I had only managed to complete roughly one-third of the sketchbook during the trip, and didn’t work on it when we first got back. This happened to both my sketchbooks last year for hong kong and korea, so it didn’t bode well. Could my japan sketchbook would be my only completed sketchbook in this lifetime? I tend to do things only once for the novelty.
But I started picking it up again end Jan. Slowly page by page I completed them. Again I didn’t care what I actually drew or if it was aesthetically pleasing. I drew mostly food items – because they are memorable for me and usually consist of simple-enough shapes – except for a couple of pages.
We visited plenty of matcha cafes and it shows. They are actually arguably cooler than the ones in Singapore:
In case you were wondering why I drew Totoro I included a picture of the actual mural:
This time I didn’t keep the pages chronological. I just worked on whatever that jumped out to me at that point in time.
Is there a point in completing a sketchbook so much later than the actual trip? Maybe it is different for everyone. Even though it was 1-2 months later I still felt like I could relive my fond memories of the trip. I appreciated having a targeted range of subjects for practice. It is also meaningful for me to have a little book with a theme instead of random pieces of art. This makes me want to go complete my other travel sketchbooks.
Because I ran out of food items to draw and I really wanted to complete it, I attempted to do an abstract painting of a view of a mountainous area on the very last page which is a little out of my own typical range. It turned out to be enjoyable, which is not something I usually feel about my art.
Ultimately art is not something I wish to consciously improve upon in terms of technical skills, though I am sure I’ll probably enjoy it more if I am more skilled. Art for me is just a way to understand and express myself, to see what comes out of my motor-skill-impaired hands. But as I worked through this sketchbook I realised I was gradually getting more and more relaxed, instead of the frustration I usually feel whenever I try to do something I am not good at. It is a meditative practice for me: to keep bringing myself back to the task at hand despite the discomfort and unease. I feel like practicing art makes me slightly more equanimous with other areas of my life, because this equanimity is required when there are always mistakes, smudges, unexpected outcomes – in the process of making art.
I am bad at it, that is why I keep doing it. As I keep doing it, I realise I like doing something I am bad at. I know I am bad at it, I don’t expect much out of it, so therein lies the freedom to do whatever I want, and that is such a freeing experience when doing almost everything else in life comes with constraints, rules and expectations.