THE SIMPLE THINGS’
FRANCES AMBLER PICKED UP HER PENCIL WITH JENNIE
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 of an 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.