The Sticky Note Gallery

Who knew I was allowed to doodle at work?

Godzilla faces a turning point in his life.

I’m a visual designer by day, but in my free time I draw. Depending on who you ask in my family, I’ve been drawing since I was 2–4 years old. The only difference between me and most people is that I never stopped. I suppose some encouragement along the way helped, but really I just love the feeling of putting pen to paper.

I want people to see my work, but “the man” says that your portfolio shouldn’t be a dumping ground for everything under the sun. Think greatest hits album, not anthology box set.

Fine. Where do I put all of my less-than-perfect sketches?

I’ve been using Instagram and Facebook because I’m not above the instant gratification of 15–30 “likes” massaging my ego. Don’t judge me. Or do… I’ll be fine either way.

Neither forums are great at showcasing the artwork as a collection to view my progress and talk gibberish about it. Yes, I know that photo albums exist. I just think that most people hastily glance at them (if at all) before moving on with their lives.

Enter Medium and this page you’re reading.

One of the things I love about my job is that they encourage creativity. It’s perfectly acceptable to sketch on a sticky note for a few minutes to activate your designing powers. A teammate suggested doodling as a group: one of us picks a subject, and we all interpret it however we want. Below are my samples complete with aforementioned gibberish.

Chairs: Tim Burton might kick up his feet on this one. The white pen is my secret weapon.

I look at reference photos and start almost everything with a loose sketch, preferably in blue pencil. My lines are light, non-commital and full of mistakes at this stage. Details are not a concern, because I just want to translate what I see in my head as quickly as possible.

There is ample erasing and redrawing before going over the pencils in black ink pen. This is where either the fun or the anxiety begins; which one is entirely determined by me. If I start overthinking my lines as I lay them down, the end result is poorer and not how I imagined it. If however, I shut off analytical thought and go on instinct alone, I surprise myself and sometimes outdo what I see in my head. I found that chatting with someone while drawing is just distracting enough to help me achieve this. It’s kind of like using the Force.

…let go your conscious self and act on instinct. — Obi Wan Kenobi

Birds and Animals: a horned owl and orangutan.

Flowers, Shapes and a public service announcement by Superman.

I intended to draw a rose (left) but some people insisted it looked like a cabbage. If I’d just shown it in context, there would’ve been no debate. For “Shapes” (center), I really don’t know what I was doing. There was no plan or pencil sketch, just my fidgety mind nervously putting down the first thing I thought of. Superman was loosely based on Christopher Reeve and co-creater Joe Shuster’s original drawings, but utterly fails in both areas. Also, he’s too over-rendered and kind a mess to look at. These last two are classic examples of me failing to trust my intuition.

I love the way the dragon turned out (left). Someone else must have agreed, because it mysteriously disappeared one day and was never seen again. The Riddler (middle) is based entirely on a comic book cover by Tim Sale (“Batman: The Long Halloween”). The topic for the last one was “sea life” so naturally I drew the “Creature from the Black Lagoon.” I don’t feel compelled to redo any of these, which means they’re the most successful to me.

Escaping the sticky note

Well, what other things can I draw on?

The answer is pretty much anything disposable. Paper table mats, whiteboards, stickers, chalk boards, and paper plates are all fair game. I bought a few Moleskine sketchbooks to carry with me at all times.

Godzilla on a paper table mat while I waited for dinner at The House on 1230 Grant Ave, San Francisco.

The first drawing in my sketchbook (left). Nude drawing on another page (right).

I was lucky enough to go to Italy on a family vacation recently. At The Galleria dell’Accademia, one particular sculpture inspired me enough to whip out my sketchbook and capture the pose on the spot. I drew her as a real person with features loosely remembered from women I saw in Florence. My first time shading with Copic markers on Moleskine paper resulted in splotchy ink absorption. At that moment I hated Copic, Moleskine and myself. It’s rare that I get something right on the first try, but I should’ve at least tested the new markers first. This one is just begging for a second attempt (coming soonish: drawings from my Italian vacation!)

The bat-gallery

Batman is my favorite fictional character and the easiest thing for me to draw, so I end up putting him everywhere. To date, nobody has objected.

Batman as motivational speaker (left) and diet coach (right). The paper plate suprised me with the beautiful texture it gave the ink.

I actually dislike the above three. They seem stiff and way over-rendered; not at all how I saw them in my head.

I was supposed to write something motivational on the green sticker (left) but I had nothing. On the right, I used Batman to express 3 PM food cravings.

To my 4 year old mind, Batman was a real person who beat up bad guys in the streets of New York. At that age, his show wasn’t campy or funny; he had a cool costume, with a belt full of toys and his own cave and a car that shot fire every time he turned it on. That show left a permanent impression on me and I felt compelled to draw this when I read that Adam West had passed.

To be continued

The thing about sticking drawings all over the place is that eventually people start to notice… and that in turn leads to some interesting projects. It also motivated me to do some proper drawings and not just quick sketches. There’s more to come next time…

Wonder Woman was quick practice for a proper drawing in anticipation for her big movie.

My weapons.