Chapter 4: Sketching
My experience with sketching honestly only began last semester during my Art of Theatrical Design class. As seen in the previous chapter, you can see how my connection with “Medium Alison” had found some new meaning. As I was buying the art supplies for class that once were my “props” and drawing storyboards for assignments, I was wondering what I was really getting myself into. With no previous experience sketching, I worried that I “wouldn’t be good”. But, as I quickly learned, all I needed was some patience and an open mind.
While the class was mainly centered around taking design concepts and executing them through sketches, there were other texts we read within the class that I found just as important in developing my artistic process. One of these was Twyla Tharp’s The Creative Habit: Learn It and Use It for Life, where the choreographer explains the process of making creativity a habit, which could be applied to any task or lifestyle. Her idea of a creative habit is one that’s “developed through exercise, through repetition, through a blend of learning and reflecting that’s both painstaking and rewarding”. This painstaking and rewarding process was one I could easily relate back to my previous artistic endeavors, clarifying the correlation between previous artistic struggles and those I would face with this new medium.
With deadlines for sketching assignments approaching and the material read, it was time to get the pencils out and equipped. It was at this point, faced with the first blank page of my sketchbook, that I froze. The freedom of the blank canvas was paralyzing. Having to make the first mark, to make an artistic choice, felt so brutal in this medium. Reflecting on this and applying it to my design process, it never felt so cruel when writing light cues or creating plots with gels, where I just “went with my gut”. I attempted to channel the mindset of my light design process as I pressed the pencil to the page and began.
