artist book

the point of it all

A Creative Life, art techniques, artist book, artistic inspirations, business of art, creative thinking, drawing as thinking, ebook, mental health, Sustainable creativity

As per my last post I’ve been starting new projects in my studio. I’m also having some down time to rest and recharge. While starting new projects I’m keeping in mind my studio statement.  Here it is on a 2 by 3 inch paper thumbtacked to my art studio wall.

ClancyStudioStatement

I jokingly say that my mission in life is to wear pencils down to nubs. And I do think that’s true on one level at least – I practice drawing and writing daily and lots of pencils get used. So that must be the point right?!

PencilPoints

Yes, daily practice is indeed the point! (And yes, I like the Blackwing pencils a whole lot!)

But, seriously, these statements are true in my experience: “What you repeat sticks. What you don’t repeat goes away.” – “Anything worth doing is worth doing poorly at first.” and “Nothing has to go right today” – all of these concepts come from an artist book I did. (More about that here).

It has been crucial for me to purposefully design my daily artistic habits (repetitions!). And to focus on maintaining the habit-ness of creativity rather than being out-come based about my creative output. (it’s okay if today’s artwork is not perfect!)

It’s also important to take breaks. Both the design of daily creative habits and the breaks from them are part of making my creative life sustainable. The point is to have fun being creative and to keep it fun!

Over on my Instagram page I’ll post a pic of at least one of the things I’m doing to rest and recharge…

books and readers everywhere and in my sketchbook too

A Creative Life, art exhibit, artist book, artistic inspirations, Books In Art, drawing as thinking, ebook, kitchen art, reading in art, recipe illustration, sketchbook, visual thinking

One of the many things I love about the Pacific Northwest are the indie bookstores and all of the people I see reading. Almost every time I’m in town I see people reading printed books in coffeeshops, in cafes, in the park, in the library, in line at the post office, waiting for the bus and even while walking down the sidewalk.

For example here’s a sketchbook page (left side) I did just after passing by the lobby of one of the downtown apartment-plexes. There’s a lobby on the first floor and a guy was sitting in a chair reading with his dog on his lap. (I added the cat – just for fun.)

I did the other page (on the right) on the same walk, but just after walking past a café window where a lady was having a dessert and coffee. The book she was reading was about the same small size as her cake! So I had to note that!

ArmchairBook

Below are several more pages from my “running around loose” sketchbook (a book I take with me when I go to town) as well as a few from my “kitchen sketchbook” (a book I keep in my kitchen at home to doodle in while I wait for water to boil etc.)

from Clancy’s Running Around Loose Sketchbook
from Clancy’s Kitchen Sketchbook
from Clancy’s Running Around Loose Sketchbook
from Clancy’s Kitchen Sketchbook

These pages – and my many other sketchbook pages full of readers and books – have been feeding my current  “reading and books in art” fine art series that I’ve been posting about in my last several posts. This series of paintings is for an upcoming exhibit. Plus books are a fun topic for me to use in my artistic practice to, well, practice.

I’m still thinking hard about my notion of nesting ideas (like the way one book refers to another book etc.) and this week I’ve added a twist; in past years to accompany my fine art exhibits I’ve included ebook versions of my sketchbooks. What if this year, instead of an ebook, I did a limited edition printed book? And what if it was a book that collected some of my sketches of human readers and possibly included some of my poems/short stories?  So that the poem/story related to the human reader, what they might be reading and also to the fine art?  It would be a way for me to include the story alluded to within my recent painting Epic Tales Of The Pug King for example.

Hmmm…  I’ll keep thinking. And I’ll probably post some of my human reader sketches/illustrations here too and see what you think.

Oh, and to add another layer to my nesting-ideas concept, over on my Instagram page I’m occasionally posting books I’m currently reading.

oh sheet a deadline dragon

A Creative Life, art techniques, Art Word Combinations, artist book, artistic inspirations, author illustrator, business of art, creative thinking, drawing as thinking, functional art, illustrated poem, illustrated shorts, poetry, Sustainable creativity, words and pictures, writing and illustrating

Dealing well with deadlines is a topic often discussed among my fellow artists and writers. So I wondered “could I make a poem about deadlines, make it funny, illustrate it and create a book format that would accent the concept?” Fun challenge.

And here for a free download is what I came up with: Deadline Dragon Dance by Clancy. It’s a pdf file and will print using 2 sheets of 8.5 x 11 paper. One sheet is my 8 page book. The other sheet is the instructions on folding the book. Have fun! And yes, feel free to color the dragon before you fold it into the book.

Below is what The Deadline Dragon Dance looks like when you print it out, the “cover” is on the right at the top by the dragons nose, page one is on the left at the top behind the dragons head and the content proceeds counterclockwise from there. It’ll make more sense as a book once it is printed and folded. If you wonder, yes, I’ve somewhat bastardized the graphic design concept of layout for physical commercial printing.

Anyway, here is what The Deadline Dragon Dance looks like as a flat sheet-book:

DeadlineDragonDance72

And here is the instruction sheet on how to fold the above “book”:

HowToFoldADragon72.jpg

The pdf file for free download again: DeadlineDragonDancebyClancy

Yep I had a lot of fun taking a stodgy concept like deadlines and combining it with humorous poetry, illustration and book arts! I used brush and ink as well as my fountain pen on Bristol paper.

What do you think? How do you deal with deadlines, both the ones you set for yourself and those set for you by others?

a mouse scrapbook and gift

A Creative Life, animals in art, art techniques, Art Word Combinations, artist book, artistic inspirations, books, ebook, graphic narrative, handmade books, illustrated shorts, sketchbook, small things, story, The Sketchbook Project, visual story, words and pictures

Here are a few pages from my tiny sketchbook for the Brooklyn Art Library titled “A. Mouse’s Book Of Scraps”.  And since you follow me here’s my entire book, free download, as my thank-you-for-following-me gift: AMousesBookOfScrapsByClancy

I’m doing this gifting by permission of our books author Mr. A. Mouse of course. <wink> We, Mr. A. Mouse and I,  hope you like it!

And yes, this 2.33 inch by 1.66 inch book is a humorous parody or spoof on the concept of collecting and publishing…

In a recent post I spoke of this book and of the Brooklyn Art Library’s Tiny Sketchbook Project in general well here’s a link https://www.brooklynartlibrary.com/

You can also see more of my downloadable artist books on this page. Your patronage and support means a lot! Thank you!

a scrapbook by a mouse

A Creative Life, animals in art, art techniques, artist book, artistic inspirations, graphic narrative, illustrated shorts, published art, small things, story, The Sketchbook Project, visual story, words and pictures

This year I’m participating in the tiny sketchbook project at the Brooklyn Art Library – my sketchbook will travel to London, Paris and other places in Europe along with other tiny sketchbooks in a portable library that fits in a suitcase. My book will be in the Brooklyn Art Library’s permanent collection.

I’ve titled my book “A Mouse’s Book Of Scraps”.  It’s a scrapbook from the point of view of a mouse. A Pacific Northwest Jumping Mouse to be exact.  It’s fun to think about what kinds of things a mouse would collect; cheese rinds, vegetable scraps and landscapes.

Here’s a picture of my book in progress. The mint is there to show scale. And yes – it’s hand bound…

SewingTinyBook72

https://www.brooklynartlibrary.com/tinysketchbook

olive hue

A Creative Life, artistic inspirations, Dogs in Art, fine art, handmade books, sketchbook, small things, still life

Olives are one of the many ways adults know they are loved. Grapes too. But I’ve been thinking about olives. Olives to eat. Olives in Dirty Martini’s. And how if you say “olive hue” it sounds a lot like “I love you”.

Olives have to be picked from the olive trees carefully – then preserved and processed – lots of work is done just so we can enjoy them. In all of their salty, brine-y, yummy glory. There. I feel loved. Don’t you?

Anyway here’s artwork I did recently while these thoughts ran around my brain (brine?) jar:

InSearchOfTheHolyGrail72

In Search Of The Holy Grail – by Clancy – 7 x 5 inches – acrylic and gouache on board

Allegedly you can grow olives here in the Pacific Northwest. There is at least one local bar that serves drinks with “Local Oregon Olives”. (Note to self: Explore this more.)

Speaking of drinks – one of my favorites is the “Dirty Martini”. With extra olives of course.  Here’s a drawing I did of my currently favored recipe:

P15

Sketchbook page from “Time Tavern” – you can see the full book here: https://www.sketchbookproject.com/library/20467

Happy weekend!

more cats book progress

A Creative Life, animals in art, artist book, cat portrait, Cats in art, fine art, published art

I’d written recently here about my progress towards making a 22 page full color book of my cat themed artwork. Well, I’ve gotten my “proof copy” in the snail-mail, showed it to Hawkeye my studio supervisor cat – and my wife, a cat-lover – and all of us approved of the print quality! Even Rusty, my studio supervisor dachshund, admitted that the cat art looked good.

I’ve photo’d a few pages so you can see for yourself:

Front Cover of “Cats by Sue Clancy”
Back Cover of “Cats by Sue Clancy”
Page spread from “Cats by Sue Clancy”
Page spread from “Cats by Sue Clancy”
Page spread from “Cats by Sue Clancy”
Page spread from “Cats by Sue Clancy”
Page spread from “Cats by Sue Clancy” containing the only text in the book.

What do you think?

Right now you can get a copy – either softcover (like in the picture) or hardcover – here: http://www.blurb.com/b/8837851-cats or via Amazon.   Later this year I’m to do a library event and I may have a few copies at that time to sell directly.  We’ll see…

But no matter how this particular cheese gets sliced I heartily thank you for your support of my projects.

birthday book

A Creative Life, artist book, artistic inspirations, drawing as thinking, ebook, sketchbook, travelogue, visual story

It’s my birthday so you get a present! Because you’re a regular reader of my posts, here is a free downloadable e-book copy of my “Running Around Loose” sketchbook. It’s a pdf file, click RunningLooseVanEd1byClancy to download the book for free (it’s a birthday gift!). I’ll include a few sample pages in this post so you’ll have some clues as to what you’ll get when you open the file. Enjoy! And thanks again for looking at my stuff!

Now please pass the strawberries and whipped cream.

RiverwalkJavaHouse

HouseConcert

McMenamins

SavonaCoffeeRiverwalk

pages from “Running Around Loose in Vancouver WA” by Clancy

Oh yes – you can find more of my artist books here: https://sueclancy.com/shop/  and here: https://sueclancy.com/artist-books/

community creatures and why a book too

A Creative Life, art techniques, artist book, artistic inspirations, ebook, fine art, Narrative Art, visual thinking

Here are more pages from my “Running Around Loose” sketchbook – link to the ebook here – and the fine art pieces they inspired. These are in a current exhibit, titled “Community Creatures” at The Anstine Gallery.  I don’t think an artist’s life has to be too mysterious – so I show my sketchbooks when I can in whatever formats I can; ebook, hard-copy book, photocopied pages thumbtacked on a wall. Whatever works for that particular exhibit.  Besides I’ve been told that people enjoy seeing my sketches too – and for me that’s reason enough to do the “extra” work. I enjoy demonstrating the fact that “artistic inspiration” can come from very mundane sources. Anyway, I’m sure you can see the connections between the sketches and the artwork in this post. 

The Anstine Gallery’s facebook page is here https://www.facebook.com/The-Rebecca-Anstine-Gallery-336799326827686/.

More about my ebooks and artist books available at www.sueclancy.com

community creatures curated

A Creative Life, animals in art, art exhibit, art gallery, artist book, artistic inspirations, fine art, mental health, Narrative Art, public art, sketchbook

Here are some pictures from the Anstine Gallery exhibit of my artwork titled “Community Creatures”.  I’ve noticed that adults sometimes become problem oriented, especially in certain professions. So I delight in, via the Anstine Gallery, bringing humorous art to a government building in Vancouver. Doing my small part to bring a smile to your day. All of my artwork in this exhibit is about what I enjoy in town. I’ve also included my sketchbook pages for your additional amusement.

The hand sewn book display version of my “Running Around Loose” sketchbook. An ebook version of the same book is here: https://sueclancy.com/product/running-around-loose-vancouver-wa-edition-1-by-sue-clancy/

My last post about this exhibit is here: https://sueclancy.com/community-creatures-running-loose-at-the-anstine-gallery/  – and it shows direct links between sketchbook pages and the fine art pieces.

My sketchbook “Running Around Loose in Vancouver WA” is available as an ebook here: https://sueclancy.com/product/running-around-loose-vancouver-wa-edition-1-by-sue-clancy/  I like to think that my sketchbook will be amusing even for people who can’t come to see the original fine artwork.