Artist Mark Kirkham, known locally as the Edinburgh Sketcher, has been running his New Town City Centre sketching tours at The Arienas Collective almost since we began, and I've always loved the freedom and accessibility of his speed-sketching style. In particular, I love when Mark shares snapshots from his sketchbook journals, where he records daily life in Edinburgh alongside family stories.
As he was about to launch an exclusive new workshop at The Arienas Collective, I asked Mark why - and how - he got into sketchbook journalling. The interview reveals the underlying importance of engaging in creative activity - and journalling specifically - for our mental wellbeing, and how it has helped Mark through some challenging family times.
Lynn x
How did you get started with sketchbook journalling?
I worked as a graphic designer in the newspaper industry, and spent 10 great years at The Scotsman down by Holyrood Park. I learnt a great deal, met some wonderful people and also began Edinburgh Sketcher on my lunch breaks walking around the historic Canongate and High Street.
I wasn’t a writer (I did try with disastrous results!) but could draw and doodle, and my work notes would always have illustrative instructions alongside. These scribbles grew, and as the sketches took over the page my words became decoration: a border frame of letters, or shading a wall of a house with large letters describing the weather, or naming the street. I would use words visually, but they would still have meaning - describing the location, or the moments leading up to me drawing the piece.
At what point did you realise your sketches were turning into stories?
The pages of my sketchbook began to tell the story of my everyday life, and became just like a diary. I started to share them online. I was also keen to begin a daily habit of drawing, so the subjects could be completely random like a chocolate bar and a coffee cup, or the autumnal leaves under my feet.
Was it mainly about establishing a daily drawing practice, or something more?
Mixed in with my observational drawings were more emotional scenes, such as one of my earliest drawings of my newborn child spending time in the Sick Kids hospital. Drawing distracted me from such a traumatic time, and from the helplessness I was feeling. But I also wrote down what was happening, and it is these written details along with the drawn lines that bring that day back so clearly.
Is it the sketches or the words that come to you first?
Text is secondary to the drawing, often just filling space as I doodle my way around a page. As such they can just be a stream of consciousness: my rambling thoughts. But these can seem more real than anything, and I will write and then rewrite until I am happy with them. A lot like my art really: more instinctive mark making than precise planning!
How do your sketchbooks fit into your day-to-day life?
As my twins grew so did my collection of sketchbooks journalling their lives and mine: babies in push chairs, small hands holding Lego, sleeping faces in the back of the car. Holidays away would have a few pages, doodles by the sea, and us all sat around a cosy fire watching the telly in the highlands. And by sketching quick random objects, rather than full watercolour paintings, I can still be in the moment as if doodling while on the phone.
So, these sketches are more like a diary of past events?
Yes, I love to look back through the sketchbooks now. Revisiting the pages I turned back then, and reading the thoughts and happenings I had forgotten is a real privilege, and the journals have become more precious as time goes by.
Why haven't you run a sketchbook journalling workshop before?
As my Edinburgh Sketcher business grew, and my drawing time became more about commissions and looking for sketches I could create merchandise from, I added my own rambling words less often. Looking back now, I can see that those drawings are less personal to me. I am fortunate to be able to draw for my living, but I would like to rekindle those carefree sketches that capture a day - or moment in my life - and this is what I am hoping to do with the new Sketchbook Journalling workshops at The Arienas Collective. Hopefully, it will inspire others to do the same.
What will the new workshop offer?
On my current outdoor sketching tours, I often say to look for the beauty in the everyday, and to describe what you see with your drawings by picking out the bits you might mention if describing a scene. By highlighting the everyday objects in our lives, I believe we can build pride in our surroundings and a confidence in our artistic ability, while also giving ourselves time to explore and be creative in the moment.
I will demonstrate how to capture objects quickly, and how to lift them off the page with a little watercolour. We will explore how words can become decoration and add depth and meaning to our drawing, as well as help bring items together on the page to provide a pleasing composition - creating an illustrative montage of our week, a holiday, a room in our house, or just a walk to the shops! We'll journal together, and everyone will take home their lovely, bound sketchbook will I hope will serve as a keepsake for years to come.
Mark has since launched a series of Sketchbook Journalling workshops for 2025. If you'd like to explore whether journalling is for you, you can find more information here.
Mark's New Town City Centre sketching tours will return to The Arienas Collective in Spring 2025, and you can check dates and availability here.
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