The Elemental sketchbook was created specifically for the design and research for my piece Elemental.

Rather than my idea growing organically out of the sketchbook, this one is more of a workbook with a particular outcome in mind. While all my sketchbooks are working documents and not meant as art themselves, this one is perhaps even more so than some of the others. I began it with the idea of the design already in place, and the development was done towards that end.

Because of that, and because I was on a very tight deadline of only a couple of months, this one contains less pure exploration and playing around the subject than it might have. That’s probably why I’m less fond of it than some of the others.

Having said that, the concept of the classical elements and their table of correspondences is such a complex and rich idea that there may well be more work that comes out of it somewhere down the line once I feel ready to play around more with the theme.