Hello! I am Liz and I love to doodle! My favourite colours are blue and green…my wardrobe definitely represents this! I am often found drawing stars, swirls, quirky characters and lettering. I have always loved being creative and have carried this on all through my education and studied Graphic Design at Nottingham Trent University. Currently I work as a Childcare Assistant and I am hoping to train to become a primary school teacher. However I love illustrating and work freelance (when I can!) for friends and family. I hope in the future to illustrate my own Children’s books and open an Art Café by the seaside!

 

How long have you been using sketchbooks?

I first started using sketchbooks at secondary school in my Art class and have continued to through my Art & Design education and they still play a huge part in my work today. I love looking back through old projects to get inspiration and seeing how my work has developed.

How often do you use your sketchbook?

I try to use my sketchbook as much as I can. It depends on whether I have a specific project, ongoing personal work or the demands of my day job! I have several sketchbooks on the go, all different sizes for different thoughts and ideas. In an ideal world I use one of my sketchbooks everyday!

Do you have a favourite and why?

That’s a hard one! All my sketchbooks are different but have something I particularly like about them. Let me think…one of my favourite projects at university was designing an Annual Report for Kew Gardens. I wanted to create a very natural and organic feel to the report therefore my sketchbook reflects this. I had lots of fun drawing plants and trees using inks and collage.

How do you feel with the prospect of starting a new sketchbook with lots of lovely blank pages?

Ah I hated that at University! I always started with the project brief then scribbled all over it! Now I’m not so scared about the blank pages. I like to start with ink and paint and just make lots of mess!

When and where do you get your sketchbook inspiration?

I can be inspired anytime by lots of different things… childhood memories, nature, films, music and books. I love to work with different textures, layouts, patterns, materials and colours. I like to observe the little things in life and interpret this in my sketchbook 

How would you describe your sketchbook process?

If I am working on a specific project or theme then I like to start by writing down and doodling rough ideas. I love to take lots of photographs and use them for inspiration and creating collages. I also use my sketchbook as a way of experimenting with composition by arranging my work around the blank spaces. I often use my sketchbook pages to create final work by scanning them into Photoshop and editing and enhancing them.

What is your favourite medium to work with?

I really love using gel and fibre tip pens to doodle and draw lettering.  I also really like collage with photographs, newspaper, magazines and all kinds of paper! It all depends on how messy I like to be…don’t always like tidying up!

Where is your ideal sketching location?

Somewhere I can get really comfortable…like my bed! If not my bed then anywhere that I feel inspired to sit and draw what I see. Like the seaside!  If I am using collage or painting then I find my living room floor is perfect!

 

How have your sketchbooks evolved over the years?

I think my sketchbooks have become more fluid and not so structured like they were whilst I was a student. I now seem to have sketchbooks that consist of loose sheets of paper with a wide variety of ideas and illustrations. I also produce a lot more personal projects, which tend to be ongoing and can evolve quite quickly into something else. I use my blog as an online sketchbook so that is very different to how I used to work a few years ago.

If you had to pick one favourite sketchbook page which would it be and why?

I looked through all my recent sketchbooks and this Chocolate Lime page just stands out to me. Not because it displays any great artistic talent but because it is so simple, bold and has a naïve quality. I was creating ideas for a personal brand name (I love Chocolate Limes…hence the name!) so I got my inks out and drew what I was thinking. Sometimes I can think too much about an idea and how it will look on the page so this page is represents me being free!

 

Thankyou Liz, for taking part and also for letting us see inside your gorgeous sketchbooks!