A Series of Surprisingly Surreal Sketchbooks Vol. 1

Vol. 1A few birthdays ago a friend gave me the book An Illustrated Life, which highlights the sketchbooks of a variety of artists. I look through it every so often and it's fascinating how different everyone is. It reminded me today that I really should start sharing some of mine- instead of them just collecting dust on my cramped bookshelf.

In that spirit, today's sketchbook is probably my favorite. It started as an assignment in college and just became part of me. It really allowed me to flesh out the style that was emerging in my work at the time. The first page of this particular book is where I got the elephant that is featured on my webpage. I felt that it was a good embodiment of my personal work- absurd, and a tad racy. But I will let you decide. Enjoy!

I like layering images, as seen above, to create something totally new. The drawing spreads out from a photograph of a dissected uterus whose internal texture had inspired me.

 I define my work by strong black and white line work. I enjoy creating images that teeter between minimalist and ornate.

 This illustration was later turned into a lithograph. I was thinking a lot about identity and consciousness in that time and this was born from that.

 

"Doctor, my liver has escaped me!"