Updates from my Sneaky Art Journey

open for seagulls, open studios, and a new course.

Suddenly blue day, Vancouver. | In the studio with oil, acrylic, ink.

Dear reader,

I go out with a sketchbook and some basic art materials, but without a plan. I don’t know what I will find. What I see, when I see it, distils to a drawing made right there. This drawing is a product of the moment affected by time, weather, tools, and (in above case) the intimidating presence of a seagull. This particular seagull was the ringleader of a gang that had, just a moment before, descended upon a tourist foolishly carrying an open subway sandwich right next to the water. He lost his sandwich but hopefully gained a life lesson. Its belly full, the seagull swooped down to sit on the hand-railing, glaring at everyone. I worked quickly.

In the studio, I use these sketchbook drawings as reference, reinterpreting them with more deliberate composition, colour, or concept. This is not a second step, because the sketchbook drawing is a finished thing by itself. It is a reimagining, a reinterpretation, a cover, or a remix.

Both processes are imaginative, because what we see on-location is also what we choose to see. But both processes are also journeys of found art, from our outside worlds to our inside worlds. (See this IG reel for more.)

I have a little studio, no gallery to represent me. Every few weeks I convert it into a mini-gallery and open it to the public. It was a busy summer, so it’s been a while, but I am excited to do an open studio again this month. RSVP below.

There will be 🖼️ framed original art to buy, 📚 sketchbooks to browse, and 🗣️ a sneaky artist to chat up. If you know someone in Vancouver who would enjoy this, feel free to share the link with them.

A found-frame, from a local thrift store.

A New Course is Dropping (Soon)

Over 600 people signed up this year to learn to draw tiny people. It was my first time recording a course, and the response has been incredible. In our private group, we regularly share our pages from around the world, crowdsource solutions to our common obstacles, and give each other ideas and inspiration. This success has given me the incentive to do a second course.

A participant of the Tiny People course asked if Make (Sneaky) Art is similar to the course. I responded:

In some ways, yes. But a book cannot be a course, and vice versa. Every medium demands its unique treatment if it is to be done right. For example, I have much more time with a course, and can demo a lot of ideas that are simply words and pictures in one chapter of the book. On the other hand, the book is easier to carry about and reference. My job was to make them complementary to one another, instead of simple copies.

Explaining your ideas in a live workshop, or writing them as a book, is different from recording them as a course. The medium is the metaphor, as Neil Postman reveals in Amusing Ourselves to Death¹, and results in the creation of a totally unique product.

Over coffee, I contemplated my love/hate relationship with malls.

My second course is focused on building a sketchbook habit out of observation of our world.

📕 If you have a copy of Make (Sneaky) Art, this course will supplement its lessons.

🌆 If you attended my workshops this summer in Chicago or Edmonds or on Bainbridge Island, this course will dig deeper with those ideas.

🗣️ If you were motivated by hearing me speak on the book tour, this course will kickstart your sketchbook habit.

🫶 If you are in need of community, this course will welcome you into a warm, generous, global network of sketchers who are on the same journey as you.

This month, I will open registrations to both courses, available individually and as a bundle. Join the waiting list to get more info (soon) and a special price when registrations open.

🤖 Artificial “Intelligence”

I have largely stopped writing about AI because I have more important things to do with my time. But this post was doing the rounds on Substack …

… and people are asking (rightfully) why an AI company needs a human writer?

Good question! To paraphrase what I have already written -

AI will always need human writers and artists. It cannot feed on itself the way humans feed on other human creativity, its only appeal lies in how human-like it is. AI will always need humans because it is not meant to replace us, it is meant to colonize us.

Thank you for your time and attention. Next week, I am on the road for the last time this year.

🚗 [Join] The Sneaky Book Tour heads to Portland and Seattle next week.

🎙️ [Listen] In Ep 74 of the SneakyArt Podcast, I speak about making the most of the book tour experience.

🎙️ [Listen] I spoke on The Illustration Department Podcast about using the word ‘creative’ and how a simple sketchbook can defeat the nefarious algorithms of thirsty billionaires.

1. Thank you to Austin Kleon for making me aware of this book.