The Sketchbook Journal

Tuesday, August 5, 2003

Weeks ago I purchased volumes 1 and 2 of James Kochalka’s daily Sketchbook Diaries. Like many of his readers I imagine, I not only fell in love with the earnest glimpse into his life’s playful banality, but I decided it was something I’d like to try myself.

At the risk of looking like a good old fashioned copycat I knew I at least had to do something differently than him (aside from not drawing myself as an Elf and having no intent to publish them). So I decided to limit myself to a single panel. Limiting myself like this turned out to be a fun little challenge—without multiple panels and the sense of time passing that such a narrative provides I am forced to find one single moment of my day to capture.

On their own, each mini comic isn’t necessarily always interesting and/or humourous, but I’m hoping that the final product is greater than the sum of its parts and that when completed (whenever that may be) the collection as a whole might serve as interesting look at a moment of my life.

If anything this new little project is turning out to be a great experiment in discipline and expedition. Doing a daily panel forces me to uphold a constant level of creativity—and so far that’s been the most rewarding aspect.

Now and then I’ll share some of them with you. Like this one:

Movie Night at Claire's