Video: Demystifying the Creative Process with Courtney Clinton (ICYMI)

Before the final illustration, an artist makes dozens of sketchbook studies. In these studies they gather reference material and work out a creative image design.

On September 12th, 2021, Rokeby Museum’s 2020 artist-in-residence, Courtney Clinton, joined us to share more about how illustrators like Rachael Robinson Elmer (1878–1919) built and developed their creative ideas through the sketchbook process.

As part of the Second Sunday lecture series, Courtney invited us into her research and to view images from the sketchbooks and studies that informed Rachael’s iconic postcard series, Art Lover’s New York. Courtney also shared her own sketchbook process and discussed how her research on Rachael’s practice inspired her to produce her own postcard series of the sites and monuments of her hometown, Montreal.

Be sure to also check out the Rokeby Museum Distance Drawing Course, taught by Courtney Clinton. This free 6-part series explores Rachael Robinson Elmer’s early history with correspondence art instruction, giving a modern spin on learning how to draw.