#sketchbooks

#sketchbooks

The hook for Turner: the Secret Sketchbooks is meant to be that many of the 37,000 sketches left behind by the great British painter JMW Turner have rarely been seen and never been filmed; therein may be hints at the nuances of his elusive character that his main oeuvre kept hidden. Equally remarkable, though, is the documentary's bold choice of contributors. As well as the art historians and present-day British artists who would dominate a standard art film, there are famous laymen, from the obviously somewhat qualified Timothy Spall played the artist in Mike Leigh's biographical film Mr Turner; Chris Packham is well placed to comment on Turner's reverence for the natural world to the more surprising hire of Ronnie Wood from the Rolling Stones.

Whether working on large-scale commissions or more intimate drawings, sketchbooks remain Wymer's primary jumping-off points. "I've been keeping sketchbooks since middle school, when I filled them with graffiti tags, local DIY show flyer ideas, and zine layouts," Wymer tells Colossal. "Over the years, they've evolved from casual notebooks into an essential part of my creative process. I carry one with me at all times, and without it, I feel pretty untethered."