TRY IT OUT
AS A CHILD, I was always creating
something, scribbling over stacks of
paper. But I now spend longer on a
laptop than with a pen, let alone a
paintbrush, in my hand. The thought of
suddenly drawing something, anything,
fills me with confusion.
The logic behind Jennie Maizels’
Sketchbook Club made complete sense
to me. You learn to cook by following a
recipe and so Sketchbook Club gives
you the ‘recipe’ for making a piece of
art – from method, to composition, to
technique – as well as an example of the
finished thing, so that you know roughly
what you’re aiming for. There’s one
definite advantage over a recipe book,
however; it’s that the creator, Jennie, is
on hand to offer advice, suggestions and
(much needed) encouragement.
Being inside Jennie’s studio is instantly
inspiring, like getting a glimpse inside her
head, filled with images of cheering and
colourful peacocks, zebras, carousels
and much more. There are loads of things
that you instantly want to play with: tins
filled with coloured pencils, little pots of
vibrant paints.
We’re shown a jolly whale picture and
Jennie talks us through the process of
how we’d create it. Soon we’re merrily
painting the ocean using gouache, and
decorating our whale in watercolour. It
was the first time I’d played with the
latter since school and my first time with
the former. Sketchbook Club is a great
way to find out what mediums you like
working with the most, too.
Over the course of the day, we tackle
an array of other images: Warhol-esque
packing, signage-style lettering and
more delicate songbirds. We learn a few
nifty ideas – such as tracing the outline ofan image, rather than trying to replicate it
freehand – that Jennie assures us she
uses all the time. We’re to banish any
guilt about ‘cheating’ entirely.
It’s not just guilt you lose: it’s also the
desire to compare your work with others
and find it lacking. Jennie’s endless
enthusiasm and positivity is infectious.
We all admire each other’s work – and
enjoy a sense of happy satisfaction at our
own. And, though we’re all working to
the same template, it’s fascinating to see
people’s styles and preferences emerge.
What I loved was the joy of losing
myself in the activity. It’s telling that we all
chose to work on over lunch, even when
presented with a potentially distracting
selection of sandwiches. It reminded me
of the childhood fun of sticking and
scribbling and scrawling because I
enjoyed it, rather than because I was
hung up about the end result. I hope to
do more of that in the future (Jennie also
offers an online version of the club),
armed with a few more professionally
approved tricks up my sleeve.LIVING (^) | LIFE SKILLS
THE SIMPLE THINGS’
FRANCES AMBLER
PICKED UP HER
PENCIL WITH JENNIE