Sketches and Doodles... Submission [One]

Taking some cues from Ghada Al-Kandari's blog, which have recently featured a series of sketches made by her during various flights to different destinations, I've decided to submit a few doodles and sketches of my own. In this instance the included sketches will be from a set of A6 sketch books, which, carried in my back pocket, have been the initial place into which any semi-random, and more or less resolved, things have been jotted or sketched out. At least initially, the included sketches will be of a more abstract nature, instead of being of a particular design, as these will hopefully require less explanation and will thus be allowed to speak for themselves. Most of them have been made onto 80 to a 100 gram paper, which is thick enough not to show through and still able to absorb the pens of choice, usually 0.25 or 0.3 felt tipped (or nibbed) black (occasionally red or blue) pens, which release ink at a very comforting and controllable pace, that allows one to vary the line quality (making it thinner or wider, more and less textured) by adjusting the speed and angle of each line drawn, without the technique lapsing into something suggestive of brushing. My favourite used to be a pen called 'Expresso' by a company called Pilot - last come across in Savannah, Georgia, in October 2005 - unfortunately I haven't seen any since. But I do remember that he Expresso just danced across a sketch pad, and became an inspiration in its own right – it was a true joy to draw with and prompted one to draw, anything, anywhere, just because the pure joy of leaving marks on paper...

Sketching with a pen still remains the quickest and best way to note down and resolve still dissonant ideas. As of yet nothing digital has come even close to providing the tacit resolution, sensitivity and finesse of pen on paper. The marks on a white sheet become true reflections of an idea - a reflection of the author's/ artist's cognitive state - as the inked markings perform almost the role of a polygraph, becoming subtly documented evidence of the makers emotive state – his or her doubts and insecurities, spirit and confidence, maturity and level of resoluteness. Often sketching will allow one to 'feel' ones way to a solution. It, as a medium, performs as the director, the connective 'red thread' in the evolution of a design's narrative. Sketching provides a structure for the forms and ideas shaping a design.

Some of the A6 sketchbooks...

Perhaps in some later submissions will feature sketches and drawings by some of the other individuals involved with sm & small Architecture, who all are very accomplished and inspiring sketchers in their own right...