Molekine Vol. 5
Looking back at this time through the lens of this sketchbook is exciting. This was an extremely vibrant period for me—living in SF with two of my best friends, plotting the course of possible creative projects, hanging out in bars, and finding my emotional footing.
This timeframe looms large in my memory, and revisiting it fills me with gratitude for being young, feeling free, and spending time with good people. It also holds some of my favorite sketchbook pages.
I had an explosiveness in how I drew and created during this time. I recall having a sense of being pulled along by my ideas—a feeling so vital and fleeting. Recently, I've embarked on a project that recaptures some of this explosiveness while also applying skills I've honed over the past 10+ years. I'm excited to share this project when the time is right.
Materials:
Moleskine Notebook, Radiograph 3x0/.25, Parker ballpoint pen, Copic markers,
Above: A robot cowboy (cowbot?) is depicted in the act of executing a vampire in a straight jacket. I believe the outcome will likely favor the vampire in the end. This serves as an exercise in outlining the bleed of Copic markers through a page. The original drawing is derived from a film still from "The Postman Only Rings Twice."
Above: Thumb dick, handmade sticker fun, lip mustache and a smoking kid. You know, the classics.
Above Top left gum chewing babe was copied from Rock and Roll Jellybean. A dick thats a hat and an umbrella. some mushy faces and an attempt at an artist statement.
Above: This page and the next two pages were done in succession and hold a quality I really love. They have a fluidity, cohesion, and absurdity that I find unique. I drew all of them except the last one while visiting Portland with my buddy Jason. We recently looked through this book together, and he happened to have his journal from that same trip. Reading his hilarious observations and experiences while looking at my own wild imaginings gave me such a sense of living life in the best way. It's creative collaboration just by the nature of friendship and travel.
Above: I just fucking love this page. you and decide whats going on.
Above: I recall investing a considerable amount of time in rendering the sticky goo on the left page. I tend to lose myself in textures like this. On the right page, I attempted to depict the Big Bang as a portrayal of God engaging in an intimate act with a black hole, resulting in the universe's creation. I'm uncertain about the level of success achieved, but the concept is undeniably humorous.
Above: I keep my mustache on the dashboard just in case.
Above: The left page, excluding the skunk, eventually transformed into a painting. Meanwhile, the right page portrays the intriguingly eccentric individuals one occasionally becomes intertwined with in bars.
Above: My buddy Stan from art school who came for a visit from Boston. Without his visit, my son might have never been born – the mysteries of happenstance. Also, a psychedelic landscape I'm quite fond of.
Above: infinite conjoined angle twins get frustrated with there predicament, also faces.
Looking at these old sketchbooks gives me a new vantage point to experience past thoughts and ideas. The passage of time has granted me distance from my former self, allowing me to see more clearly the workings of my mind. These sketchbooks act as a vault for ideas—like little seeds patiently awaiting their moment. Perhaps they will remain dormant forever, but maybe someone will notice something, and the idea will flourish.
thanks for looking
-Aaron