Three Hundred and Sixty Five Sketches

Yo!
Today Mike down at Jinxed gave me "Three Sixty Five" in exchange for a tshirt design for his label. "Three Sixty Five" is box set of 4 books of sketches by Martin LaCasse, of Olde City Tattoo. The project cosisted of Martin doing a sketch a day for a year. Each month a different subject was drawn,and all subjects drawn are ones used in tattoo subject matter. For example, January-Snakes, December-Religious Types, October-Reapers, March-Flowers, and so on,

Martin writes the forward and goes on explaining how going into it he thought it would be a simple project to complete, and in all reality in doesn't sound to difficult.But, in fact he goes on to say how the guys at the shop would tell him he is definetly gonna burn himself out. And fater about 6 months he says that the fatigue really started to kick in, and drawing each sketch became more and more harder to do. He goes on to say how drawing the same subject matter for a month became redundant and almost boring too. Having to draw to complete the project made him hate art in a sense.He claims it took the fun out of the things he loves to do the most likentattooing and drawing.He then goes on to say that as an artist, he hopes he never feels that way again. Towards the end of the project, Martin tells how much of a relief he started to feel that the project was starting to wind down. That had to be a great feeling. Being able to see the finish line in such a long race.While doing the project, Martin said that he got to the point where after he left the shop he wanted nothing to do with art, which led him to scuba diving and sailing.

The box set is definetly one of my favorite art books I have gotten in a very long time. I am a big fan of sketchbooks, I love seeing the whole creative process behind a final piece. Sketchbooks often contain drawings that may have been thrown to the scrap heap or never made it outta the studio, that others come to love. In 365, each and every sketch is different, some are quick and loose and some more or less are finished drawings, and all are nothing short of perfect. Each page also has a few words jotted down about what was going through his head that day. Being a fan of tattoo art, this covers a huge part of your basic subject matter in Martin's great style. I always wanted to do a similar project, having a year long pictorial diary would definetly be a great piece to have and look back on as you grew older. Maybe one day I will try, but I'll always have in the back of my mind how hard it was for him.

The book is selling for a measly 60 bucks, which is a steal or 4 books coming in at 400 pages. He is also selling all the originals for 65 a pop, which you can choose from on Presto's site. I definetly am gonna pick up a original too.

I suggest to head down to Jinxed in the Piazza and grab a copy off their shelves.For more information and to purchase the book or an original, check out http://www.prestoart.com