For as long as I can remember, I've drawn, but it only started in high school, when my art teacher, Mrs. Hilsden (below), would give points for sketchbook pages. To this day, she claims I earned a record amount of points for all the drawings I did. The act of drawing in a sketchbook became a habit after that.


↓ I was able to pay a visit to my former high school art teacher in 2023 and show her a recent sketchbook.




During my first couple years of college, my year in Europe, I kept fairly small books that I experimented with materials and drawing manners. I have sketchbooks from before this time but don't feel like showing that early work, at least for now.

↓ Pages from my European sketchbooks. I completed two books over the period of a year. I should have been drawing more, but I also should have taken more photos than I did. I guess it was the nature of limited resources and shooting film. 










After my year-long trip around Europe, I began what is now the format that I've stuck with of using 8.5 x 11 bound sketchbooks. I started to number them but have stopped keeping close track to how many have been completed.




↓ A few pages from Sketchbook 10, just as I was heading back to school at NSCAD University in Halifax, NS. 








Once back at school for a few years, the flow of adding to a sketchbook became an almost daily occurance.

↓ Sketchbook 14 covered the tail end of my second year at NSCAD University working on my BFA up to the mid point of summer when I was in Campbell River working landscaping at the pulp and paper mill. 




There are time-lapse views of some of my sketchbooks on YouTube.
Sketchbook 15
Sketchbook 20
Sketchbook 23
Sketchbook 24
Sketchbook 26
Sketchbook 27


↓ A few select images from Sketchbook 15

↓ A few drawings and paintings from Sketchbook 23 and 24 that covered my first couple years living and working in Southern California. The freeways, traffic and office parks started to have an influence on the form and content of the images.






↓ A variety of drawings from Sketchbook 26.




↓ A larger view of some of my favorites from Sketchbook 27.


















I have many more years of sketchbooks and there will be more posts to come.

As I go through each sketchbook, I can remember certain days and places. My process of drawing and recording my life adjusted as I grew into my mannerisms and motifs. The images that relate to an exact location tend to be the ones that bring back memories of the time. Viewing the work has helped remind me of some ways of making, and I will revisit various themes in my current sketchbook. More to come!