Lately I've been interested in the relationship between artists and their sketchbooks in fields that wouldn't immediately come to mind. Take furniture design for example. Perhaps I'm being completely naive, but I don't think of object designers as the kind of people who might maintain a daily sketchbook-keeping regimen. That is, until I discovered
Karim Rashid.
Karim was in town to promote a new collaboration with a design boutique called
BoConcept, which has an outlet downtown as well as in the States and throughout Europe. The place was packed with Designers and media types as well as a few hangers-on who were mostly interested in the snack table. I turned up to the event alone, but that's mostly how I roll. All the better for drawing! (and, um, snacking...) Being an Animator, I had never heard of this "Karim" but the invitation intrigued me, plus I'm always on the hunt for that cool new discovery. (Even if my "discovery" is already completely famous!)
I waltzed in, grabbed a pink champagne and poked around the store a bit. At the front desk they had a hot-pink copy of Karim's new book which was included as part of a giveaway package. Out of curiosity I snuck a peek and was rewarded with beautiful, impulsive drawings bursting with movement and life. Drawings that would be a welcome addition to the shelf of any animator's reference library. Oh, and the forward! The forward to this book is one of the most insightful and inspiring that I have read in ages. Along the lines of the great Walt Stanchfield, Karim's writing was the kind that makes you want to run around the city like a mad-person, drawing everything in sight.
"Sketch: Karim" by Karim Rashid. I don't care that you're not an Interior Designer or whatever! Buy it
this instant!
Aside from drawing, eating and drinking are another one of life's great joys! Throughout the space there were stations piled high with plates of smoked salmon, pork terrine, and bottles upon bottles of booze. They had also placed the most delicious little chocolates in glass jars around the store, so at any moment a sweet treat was always within arms reach. Let's just say that I had my fair share.
There was a lot of milling about, so I hopped around the store looking for fun things to draw. There were lots of fancy and fashionable types at this party. I especially enjoyed this guy's bright blue fedora, if you can imagine. Bright, BRIGHT blue. Picture it, how great is that!
It took a while, but eventually the crowd became comfortable enough to sit on the furniture. Or maybe it was the wine doing its job. I worked my way around the room and had some pretty interesting conversations about "sketchbook angst" and how creative types, be they animators or interior designers, feel too intimidated by the blank page to effectively communicate ideas through drawing. So, it's not just us, it's everyone!
I recognized some handsome-ish and famous-ish television personalities, but I much prefer to draw the cameramen. Way hotter!
Talkshow hosts and newspaper editors had the opportunity to chat one-on-one with Karim about the new collection. I, however, was determined to grab at least a minute with him to discuss sketchbook drawing as I suspected that we may share similar philosophies.
But it wasn't meant to be. I hovered as close as I could, but was always thwarted by a more aggressive personality. Finally when I got a chance to speak it was only for a few short moments, then on to the next person. A product launch isn't necessarily the best time to attempt a deep conversation about the steady decline in draftsmanship across all art forms and our increasing reliance on the computer to communicate ideas. Oh well.
BoConcept Media and Designer Event
April 4, 2012
Toronto
