Turn Junk Mail Into a Sketching Goldmine

Instead of immediately tossing catalogs and flyers, I decided to reuse them as subjects for my sketchbook.

I used to dread getting junk in the mail. Not that I wasn’t lured in by the occasional Costco catalog. Who wouldn’t salivate over an 80-pound Parmesan cheese wheel? But for the most part, my junk mail made its way straight from the mailbox to the recycle bin.

As I got back into drawing and sketching after a 20-plus-year gap, I changed my attitude toward junk mail. I started seeing all the expressive people and poses as potential references. One of my favorite things became arranging these catalog characters into various montages.

That’s what I did recently when I received a University of Georgia Arts catalog in the mail. This catalog had it all: violinists, aerial silk acrobats, graduates in caps and gowns, ballerinas. I did my best to capture their amazing expressions and contortions and put them down in pen and ink.

I ended up happy with the spread and also felt good that:

• I didn’t have to browse the internet and sit in front of a computer for references.

• I put something to use that otherwise would have gone straight to the recycle bin.

Through this process, I’ve started looking forward to finding these photo-filled flyers in my mailbox. They’ve even sparked some new ideas, like turning them into comic panels or dropping characters into totally out-of-context scenes. Sometimes, the limited images a catalog gives you are the best thing for getting creative.