A stroll through the sketchbook of Elisa Van Strijthem

For Elisa Van Strijthem, her sketchbook is a travel companion that helps her capture experiences and memories. She noticed that the sketchbooks she used to fill during walks and trips became increasingly important for her practice. This led to Gaandeweg, a thick book she presented as her master's thesis. For A paper / a day 2024, we visited her to browse through the sketchbooks that preceded it. 'I learned that drawing makes me more aware of my surroundings.'

Interview

Elisa: ‘What have I seen on my walks?’ That sparked my interest in capturing my experiences during trips in sketches. I learned that drawing made me more aware of my surroundings. My sketchbooks were more alive than my finished works. It had become such an important part of my process that I wanted to showcase it in my master's thesis.

My walks are often only 5 km, but sometimes they take me 5 hours. I mainly go out into nature. I want to keep exploring, but I notice that I prefer places that are easily accessible: the Gentbrugse Meersen, the Damvallei. I have realized that nature attracts me more than busy cities.

When I go out, I always take my sketchbook, my paint, and my brushes with me. I mainly use Ecoline because of the vibrant colors it produces. I usually only take two brushes with me. It shouldn't be too complicated. Water. An eraser. Pencil and some water to drink. That's usually all I need. I adapt my materials to the path and not the other way around. I want to feel comfortable during a walk.

Photo: Sahar Khosravi

Elisa: 'The composition of my pages grows organically. The less I think about my actions, the better. I allow mistakes, but I don't want to show them too much. I see what emerges, try it out, and let it go. I want to be able to immerse myself in the process, and if it fails, it fails. I learn to live with it and move on to the next thing. Approaching sketching without complexity often results in the best drawings.

There are few people in my drawings, which is not entirely intentional, but I think I naturally seek tranquility. That's also what I enjoy when I'm out walking: I feel like I'm alone in the world. I always work in silence, as I find that my concentration is at its greatest at that point.

Sometimes I flip back through an older sketchbook. It takes me back to a walk and the memories associated with it. But I would never redraw the subjects themselves, because then I end up in a kind of quest for perfection. And that's when I miss the spontaneity that I love so much about the project.