Vacations & Sketchbooks · Issue #5 · 2022
Long needed break. And why do sketchbooks take forever to finish?
This is “The Inspired Animator”, a newsletter about my adventures in animation, illustration & the creative process! Discovering new tools, experimenting with them, talking about failed and proven workflows with occasional tutorials, or behind the scenes of my animations and techniques.
Dear Inspired Animators,
I am back after a quite long break. I’ll just dive a little bit into my vacation experience and what I sketched there. There is also a sketchbook tour of my 7-year-old sketchbook further down if you enjoy such things.
Let’s dive in!
Vacations
Trip to El Salvador — Recharge
It felt like the first vacation after a long drought. I was away a couple of times in 2021, but most of this away time did not feel very relaxing.
This time though it felt like a real vacation. I could turn off the constant chatter in my head telling me I have to be better, I have to perform, I have to become a better artist, my business has to grow, and yada yada.
Instead, I could just relax and go with the flow.
The people in El Salvador are more relaxed. They seem to live more day to day. I tried to embrace it, and it worked. I even enjoyed mundane activities like swiping the floor of dirt and leaves with a broom, cutting dead branches and leaves from trees, or opening a coconut with a machete.
I would still do a couple of drawings during the first days.
The ficus trees fascinated me a lot. Especially the many branches it had and how they would form these intricate connections within the tree. There were two large trees that over time merged together and formed a majestic crown. It would awaken in me the desire to climb, as I remembered being a passionate climber of trees as a kid.
Later on, I would make two climbing attempts. Advancing a bit further every time. But also going only as far as my confidence allowed me at the time. Trying not to be overconfident. The higher you would get, the thicker the foliage would become, blocking further access.
A couple of days later on our El Salvador trip, we were joined by friends. After that point, I did not spend much time drawing and focused on spending quality time with everyone around.
It would turn out to be one of the greatest trips ever with the most supportive people I can imagine. Saying goodbyes and splitting this great group apart was not easy as we grew very fond of each other’s company.
Trip to London — Get Inspired
After El Salvador, we made also a trip to London. This time we were there for the gallery show of my partner at the Erotic Art London (⚠️NSFW warning) who had some of her work exhibited (⚠️NSFW).
London is a great city in general with a lot of art, food, and entertainment! We had some amazing Indian and Thai food there. Berlin in comparison seems to be lacking in great Indian and Thai places for some reason, there are some that are alright, but not as many amazing ones.
If you like plants and gardens then London is a great destination, too. The KEW botanic garden is the biggest one I have ever seen. We did not manage to even see half the things that were there.
There I also discovered these great postcards with beautiful illustrations by Freya. I love the lino print style. We bought 10 of them.
Sketchbooks
I finally finished a sketchbook I have been using since 2015. 7 years that’s crazy. I don’t see too much improvement in those seven years when I look into it. One part of it is that I wasn’t drawing much for 3 years. Between 2016 and 2019. Here is a little tour of this sketchbook. Pardon my breaking voice here and there, I was still recovering from a cold. (I think this video is unnecessarily long 😅)
It made me think about sketchbooks in general. Why does it take me so long to finish them? I keep starting new ones and neglecting older ones. For some reason, once I put a couple of drawings in, I feel like I am locked into a particular topic or quality level in that sketchbook.
Probably it’s just unnecessary pressure I put on myself. There is no need to have consistent quality. It doesn’t need to be perfect. It is a sketchbook and not a “final work” book.
I hope I will never have another sketchbook running for that long ever again.
On the other hand, it is interesting to look into it and see it with me on so many travels. I can look back and it makes me remember.
Other short news
🎥 I found this useful list of resources for After Effects: AE Reference
📼 I also released a new After Effects plugin to easily create a VHS look with one click. I am looking for people who want to test and give feedback. I can provide you with a review version for FREE.
2022 Goal Progress
I have not been as diligent in writing the past two months, due to being in a very relaxed mood after the vacations. Plus a little bit of getting sick. I need to keep up my writing habit. I have many goals still for this year, and especially my creative ones are lacking behind.
See you in two weeks. Don’t miss when I will reveal my plans to take over the animation world!
Your overly relaxed animator,
Goscha