sketch guilt?

[Murr]

So I have a question for everyone:

How often (if at all) do you find yourself at a loss of what to sketch because there's a little nagging fear that someone will be looking through your sketchbook one day and somehow judge you for the drawings you've done?

I find that this tends to be an annoying and often issue for me and I wanted to get everyone else's opinions on it and see if anyone else gets the same feeling.

[•Lindsay•]

Are you talking about judging based on the quality or the content? I never worry that people will think my old sketches are bad quality, but sometimes I worry about the content. In high school one kid asked why I draw naked people, and I didn't know what to say, the ignorance in that question was overwhelming. (I think I said it was a tight bathing suit, which is stupid.) That person slowly flipped through my sketchbook and silently scrutinized everything. That only happened once but it was enough to make me somewhat insecure.

One of the toughest things about art is that everything is clearly yours. It can make me uncomfortable to look at my own work. I recently looked at a painting I did last year and even after all of this time I'm still angry about the hours I put into it without getting the results I wanted. Every time I start something new I worry that I will hate it. So I guess I am afraid of what I think about the quality of my own work.

[Psychotime]

What were you gonna...scratch that, I don't think I want to know. (lolz)

Why do you even care? I'm a rookie and I don't. How on earth can someone at your level do so?

[RyerOrdStar]

I understand what you mean. That's why I keep those kinds of drawings on random scraps of paper around my desk that no one sees. I never want to take those kinds of embarassing things to more developed drawings anyways, so it works out for me.

[Aphotic Phoenix]

I carry around a couple of sketchbooks with me...one has nothing but nice polished sketches in it, the rest are full of roughs, unfinished ideas, and stuff that just plain looks like crap. (I tend to tear out my good sketches and file them away) Having the "polished" book with me helps reduce "sketchbook snatcher" anxiety because I always have the nicer one to counteract my really awful stuff. XD Periodically I go through the bad stuff, reuse the paper for blind contours, etc and then chuck it!

Content wise...I really don't have much shame, nor draw anything really offensive in a sketchbook that regularly leaves my house.

[Equality72521]

i use to have a sketchbook with only "finished" drawings in it, which totally negates the purpose of a sketchbook. You sketch what you sketch, good or bad, so why should you be ashamed of what you draw? My last moleskine had some awesome sketches/paintings in it and it also had horrible figure drawings and drunken caricatures. Then my parents took a peruse through it and liked what they saw, good and the bad.

My understanding of a sketchbook is to get those crazy pictures outta your head and satisify that craving to put lead to paper. I think that those who look through your sketchbook should appreciate your drive to keep drawing, no matter what the outcome.

hope this helps!

[Murr]

Haha. Thanks everyone for your insight. I didn't mean to come across like I was drawing porn or anything. I tend to feel insecure about quality and sometimes content, whether it's a seductive-looking woman or just something really goofy. For some reason I worry too much how my drawings will reflect on me as a person. But now that I think about it, I suppose a sketchbook should be one of the clearest reflections of who you are, so maybe I just need to be more accepting of myself.......Wow, didn't mean to turn this into a Dr. Phil session. One thing is for certain: I think WAY too damn much!

[Not Pink]

I used to get that feeling all the time... but one of my friend's parents wanted to have a look and I had a drawing of Heffer from "Rocko's Modern Life" making a funny face screaming "DO IT !" and I was taken back whether or not to let her look through. I told her there were some things I wouldn't want shown and she convinced me that she didn't mind and only really cared about the art.

After that I was more willing to show it to a more people, and I found out a lot of people really didn't care as long as it's only a handful of pages of derogatory material, and not every page.

it really depends on what the material is, My parents are absolutely dreadful when it comes to me and girls. Every girlfriend I ever had has been hidden from them, and I can't stand them going through my sketchbook when I have a drawing of a girl in it. basically I just barred them from my sketchbooks.
remember, if you have a certain person you know WILL say something, it's still your sketchbook, and it's still your choice to let them see. If you do give in to peer pressure and they take offense to it, it's their fault and you tried to keep them away.

Sure, I've had a handful of people laugh at certain stuff (most of my derogatory stuff is for laughs anyway), some people have commented on it, and some people even took offense to it.
I haven't lost any friends to it, and really most people, even if they take offense to it, realize it's a joke when it comes to me (being the stereotypical class clown-esque cohort of the bunch).

[Grief]

i thought this thread was titled sketch quilt.

kinda' had my hopes up for an entirely different conversation...

[Romans6]

I dont even let people look at my sketchbook anymore. To many uneducated comments like... "You didnt finish this face", "Why is the nose so big on this one". Or just the fact that at my old college kids would try to bite your ideas after looking through some of your work or hearing about your concepts. So then you've got another person feeding off your project idea in the same ff'n class. Also I am uncomfortable and not confident because most of my sketchbook is simply concept. I think sketchbooks are personal, I feel like its my diary. I write down ideas, maybe draw what I'm feeling at the moment, wake up at 3 in the morning and scribble a terrible silhouette just so I dont forget a dream etc etc. Everyone has there own feelings but I feel like my finished polished work or a great sketch from my sketchbook is for someone to see. Or maybe someday I'll let some younger kid interested in art go through all my old sketchbook so they can see how much practice really pays off.

[hitnrun]

I draw a lot of naked guys - without the phallic ornamentation (sans a penis) because I'm obsessed with upper body anatomy. I don't know why - I just like how powerful the arms can be. I draw few women because I feel like if I draw a naked woman, there will always be a female around that doesn't understand why I drew a naked female, or a guy will be around thinking "damn she's hot". It's a drawing - who cares if the female is attractive..

Romans6 - I know what you mean about uneducated comments. Among my favortes are "who's this?" and "what's that" and I've been asked this a few times by someone who can clearly see its a person I'm drawing: "Is that a pokemon".. You see two arms, two legs, a torso and a head. Clearly it is NOT a human being.