The Making of 'Sketchbook'
A Generative Project Inspired by the Cornish Coast
It’s been a couple of weeks now since I launched ‘Sketchbook’ and I thought it would be a good time to share the process I went through to create this project.
Like a lot of artists, not every one of my artworks or projects comes from a clear point of inspiration or a specific moment in time. But ‘Sketchbook’ has that oft-coveted thing, an origin story.
In the Beginning…
Everything started in Cornwall. I visited in mid-winter and instantly fell in love with the beautiful rugged coastline between St Agnes and St Ives.
The long meandering coastal paths of Wheal Coates, waves crashing against the jetty of Trevaunce Cove, and the windswept Chapel Porth Beach were an artist’s paradise.
It’s easy to see why artists flock here to re-fuel their creative fires.
I knew right away that my time in this special place would be the catalyst for a new body of work.
During the days I would walk, take photographs, and at night I would translate what I had seen, heard, and felt into a sketchbook filled with digital mark-making; capturing colours, textures, and flowing forms.
Going Generative
Within a fortnight I had over 300 individual layers and needed to develop the best way to use them. Ink stains, brush strokes, and pencil marks were all collated into a single, sketchbook-like file with each mark on its own page.
From the off, it was unusual for me to create artwork in this way. Typically I’m working in a flow state and combine multiple elements into each layer (something that makes current Richard VERY annoyed at past Richard on occasion!).
But with every mark separated, I started wondering if this gave me an opportunity to create a generative project. Something that felt markedly different to the generative projects I had worked on before, as well as the high-profile ‘collector-driven’ projects that tend to dominate the NFT space.
I totally get the appeal of those types of projects, I’ve even dabbled in collecting a few myself, but I thought I could take a different, practice-led approach with ‘Sketchbook’.
A lot of time was dedicated to experimentation; working out the priorities for both the types of marks and how I would want to structure the layers. With so many variables and possible outcomes, it was really important that each painting was aesthetically pleasing and every layer could be paired with another.
For those who fixate on the details as much as I do, the final layer structure that I settled on is; Inks, Splatters, Rollers, Brushes, Rakes, and Pencils.
Test Test Test
Once the structure was in place and the Hashlips code package was installed I began running test outputs. This code package is predominantly aimed at creators who want to make large-scale PFP projects. By randomising outputs from specified folders and layer structures, it can generate thousands of unique images. As a tool, it’s really adaptable and I knew it would suit my needs.
Compositionally things looked great, the layered elements worked well when stacked and created an interesting array of outputs. But the variation in the colour palette was too broad, led to some unattractive combinations, and lacked the cohesion I wanted. This led me back to the photographs from my trip to refine the colour palette and create something that was more concise.
Refining the Palette
I worked through a number of iterations before landing on a palette that offered enough variety but felt like a singular body of work. Going back to my photographs really helped me identify the colours.
Following a few more rounds of outputs and testing, I was in a position to start curating and cutting down the final number to 80 pieces. This proved to be challenging as each piece had elements I really loved, it would have been easy to leave every piece in, but I didn’t want the volume to spiral out of control, and some pieces would have been too similar to others.
Deploying, Minting, and Listing.
With the art generated, and the final 80 pieces selected, I was ready to mint.
While I was in Cornwall, I received a well-timed DM from @saturnial letting me know about Drops, a new tool from Foundation. It was as if the NFT gods knew I was about to embark on a generative project and handed me a no-code solution for releasing art in a scaleable format. The tool came with scheduling, reveal and pre-sale functionality, making it incredibly powerful. All that was left to do was arrange the collection metadata into a CSV file, and it was time to upload.
I’ve always found the experience of minting and releasing on Foundation to be easy; they’ve really put the time and effort into making the whole process as smooth as possible.
I had made the conscious decision to upload all the art before the drop went live. I loved the idea of the art being instantly revealed upon mint. There’s always a real buzz and excitement about collecting and sharing what you’ve minted.
Side note; If you are thinking of doing something similar, be warned, the pre-reveal image you upload cannot be changed once the drop has been deployed. I learned this the hard way by using a black & white image which doesn’t do the colour palette justice. Serves me right for trying to be mysterious!
Conclusion
The response to the project has been wonderful; there have been so many kind words and support from the community. My main goal was to create something that would challenge me on an artistic and technical level, as well as connect with people.
You can check out ‘Sketchbook’ on Foundation now. I wanted to ensure ‘Sketchbook’ was affordably priced, so you can mint your painting now for 0.08 ETH.
I’m really proud of this project and hope you like it too.