Chris Bishop

I’ve always had issues with artists who post their finely crafted sketchbooks online. You know what I’m talking about - each page is a clever, beautiful masterpiece from a carefully scanned moleskine sketch journal. Don’t get me wrong, i LOVE seeing sketches. I love seeing the process an artist goes through to get to their final product - a painting or an illustration or whatever. Also, I’m not saying a sketch can’t be art or can’t be a considered finished piece. I guess what bothers me is the fetishizing of these sketchbooks by the internets. Maybe I’m annoyed at being misled by them being called “sketches” when they are actually just small finished drawings. To me “sketch” implies preliminary work. The great thing about preliminary sketches is that you get to see how the artist’s mind works and how they figured something out. How many times did they get it wrong and what did they change to make it right?

Like I said, I’ve always been annoyed by fancy internet sketchbooks but this post on drawn.ca really bugged me. This artist wanted his sketchbook to be the opposite of the precious, perfect internet sketchbooks out there and I was on-board 100%… until I saw it was filled with some really ink nice drawings and fairly clever philosophical tidbits. It was just like all the rest. Maybe it comes down to the audience? Maybe when you are drawing stuff knowing that the internet will be the audience there is more pressure to be clever and put your best artistic foot forward? I think the sketchbooks I love are the ones the artist does for him or herself. There is no audience. It’s an exploration. Half the time it’s not even in a book! 

I’ll never post a sketchbook online because my sketches are secret plans for future work! Maybe if you come to my studio I will show you or you’ll just have to wait and see them in a museum when i am dead ;)

OK, seriously though, here is a page from my sketchbook a.k.a. a notebook for meeting notes at PBS KIDS. I am a little embarrassed to show this but I think it’s kind of cool how you can see that it took four tries to get the fish right (nice and floppy) and three tries to get the helmet right.

Anyhow, those are my rambling thoughts on sketchbooks. Maybe Ernest Hemingway and Leonardo da Vinci would disagree.

NOTE: I’m not talking shit on the guy in the drawn.ca post. I like his drawings. I just don’t think he was able to pull off being the opposite of the perfect, precious sketchbooks like he wanted.

I will be showing in and attending the Rogue Space Chelsea Juried Painting Exhibition opening June 4th in NYC. My mom will also be attending. Come out and see us!

ROGUE SPACE CHELSEA

526 West 26th Street, 9E  New York, NY 10001

Juried Painting Exhibition

June 4 - 9, 2010 (opening: June 4th 6-9pm)

Round one is complete and not without a few surprises…

NATE, MATT and BISHOP blasted their opponents with a combined score of 115-7. TRICIA upset football nerd, STOLO, thanks to Tecmo Bowl lessons from SCOTT, who rolled over ANGELA with the help of Bo Jackson. OCEAN upset perennial powerhouse ABBY thanks in part to a field goal kicked on first down at the seven yard line. KARIN’s 49ers and EMILY’s Bears clashed in a pairing of top offense vs top defense - KARIN ultimately advanced to round two. In the Monday Morning game, n00bs SARA and SHAWN played like experienced veterans with SHAWN coming out on top.

Keep an eye on ROUND 2’s marquee matchup, MATT vs SCOTT. Can Bo and the Raiders be stopped?

My giant painting “Tiny” turned up in a Washington Post story featuring Kara and David’s awesomely modern house in which they placed it. (Thanks to Alexandra L. for catching this while I was away.)

I’ve posted four new paintings at chrisbishop.com. They include four girls, one robot, ten tattoos, an NES controller and one tiny hat. Here are two of them…

So Wrong, So Fast (48” x 36” acrylic on canvas)

We Need Help, Please. Thank You. (40” x 30” acrylic on canvas)

Check out all my 100+ paintings at: chrisbishop.com.