I set out to create each book as a self-challenge exercise: ‘To produce and illustrate a full 100-page pocketbook through the duration of a walk’.
Our walks (there are three documented here) were a shared experience with family members or friends. Each involved setting out on foot from our home in Lancaster UK and took a couple of hours, crossing different terrains, following a circular route.
The books are low-cost lined notebooks, were blank at the start of the journey, and filled completely on return.
–March (i): Walked travelling from Lancaster to Glasson Dock and back, our small family of three (Nige, Alfie and I).
–May (ii): Walking in the rain from Bowerham across country roads through Lancaster University and returning to Greaves Park.
–July (iii): Walked travelling from Lancaster to Fairfield and back, with family and in-laws (Nige, Alfie, Fred the dog, Paul, Tracy and I).
The main reason we went was to get some exercise and enjoy the outdoors starting because of Lockdown. Another challenge my family set was that my sketching was not ‘allowed’ to slow us down in any way, and we all had to keep walking at a steady quick pace. I drew while constantly moving. I also found myself writing strange words spoken, fragments of discussion from passers-by, jokes or funny situations that arose, or tunes that sprang into our brains, as well as other sensory parts of the experience.
Within a week or so, I completed the pages in the evenings, adding colour and more detail to complete the book. I used pencil, or a fibre tip pen whilst walking, then finished with alcohol pens and ink.
My work can be seen on Instagram https://www.instagram.com/debbie.stubbs.81/
D.L.Stubbs does not claim to be an artist, but feels that by sketching regularly, strengthening various creative talents, and acquiring confidence, she can achieve enough credibility to be called one. Memories and everyday happenings have inspired the current drawings. Debbie’s art is created with the goal of encouraging introspection, memory, and emotional release.
Her visual journal is an extension of her academic interest in AI and digital media, and she plans to work with machine learning in the future.