draw. So I started doodling with gel pens. It kind of reminded me of drawing as a child.
I had sometimes used gel pens for small detail in my paintings and mixed media work before, but this was the first time I tried making entire drawings with just gel pens. I especially like the ones that give thick, matte, opaque colours.
Simple shapes, restricted palette, and a very slow paced colouring method – this was the formula that swithced me into automatic flow when drawing, letting my conscious mind relax and focus on listening books, instead of dwelling on the pain and uncertainty.
For a while I simply enjoyed having the easy and relaxing activity while entertaining and educating myself with books. But after a while I noticed I was getting more and more invested in these colourful little drawings. I felt inspired again – I had overcome my art slump!
Once again, I came into the familiar conclusion that making art in a way that’s new to you is a great way to feed your creativity and refresh your art style – or help you move past an art block. And it doesn’t have to be anything difficult or complicated to work wonders.
If you’ve followed my art journey for a bit, you have probably noticed that I don’t like to settle with just one medium or style. I love drawing and painting traditionally, but also working digitally, and with various mixed media. I’ve used vivid colours, muted pastels, black and white, intrinsic detail, stylised patterns, dark and light, planned, spontaneous, meticulously placed and then again wildly overflowing paints – and sometimes, I go minimalistic with a limited palette. I love finding new ways to play with colours and shapes, it keeps me curious and inspired, even after all this time.
I’m feeling much better than last autumn, but still on my way to full recovery (I hope). However these little drawings remind me that I am still inspired and full of ideas, and that I’m allowed to enjoy creativity on whichever way feels comfortable at the moment.
I have done many drawings on my sketchbook this winter, and will probably post more of them here in my blog at some point later. Meanwhile, you can find more drawings and follow my sketchbook journey on Instagram or Facebook , and I also have an entire board dedicated to my sketchbook work on Pinterest.
Text, artwork and photos © Ulla Thynell
Sketchbook: Sakura 9×14 cm sketchbook
Tools: Various gel pens (including Sakura Gellyroll Moonlight and Iisi Geelikynä neon)
Camera: Canon EOS 6D
Lens: Sigma 50mm f/1,4 DG HSM Art
Editing software: Photoshop + Camera Raw