#19 - ...in the middle of the Midwest
Hello, new members!
The SneakyArt Post is a weekly newsletter about my sketches, works in progress, the podcast, and lessons from my journey of self-education as an artist. Thank you for subscribing.
In Issue #1 I began a series of posts about the works of MC Escher. I go down some interesting rabbit-holes, from ideas of infinity to optical illusions and the popular iOS game, Monument Valley.
In #3, I looked at my favorite sketches from 2019 to make a case for being sneaky in the pursuit of art. Today, I would title it as - SneakyArt of the Lost World.
In #6 I share some beautiful words from the largest literary festival on earth, while also trying to understand why words are so bad at being … words.
Every now and then, I just drop some lines. No words. Like here, here and here.
Last week, I spoke about going viral on Reddit, and Ep 7 of the podcast. With this issue, I want to share my award-winning book - SneakyArt of Eau Claire. This book is a record of the things I saw in a beautiful town, and a tribute to the people I befriended while I lived there. I want to tell you why I made the book and what it has given me.
When we moved to Eau Claire (Wisconsin), I began to make SneakyArt of my foreign surroundings. I would go to the bars, and look at how they drank. I would go to the cafes, and see how they liked their coffees. I would go to the parks in summer, and see how they enjoyed the precious season. And I would wake up early on Saturday mornings, to catch the weekly Farmer’s Market.
Drawing this foreign world was a way to better understand its people and how they lived. After a season of selling prints of my drawings, I decided to self-publish a book for two reasons. The first was my fear that people would get tired of buying prints and I would never have a returning customer. The second was to use it as a learning exercise. The task was to package my drawings in an attractive way and sell it as a record of life in this town. I wanted to learn how to put a book together. I wanted to take creative decisions with the cover and the content. I wanted to learn what it is like to sell a book where nobody knows you, where they can hardly pronounce your name.
If I can sell art in Eau Claire, I said to myself, I will be ready to sell anywhere.
I worked with a local press (in Minneapolis) for a year to work on the design, content and printing. When I had the books, I spoke with local cafes and bookstores to organize book launch + live drawing events. I sold copies at the Farmer’s Market every summer weekend. I put them in gift-shops and local businesses that were featured in the pages. I learned a lot of useful skills in this way, and also made some good friends.
In the first few months, most of my sales were made in-person. I had the opportunity, therefore, to interact with every buyer and understand what they liked about the book. With every sale, I offered a free instant portrait inside. I made different sales pitches using different combinations of words every time a new customer strolled in. I tried every line I could think of. Every interaction, sale or no sale, was a learning opportunity.
Since last summer, we have moved to Chicago. I was able to travel back for an art fair that winter, and I intended to go again this summer but COVID cancelled everything. So I am glad for the internet. I am lucky that I can stay connected with people of Eau Claire, share my work, and continue to generate interest in my book. The free portrait offer still stands, except now I work out of a pic!
One of the design decisions I took was to not have many words. All the words in this book are in the introduction. I wanted to see if the art could sell itself, and if it could ‘speak’ for itself. I chose a binding style that let the book lie flat on a surface. This, I imagined, would let people enjoy the details of the linework without difficulty. The question I had was: Will someone turn the page simply to see another drawing?
White space is important to my drawing style. It is important in my sketchbook, so it is important in my coffee-table book as well. But every now and then, I threw in a page packed with lines - a “whoa” moment. These double page spreads work like that.
The contents of the book were all the things that made me curious about this world. Sometimes it was a building, but sometimes it had nothing to do with architecture. Sometimes it was just the people - strangers who had nothing to do with my life, who were just passing through. Strangers through whose lives I was just passing through. A lot of the pages are like that - just some people doing ordinary, everyday things. But I am fascinated by these things. I find beauty in human interaction. I chase my curiosity in the quest to find such moments and record them. And with every sale of the book, I was able to reaffirm my faith in my vision and my curiosity. Every sale says - It worked!
Upon the recommendation of my publishing press (Beaver’s Pond Publishing, Minneapolis), I entered the book in a couple of independent publishing awards. And I was delighted to win at both of them - the 2020 IPPY Awards for Best Cover, and at the 2020 Midwest Independent Publishing Awards for Best Book Design. Now every sale goes out with a medal sticker.
At the start of this project, I had asked myself - Who would buy a book about a small town in the middle of the Midwest?
Who cares?
It turns out many people care. These people do not have to know anything about the town or its inhabitants. They do not have to care about the bars or cafes or parks. They could have nothing to do with any of it. They simply need to care about finding beauty. This book is for anyone who is looking to appreciate the little things in their world. I have been able to send hundreds of copies of SneakyArt of Eau Claire to nearly 30 states in the US, and 7 other countries.
In the best way I can, I have tried to find beauty in Eau Claire, Wisconsin. And in doing so, I have discovered that beauty is everywhere, it only needs to be seen.
Updates
I haven’t been drawing outdoors lately. The weather’s getting cold, and I have commissions to complete, including an 11x14” ink drawing of Baltimore. This is the largest size I have done using ink on paper, and it’s quite a challenge! I will talk next week about how I adapt from sketchbooks to this larger scale. Since recent Reddit fame, I have new commissions, including some drawings of Chicago. More on that next week as well.
Here’s are a couple of fun Chicago commissions I completed this fall. The first one was printed as a holiday card. The second is a 16x20” signed giclee print for a client in Chicago.
Next week, I will introduce the new episode of the SneakyArt Podcast, and talk about how I use the work of great filmmakers to learn scene composition.
Note to Indian audiences: SneakyArt Podcast is now available on Gaana and JioSaavn apps. All links below.
Spotify | Apple | Website | Pocketcast | Gaana | JioSaavn
Thank you for your attention. Have a good week!