Filled with the signature technique and colors of her whimsical paintings, Brandi Milne’s sketchbook features fully realized drawings and clippings pressed into their crisp pages. Her elongated figures are cast in enchanting activities, whether preparing Halloween rituals, riding stripped snails or communing with aquatic creatures. Small bits of text inform the compositions or act as notes for future ideas. As part of our new series ‘Inside the Sketchbook’, we aim to present a voyeuristic and comprehensive look into the sketchbook of our featured artists. For our debut, read a mini interview and view more of artist’s Brandi Milne’s sketches below, here on Hi-Fructose.
Have you always carried a sketchbook around ? Why is it important for you to keep one ?
I don’t carry my sketchbook around – I leave it at home where it sits and waits for my attention. And I’ve been using sketchbooks for years, Since my 20’s. I keep a sketchbook forall my notes and ideas (good and bad) and to flesh out all the ideas I think will work for each final painting or illustration. I don’t think I could work without a sketchbook – it’s one of the most important steps in my process.
How do you feel your sketches influence your final works?
The sketch is where it all begins to become real from my head, so the sketches greatly influence my final piece(s). I sketch initially to figure outbalance and proportion and to work out details prior to painting or drawing the real thing.
Do you find your sketchbooks also become personal records ?
Yes, ridiculously so – they end up being more of a messy scrapbook with ugly drawings inside.
It seems that when drawing, you often use colored pencils. Can you talk about how the sketches change when transferred onto large panels and executed in paint rather than pencil ?
With pencil I can keep the work really tight throughout the entire process which deliciously feeds into my need for control in the work. But when I’m sketching for a painting, I lose that “tightness” or controlwhen I start the work in paint. There’s a point in each painting that I totally panic because it’s so messy and I need to refer back to the original sketch to gain that sense of control back. It’s kind of a fight each time,to let myself be free and also to trust myself in those moments of panic and mess. But I love it. I need it.
